I’m taking world this year and many things have been worrying me.
Though I have an A, I’m someone who just doesn’t grasp historical concepts as easy as he does for math or science.
I seem to do rather fine on my teacher’s famously harder tests, because they are stimulus based and I know the broader concepts well enough to answer the questions. This seems to be hard for others
However, in day to day class discussions, I struggle in answering some factual questions. So, my first question is, will the AP Exam be stimulus based like my teacher’s exam for M/C? I understand I will have to be much more specific on the FRQ.
The second thing is, one day I noticed my classmates’ notes from the textbook for the previous night’s homework was simply just rewriting the vocab defined on the side of the actual text, and they had little to no notes on the actual book. After looking at a few more of classmates’ notes, they had similar notes!
I’m wondering if simply writing down the vocab and maybe adding just a few important points from the text would be a viable note taking option? Reading the textbook is an extreme bore for me and is so much harder for me to focus on compared to my ap chem homework. Or maybe any other tips on how to get through the text and take notes?
Also, I seem to be the only one complaining and worrying about ap world concepts in general, as most of my classmates find it reasonable to easy- that is the general perception of it at our school. Any others take the exam before and can share some info about their class vs the actual exam?
A very similar story for me in AP Psych, with the school’s general view of it being the easiest AP, very contrary to how I see it. Textbook reading kills me.
I would suggest watching videos on youtube. John Green has a pretty good series (Crash Course World History), though his videos are very fast pace. You can also just search for review videos on the different periods. I got a 4 on the AP test without much preparation. The FRQs usually are focused on topics, such as science or economics (you should know what SPICE stands for) in a geographic area, such as Eurasia or even countries. LEQ also tend to be more concept based. I suggest you look at the previous AP World exams. I’m not exactly sure what you mean by stimulus based, but the MC part of the exam has things like reading passages, graphs/charts, and pictures. Knowing more specifics of time periods could help you here. You should definitely keep taking notes on vocab, but also add lots of examples and comparisons.
Sorry that most of this response is broad. I also highly suggest you get a review book like the Princeton Review, Barron’s, etc. They are very good with concepts, but also provide lots of details. The textbook usually overkills it with information. I have a very good google doc that I made of notes covering period 5 and 6. It has lots of vocab and other important concepts. If you want me to make a copy for you, just PM me.
So would you say AP the exam was harder or easier compared to your class tests?
Also stimulus based means what you said, like graphs charts and other bits of given info.
We haven’t gotten to periods 5 and 6 yet, so maybe I’ll let you know in the future if I need it.
This sounds similar to my struggles with my DE/college US History classes during my junior year of HS. I second @PureShores ’ comment about finding review videos online; I used Adam Norris for US History (and now AP US Government, which I am currently taking for my senior year) and he was a godsend, but as far as I know, he doesn’t make World History videos.
I put up PBS documentaries on my room youtube while I am studying etc… i have literally learnt about everyone from Napoleon to Alexander to James I to Tsars, and I loved learning because it is like watching a fun movie… Its a killer tip… Try it…