<p>If that title didn't make sense- this is what I mean:</p>
<p>I want to self-study AP Euro History this fall (sophomore year). </p>
<p>What are some tips, advice on prep books, outside supplements that will help, ect., that you guys have? :)</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I took the class in the fall and the exam in the spring and it was a lot easier than expected. I self learned ap world in three days and am hoping I did well on the exam! Good ap euro books are the ap euro barrons book, princeton review, and a book call modern European history by ziault</p>
<p>Recommended textbook: Western Civilization by Jackson J. Spielvogel. I used the 5th edition. It was an engaging textbook - it read like a novel and I loved reading it. </p>
<p>Recommended review books: </p>
<p>1) Crash Course - this book really helps for the M/C section. If you know everything in this book - you have the answers to 95% of the M/C questions. It won’t cut it for the essays though. </p>
<p>2) 5 Steps to a 5 - a great, all-round review supplement. </p>
<p>3) Your textbook - again! I re-read my entire textbook 3 weeks before the test and it helped me immensely on the test! I threw 5 steps to a 5 in there in case you didn’t want to re-read your textbook, which is understandable. Just be aware that re-reading your textbook is the best strategy for getting a 5. </p>
<p>4) Hank’s podcasts: [Hank’s</a> History Hour](<a href=“http://hankshistoryhour.com/]Hank’s”>http://hankshistoryhour.com/) - I listen to them when going to sleep. Learning + sleeping = remembering. This is a good substitute for teacher lectures. I like how my teacher phrased somethings in his lectures and I quoted him in my essay.</p>
<p>5) Practice, practice, practice! I took nearly 20 practice tests before the AP and went over what I did wrong! I took many of the tests twice or more to ensure that I had learned from my mistakes! Just go to your library and do all the practice tests from all the review books you can find EXCEPT BARRON’S. Don’t waste your time with a Barron’s book. Their questions are irrelevant and differ significantly from the AP.</p>
<p>Aahh, I’m home-schooled, so I don’t exactly have a textbook. What is a solid “fake” textbook?</p>
<p>Thanks for both the recommendations!</p>
<p>I like REA’s regular European History book because it tends to be more detailed than the others. If you need a “fake” textbook, I think REA is the one you should use. I also like Princeton Review’s AP European History. It is detailed, but not AS detailed as REA. </p>
<p>Two weeks before the test (or even a week, a day if you’re really fast), REA’s Crash Course by Larry Krieger is a MUST. I repeat: A MUST-HAVE. It is not detailed enough for the essays, as the above poster mentioned, but it will nail the multiple choice (at times, word for word). You can also study past exam multiple choice questions to get a feel of the test.</p>
<p>Be sure to visit collegeboard.org to get sample FRQ’s, because the DBQ has some specific requirements and could require some practice (with PoVs and whatnot) and the FRQs tend to have similar topics from year to year. Good luck!</p>
<p>Sooooo… this is what I (so far) concocted:</p>
<p>REA+PR+Crash Course+525= 4/5 on exam</p>
<p>What are the pros/cons of Princeton Review? I saw some people thought it sucked, some thought it was good.</p>
<p>I would recommend (if you’re planning on starting in the fall) purchasing Modern European History by Birdsall S. Viault. It presents the main points, with short, helpful descriptions. It’s maybe 600 pages (I don’t have my copy handy at the moment), but it’s got a good reputation, and is very helpful.</p>
<p>Also, OP, REA is crash course.</p>
<p>I would recommend the AP Achiever Book!</p>
<p>I used Spielvogel’s Western Civ. book also. I really recommend it (as did IceQube) because he actually puts an attempt into making the information engaging, unlike pretty much any other Euro textbook…</p>
<p>Personally, I used Princeton’s and constantly compared the information from the textbook with the Princeton’s review book. That way, I was able to get a clear picture of the main points of each chapter. </p>
<p>I used Barron’s for test questions. Their questions are harder than the actual AP test’s, so I thought the AP Test was pretty simple. Just don’t use Barron’s to learn information from… they go way too much in depth and I just found it so hard to read.</p>
<p>REA can refer to either the regular REA book - the big one with 6 tests (4 in the most recent edition). REA also publishes the Crash Course series. </p>
<p>[evanh14]Also, OP, REA is crash course.
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<p>Yeah that sounds about right. </p>
<p>As far as Princeton Review goes, it’s just another “me too” book. </p>
<p>It’s useful for the practice tests, I guess, but the book rambles a little bit. The last section of the PR book falls apart in terms of organization and the PR book offers NO essay help. I don’t think the PR author even knows what a DBQ is. </p>
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<p>Don’t neglect your textbook! I read that, and then used only Crash Course the day prior to/of the exam – a lot of nitpicky questions that were in the textbook weren’t touched upon in Crash Course. It’s still a great book, but definitely utilize other sources.</p>
<p>This is the best text, IMO: [Houghton</a> Mifflin Textbook - Students’ Textbook Site](<a href=“http://college.cengage.com/history/west/mckay/western_society/7e/students/index.html]Houghton”>http://college.cengage.com/history/west/mckay/western_society/7e/students/index.html)</p>
<p>Tofugirl101 my ex and I had an arguement over which was better Princeton review or barrons and she liked princeon review because of the tests at the end of each section but the review of information could not reach the level of barrons, and if you are self studying the course then barrons is really helpful because it breaks the information down into charts for you</p>
<p>rea crash course for sure (its really all you need)</p>
<p>and then do lots of practice frqs because by doing them they force you to really know the material for both the mc section and the frq section
Here is a compilation of actual FRQS from 1977 to today:
<a href=“https://sites.google.com/site/apfrqsolutions/released-frqs[/url]”>https://sites.google.com/site/apfrqsolutions/released-frqs</a></p>
<p>and then do practice ap tests of course</p>
<p>and then you’re set :)</p>
<p>Yes! Make sure you know the rubric for the essays and practice with properly allotted time. :D</p>
<p>REA+CC+PR+Modern Histroy+Hanks+525+Western Civilization= 4/5? </p>
<p>Thanks guys! :)</p>
<p>
This seems like overkill. I selfed with CC+MEH in 3 weeks or so and got a solid 5.</p>
<p>I might take out 5 steps to a 5 and the Hanks MP3.</p>
<p>It’s only Euro, seven books is way too much. At most, you will need a text book and and two prep books, and the second prep book may still be overkill.</p>
<p>You should never limit the number of books you consult. I used 10 textbooks in preparation for the AP exam. I didn’t go from cover to cover, no, but I did look at a decent amount of stuff in each book. </p>
<p>The only 2 books that clearly helped me on the AP was Western Civilization and REA’s Crash Course. That’s my experience. </p>
<p>The questions on the AP felt as if they came straight from Crash Course, and Western Civilization really helped me with the essays by providing me with solid information. </p>
<p>The other books were nice - it’s always nice to get a second take on a subject as finicky as history. Plus, if one book didn’t word something in a way I understood it right away, I’d just look at another book. That helped, as history is a complex series of interrelated and correlated events. </p>
<p>Don’t sweat it, you don’t need that many books to ace the AP. Just work with the aforementioned books over the next year and get very familiar with them. I guess you could buy a dozen review books and skim through each one, but what’s the point when one book has it all (Western Civ)?</p>