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AP European History a desperate plea for help

#1 User is offline   mynameizrachel 

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Posted 22 April 2006 - 08:45 AM

alright...so i started studying for it last week and its not going that great. what really sucks is that my AP teacher isn't teaching us the whole curriculum in time for the exam. he's teaching us to the french revolution and thats it. the rest we learn by ourselves.... dry.gif anyway.

i was wondering if there are any euro history "veterans" here who got a 4 or 5 on their exam. cuz i have a few questions....and even if you didn't get a 4 or 5. please...help me out. sweatingbullets.gif

1. what was your study plan before you took the test...i have the princeton review book, and i'm reading my textbook. anything else i should do?
2. would i have to be responsible for very specific information?? cuz i'm having a hard time just trying to finish reading all the information. but...do i specifically need to know about certain people, groups and organizations, laws, books, and other miscellanious info? and if so...how did you memorize all that stuff?
3. are the essay questions something that you have to really prepare for? cuz i'm pretty good with essay writing and i'm hoping to just wing it during the test. but i'm starting to get worried about it. so if you can give some advice on that....
4. and any other words of wisdom. some good techniques you used during the test...etc.

o yea. and also...i know the exam is kinda graded like the SAT's. so...if you don't answer some questions they don't count against you. so if you were to get all the other questions correct but you left a couple questions unanswered..would that count as a perfect grade?? i always wondered about that.

thanks to all who took the time to read and reply smile.gif
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#2 User is offline   Tammie 

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Posted 22 April 2006 - 10:28 AM

I'm taking it too! May 5 sad.gif

I didn't take the test yet, but some my teacher explained some things regarding the test. Although questions unanswered won't count against you, you won't get points for them. So leaving a whole bunch blank won't help you.

I was doing some practice essay questions and they're pretty difficult. You must include relative information & facts. The good part is that there's several choices for you to choose from. There are DBQ's too where you analyze sources and analyze them. Good luck!

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#3 User is offline   cmank 

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Posted 22 April 2006 - 10:29 AM

i got a 2 on it last year
WOOOOO
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#4 User is offline   itzxaxducky 

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Posted 22 April 2006 - 10:52 AM

Read Schaum's Modern European History--brief and concise, probably the only book I would read for information. I got a 3 w/o studying but those who read it got 4s/5s. Not well known, but I think it's really good.

I don't really remember the formula but basically you would pass if you got a raw score for multiple choice of 30 something I think, do well on one of your essays and on your dbq. (But I'm saying to completely bomb the second essay.) I remember I was still getting 20 something raw score for multiple choice before going into the test and I still passed.

Also for multiple choice, it does not mean a perfect score. Furthermore, although skipped questions don't count against, but you can knock out 1 or 2 choices then go for it.

Lastly, the test format is abuot 80 questions, 2 essays, 1 DBQ. Practice your timing and familiarity with the test because if you don't know how it is set up that can even bring you down a whole score because you couldn't time yourself, etc. For the two essays, it's split up by time period. First essay, you get to choose from 3 topics with from the first half of the course and the next essay 3 topics from the second half. The DBQ is analysis and application, you don't really need to know background info on it because there's a little blurb that sort describes it to you, everything you need is in the docs.
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#5 User is offline   plusone 

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Posted 22 April 2006 - 10:19 PM

QUOTE(mynameizrachel @ Apr 22 2006, 09:45 AM) View Post

alright...so i started studying for it last week and its not going that great. what really sucks is that my AP teacher isn't teaching us the whole curriculum in time for the exam. he's teaching us to the french revolution and thats it. the rest we learn by ourselves.... dry.gif anyway.

i was wondering if there are any euro history "veterans" here who got a 4 or 5 on their exam. cuz i have a few questions....and even if you didn't get a 4 or 5. please...help me out. sweatingbullets.gif

