<p>I am going to be taking World History this fall and would like to know if anyone has used REA's Crash Course, and if so, whether it was useful? </p>
<p>Before you yell at me, I have looked at most of the pages (okay, 10 at beginning, and 8 at the end, and a few in the middle) of the Consolidated Book Suggestions for the AP and couldn't find any mention of Crash Course for World History. I found Crash Course very helpful for AP U.S. Gov (although the test ended up containing far less than I had studied) and enjoyed the format, but I don't know if the quality is the same for World. </p>
<p>I did find in the Consolidated Book Suggestions pages that most students like Princeton Review and Barron's for World. I enjoyed using PR for PSAT prep, but I didn't find it useful for U.S. Gov. I have never used Barron's. I would like to not spend too much time studying for World, so I would prefer a book that just gave me what I needed to know for the test. (Please don't misunderstand my desire to simply do the test as a lack of enthusiasm for the material. I love history, but I have a busy year ahead, complete with health problems, so I'd rather not waste my time.)</p>
<p>Thanks ahead of time for your help. I appreciate it.</p>
<p>^^He means “there’s a Crash Course for AP World!?!?!” And no, there is no crash course for AP world. Only the regular REA book, along with the usual barrons, PR, etc.</p>
<p>I think I had the Princeton Review book, courtesy of my teacher, and it wasn’t a great help. Surprisingly, I’d say my greatest help was History Channel, but that’s over a course of years (and before a bunch of non-historical shows started there). I can’t make a comment about your particular question, but I encourage you to get an actual textbook (mine was orange… can’t recall what it was called though), as everyone I know personally has said that it was way better than whatever prep book they had purchased. Just some personal experience.</p>
<p>The orange textbook is “World Civilizations, 5th Edition, AP Edition” by Stearns. </p>
<p>Also, if you aren’t a history mogul then you’ll have to study a lot. The MC is easy, the FRQ isn’t necessary hard, but I think people don’t practice as much on the FRQs</p>
<p>Hey, blabbermouth sorry for the confusion, I clearly misunderstood what you were saying. Thanks for setting me straight apn00b. I have been looking at so many AP prep books I guess I mixed up which course had which books available. </p>
<p>Thanks for your advice BillyMc. I used to watch History Channel all the time too, but it seems to be solely filled with shows such as “Pawn Stars” now. Fortunately, a lot of their older documentaries are available on Netflix.<br>
I will take your advice and use the textbook you and Techhexium recommended instead of a prep book. </p>
<p>Techhexium - History is my strongest subject, so I am not too worried. The bit of worry I do have surrounds my Chinese/East Asian history, which I have not read about for a while.</p>
Haha, I’m an assistant teacher for my AP World History teacher this year, and just saw the book today, but you beat me to it.</p>
<p>
Pawn Stars at least has historical items a lot. But that, American Pickers, Ice Road Truckers, Top Shot, the logging shows, et cetera have robbed History Channel of History. They moved all the historical stuff to History International, but that’s not in basic cable. People like those “reality shows” too much, and History Channel wanted higher ratings.</p>
<p>The only thing I used a prep book for was practice tests, and that was just because I was required to. I don’t think they were very reliable, because I got: 69/70, 55/70, 50/70, 50/70. That’s a pretty wide range, and my teacher had never had anyone get above a 50 on them, but again, I don’t think they were super-reliable. Essay writing was the most useful thing, and old AP essays have been released anyway, so just write those. That is the road to a 5.</p>