Any prep book recommendations from those who have taken the exam? </p>
<p>princeton is amazing… kaplan has good essay practice -> kaplan also has sample essay answers so that helps too… took the test this year in may - get my score in 5 days!</p>
<p>Good luck guys! 
I used PR and it was pretty good, a lot of my friends used Barron’s and complained about it. (Waaaay too in-depth; usually it’s good to have a deeper understanding, but it’s impossible to memorize every little detail about history. Plus, the exam stresses “big picture concepts” more, not details.)</p>
<p>AP World History Crash Course is invaluable when used with Ethel Wood’s AP World History: An Essential Coursebook. I relied on the course book instead of my textbook, and I was able to keep at the top of my class’s test scores throughout the year.</p>
<p>Everyone should use getafive.com as a review a few days before the test. </p>
<p>I literally procrastinated and didn’t study; most of my knowledge came from watching videos on that site and I got a 5. </p>
<p>Hi, I’m taking AP World history this upcoming year as a sophomore and I was wondering if I should buy a Barron’s book(I know it’s very detailed oriented but I’m a detailed oriented person :P) early so that every night I can review it a little bit of what I learned that day. Especially because my school is on block schedule(it’s weird I know) meaning we only have 4 classes everyday but they’re 1.5hrs long. So we’ll be covering AP world in 1 semester(and doing ap euro the next) I thought it might be critical to review everyday so I don’t forget the material when the AP testing comes around. I also want a near 100% in the class and a 5 on the exam. So is getting a prep book and studying a little bit everyday worthwhile? or is it unnecessary? </p>
<p>Oh and can anybody else vouch on Ethel Wood’s AP World History as being better suited for how I would use it compared to Barron’s?</p>
<p>@tagi1998 if you want to start early, this summer, here’s what I’d do if I were you:</p>
<p>-get a review book like you stated. Read it this summer, take detailed notes. Get a general idea of the info, and try to mentally divide time periods (don’t worry about specifics yet)
-do well in school. Follow the reading the teacher gives you, ace tests, etc. This will make up your base long-term background knowledge.
-3 months before the test, re-read the entire review book. Take practice tests. Practice essay writing (especially DBQ)
-1 month before the test: read your notes, focus on areas of weakness from practice test. Focus on specifics now, if you have the background knowledge deep in your memory. Memorize some important dates, facts, and names.
-1 week before the test: watch review videos on getafive.com, maybe read a condensed version of your notes. </p>
<p>Also, I’ve heard people say they practice essay writing on a weekly basis and that it’s really helped them. You may want to try that, and look if you’re improving. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>How much does getafive.com cost?</p>
<p>free</p>
<p>@Hiya12345 thank you for the advice!</p>
<p>Does anybody else have experience with essential coursebook by wood and can recommend it because I’m deciding between Barron’s and the coursebook but I haven’t heard of many people using the coursebook so I’m still not sure</p>
<p>I loved Ethel Wood - she covers the course material with the ideal amount of detail (not as general as Princeton Review, but not as dull and detail oriented as Barron’s). Seriously, it just felt as if the Barron’s book was throwing inane and arbitrary details at you left and right. I couldn’t even read a whole chapter. Ethel, on the other hand, identifies key terms and key trends extremely well. The practice questions provided emulate the exam’s PERFECTLY. It not only helped me prepare for the exam and get a 5, but I also started reading it in place of our dull, pedantic textbook for in-class tests, which aided me immensely. It also contains a full set of thought-provoking essays for each unit; the CC essay this year was eerily similar to one. </p>
<p>Your other source of study should be getafive. Use it to reinforce the concepts Ethel presents a week of two before the exam. And while it is a superb resource, don’t expect it to be your sole one if you want a 5. It’s fantastic for the multiple choice, but doesn’t go into the level of detail you need for those essays. </p>
<p>For the essay section (and a good deal of the multiple choice section) of the exam, make sure you go over all changes, continuities, and comparisons between the important civilizations and time periods, making sure to cover each civilization’s political structure, trade routes (including their imports, exports, who ran the trade at what time period, etc), religious affiliation/conflict, as well as the rights they presented women. That last one is money for the MC section - minorities are allllll over it. Seriously, as anyone who took the 2014 exam can tell you, it seemed as if there was a question about some form of oppressed group/minority on every page, chiefly women, though the oppression of Latin Americans/Africans is also a huge topic. And you can’t forget the Chinese peasants during the 20th century, which was the main topic of this year’s exam. Other minorities you should keep in mind are those that aren’t being oppressed, but rather are in power over the majorities (the Mongols, the leaders of the Mughal Dynasty, etc). Seriously, the AP World exam LOVES that kind of stuff and I can guarantee it will comprise a good amount of the exam.</p>