1. what was your study plan before you took the test...i have the princeton review book, and i'm reading my textbook. anything else i should do?
2. would i have to be responsible for very specific information?? cuz i'm having a hard time just trying to finish reading all the information. but...do i specifically need to know about certain people, groups and organizations, laws, books, and other miscellanious info? and if so...how did you memorize all that stuff?
3. are the essay questions something that you have to really prepare for? cuz i'm pretty good with essay writing and i'm hoping to just wing it during the test. but i'm starting to get worried about it. so if you can give some advice on that....
4. and any other words of wisdom. some good techniques you used during the test...etc.

o yea. and also...i know the exam is kinda graded like the SAT's. so...if you don't answer some questions they don't count against you. so if you were to get all the other questions correct but you left a couple questions unanswered..would that count as a perfect grade?? i always wondered about that.

thanks to all who took the time to read and reply smile.gif


if ur gonna use study books, use cliff notes, not princeton. i got a 5 on it last year, though i didnt use any study guides. my firned though, used cliff notes, and though he didnt do anything the whole year, pulled off a 4. i used 'modern european history' by birdsall s. viault for last minute brush-up on the class. its a very good outline book.

i didnt really memorize excat facts except dates and names, i just sort of learnd the trends of EHAP
i have a giant trends and terms chart that really helped... me and my firneds put it together
i still have it so if u want it PM me

dont worry about teh essay its not too bad

//edit//
i just noticed that the book that i recommended is the same one as the one that itzxaxducky recommended lol
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#6 User is online   erure 

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Posted 23 April 2006 - 05:31 PM

i got a 5 on the ap euro test but that was 2 years ago =_=;; but truth be told, it wasn't really because i'm a brilliant student or anything... i just had a really experienced teacher who was good at cramming info into our heads and made it interesting. i think i bought princeton review and barron's review books for ap euro... and i remember that princeton review was very good with the review of the history while barron was good with practice tests. as for the essay, yeah they're pretty tough... remember ICE [introduce, cite, explain] for supporting your arguments... like a body paragraph should be like one topic sentence, and then a couple ICEs and then your concluding statement. introductions need to have your thesis statement at the end and you need to sort of lead up to it by starting general and getting specific. ah you probably already know all this =_=;; just ask if you need any help more specifically and i'll try to help ^^;;
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#7 User is offline   tinasarangg 

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Posted 23 April 2006 - 05:37 PM

Hey! I'm taking it on May 5th too!

I'm not anticipating to get a five.
...a two maybe? lol. I love my teacher and all, but he doesn't teach us anything. During class he just lets us chill.

Maybe I should go get a copy of Barron's tomorrow...


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#8 User is offline   mynameizrachel 

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Posted 24 April 2006 - 11:08 AM

QUOTE(littlebabytina16 @ Apr 23 2006, 07:37 PM) View Post

Hey! I'm taking it on May 5th too!

I'm not anticipating to get a five.
...a two maybe? lol. I love my teacher and all, but he doesn't teach us anything. During class he just lets us chill.

Maybe I should go get a copy of Barron's tomorrow...



ahaha...maybe you should wink.gif
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#9 User is offline   shinhwa_luver1 

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Posted 25 April 2006 - 12:18 PM

i'm takin it too! yea that class is a heck of a lot of work....
i organized ALL of my notes, handouts, worksheets...and we got a HUMONGOUS review packet to do..so i'm studying that stuff....and hoping it'll be enough.

good luck, and hang in therE!
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#10 User is offline   Elysia 

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Posted 25 April 2006 - 01:50 PM

taking it as well... this was the hardest class i've ever taken lol

and i feel like i've learned NOTHING. >_< i have that same book! it's very useful... but like when you say "read it" do you mean MEMORIZE everything in it? O_O

i just started studying... today. and it's next friday. ooooh boy ~
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#11 User is offline   plusone 

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Posted 25 April 2006 - 04:45 PM

dont memorize terms.. .know them. if u know what i mean. like, you dont have to have a definition of 'new monarchs' but you need to know what they are, and examples of who they are

memorize trends if anything

it wont have any quetions like 'what was the economic trend in 1820' but you can use your knowledge of trends to help you answers questins you may not explicitly remember

for example, if there was a question that asked you why the schmakaldic war was fought, and you didnt know, you could probably still get the answer if you knew that the wars took place during the 1600s.