<p>As stated above, trade routes are another topic I would focus on. These pop up consistently on the essay section year after year, particularly on the CCOT essay. You should definitely take note of all the goods and people present in the various trade routes across time, which Ethel and getafive do a great job at presenting. </p>
<p>Also try to familiarize yourself with the major artwork of the civilizations the night before the exam - getafive does an AMAZING job at this in one of their videos, and it helped me immensely. </p>
<p>Finally, try to enjoy the subject. AP World History isn’t the mind-numbing fact-fest some review books and teachers make it out to be. If that’s the way you approach the exam, you most likely won’t do well. Conversely, if you start looking at history as a web of continuities and changes, it almost becomes an invigorating puzzle. As lame as that sounds, I’m serious. You’ll really garner a lot more enjoyment from your exam grade, and more importantly history itself if you see it that way when studying. Anyway, best of luck in your future endeavors! </p>
<p>I got a 5 on the exam that I took this year, and I didn’t really use a prep book.</p>
<p>Instead, I just read our textbook, World Civilizations, cover to cover. I also took all of the released AP World exams to practice multiple choice. (I think 2002 and 2007 are released, and we took the 2013 exam in class)</p>
<p>What I tried to do was remember some “weird” or not well known facts, just a few about each civilization or place, that I could use in essays to impress the graders. I guess it worked. For example, when talking about religion’s role in the Mauryan/Gupta empires, I managed to remember all of the Hindi names for the castes and what they were (fisherman, priest, etc) which I guess impressed the graders. Little things like that which aren’t common in most responses can get you some expanded core points which can really help your grade.</p>
<p>Back to your question, if I used a review book, I would most likely use Barrons because it gives a wealth of information. (I did have the book, but I didn’t read it too much, so I’m not too sure about how good it is).</p>
<p>I just took it this year, got a 5 on the exam and a 770 on the subject test. It isn’t as hard as most people make it out to be. I had some prior knowledge so I mainly had to listen in class, and didn’t have to take notes or read (only read a bit from the princeton review). The main adjustment most people have to make is writing the essays in such a specific format. I basically learned the essay format, and then just read the princeton review in one week and I was prepared.I’m really surprised that only 5.9 percent of people who took it got 5s this year. If you can get the essays down to a pattern it’ll be easy. Everything is just memorization with understanding, and it’s pretty interesting. Just don’t stress, and try and actually absorb the information by finding the meaning of everything.</p>
<p>Ok thank you everyone for your responses!</p>
<p>@su1xsu2xsu3 I am not very good at writing in general. What do you recommend to do to practice writing essays and improve on them? Maybe even before the class since I heard at least at my school the reason many people don’t get a good grade in the class is because the teacher grades the essays really hard.</p>
<p>@tagi1998 Every teacher wants the essays written a certain way, but to get a good score on the AP score there is a really easy format to follow that will pretty much guarantee a perfect score every time. I’ll try sending you the powerpoint if I can find it. </p>
<p>Use the Princeton review book and then watch John Green’s crash courses. Read your textbook throughly and make outlines if you can. I got a three, but hopefully you wont make the biggest mistake I made. Don’t take the SAT or anything else a week before the AP exam. Both scores may suffer as will your mental health. </p>
<p>Oh god I’m going to take this + AP compsci next year as a sophomore…apparently the tests are really hard…is anyone using The World And It’s Peoples, 5th Edition as his/her textbook?</p>
<p>I also haven’t even started on the summer assignment ._. And school starts in a month…</p>
<p>Barron’s book is good if you’re going to study for it for a pretty decent time. Make sure you understand every theme and specific events. But if you’re going to cram the whole thing, DO NOT USE THE BARRON’S BOOK. Don’t get too stressed out because I literally crammed everything the night before the exam and still got a 4!!! You don’t need to memorize every detail for the APWH exam but if you’re going to take the world history subject test, make sure you memorize the tiniest detail. </p>
<p>@Yakisoba I did the same exact two AP classes last year. Unless you are a huge history buff (like me) your going to have to study a lot of the information for the test. GetAFive was a great website to use come exam time. I didn’t use The World And It’s Peoples (I used Traditions and Encounters) but for everyone, READ, the textbook, not skim, READ. This will make sure you actually help memorize the information to fill your essays with. Its also important to recognize themes and cause and effects. Those points alone along with a bit of review should guarantee at least a 4.</p>
<p>Also, make sure your writing ability doesn’t suck and follow the rubric. That’s all they want.</p>