if you knew your trends, you would know that many religious reformations, such as the counterreformation, the prostestnat reformation, and the catholic reformation were occuring around the 16th and 17th centuries. with that you would be safe guessing that the war was about religion.
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#12 User is offline   theedqueen 

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Posted 26 April 2006 - 11:36 PM

QUOTE(mynameizrachel @ Apr 22 2006, 09:45 AM) View Post

alright...so i started studying for it last week and its not going that great. what really sucks is that my AP teacher isn't teaching us the whole curriculum in time for the exam. he's teaching us to the french revolution and thats it. the rest we learn by ourselves.... dry.gif anyway.


what the...l? He's only teaching you to the FRENCH REVOLUTION??? What happened to WWI or WWII? What a crappy teacher...how is he still hired? I'd complain my butt off to the administration if I were you...

Anyways...

Princeton review is pretty good. I recommend taking a lot of practice exams, just for the multiple choice part tho. It's kinda hard to judge how you would do for practice essays if you have no one to correct it for you. You should study a lot for the free response questions since you can probaly just wing the DBQ (since it's just going off what they give you anyways). Know how to define terms and stuff, and don't get too bogged down on details. Details are definitely needed, but if you don't know the big picture, it doesn't really matter. Anyways, good luck.
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#13 User is offline   mynameizrachel 

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Posted 28 April 2006 - 03:12 PM

^^
ahaha...he's not a crappy teacher. he's one of the best teacher's in my school. it's just that we spent so much time learning West. Civ. cuz we don't learn that in our school.


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#14 User is offline   Wonderful_Kimchi 

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Posted 02 May 2006 - 03:27 PM

I'm taking the test on Friday, too!!! I'm soooo nervous! But you know what? My teacher gave us study sessions and everything with practice tests and the whole shabang.

With the multiple choice, there is a penalty. I forgot what it was, though, sorry. But you have to subtract that from your score. I will try to find out the equation for the final results, my teacher wrote it all over his chalkboards. tongue.gif

AP Euro is the main class that I did absolutely NOTHING in. Seriously, all of my friends, even my close friends, laugh at me when I say that I read a few pages-- that's how horrible I am. laugh.gif But when I took the 2004 practice test, I ended up getting a FOUR on it!!!!

Like someone above state, you have to know the trends. You have to remember the big, main events and what centuries/years they happened in. You don't have to be precise, though, just KNOW it. And try to remember the after-effects. This can really help you. Also, if you have been reading any books lately about Protestant lifestyles (i.e.- The Crucible, Scarlet Letter, etc...) those can really help you understand the standards of the Protestants.

Religion was a pretty big thing in the 2004 test, well, I'm pretty sure. It was kind of like Jeoperdy where they give you all these little details and you have to answer it with, "What is ___." lol. It sounds silly, but that's how it is. If you know how to apply the details they provide you with in the question, you're well off to getting the answer. Apply it to literature, society, et cetera.

My teacher scheduled a seminar with one of the people who have been grading the AP European History exams for quite some time now. Don't be too nervous. They are actually quite lenient! He said that if you confuse the Louis's, but get it right with what they did and the time that they ruled correct for the question you're answering, they'll let that pass. Spelling errors are okay, as long as it's easy to understand what you're talking about.

Also, they totally understand the importance of time. He said that many times, they will be gracious with the points on the final FRQ. The reason why is because most people spend most of their time working hard on the first FRQ. Then when it comes to the second one, they will rush through it or often not even finish. The average score for the first FRQ (from what I heard) is around a five or six. And for the second, the average is a 2.5. But that shouldn't even bring you down! As long as you're a good writer (like you said you were), it should be okay.

Also, if you do badly on the selected response questions and do well on the essays, believe me, there is more than a possibility that you will pass. But do your best to do well on the multiple choice! The goal that you have to aim for on the multiple choice is a 50-60 in order to be confident to pass the rest of the test, even when you don't do too well on the essays.

I have read on many different AP test forums that for the AP Euro exam, the Houghton-Mifflin (I think) Western Civilization book is the best. And many have said that if you understand the content in the 7th edition one, you'll most likely pass. Because so much time has passed and the test is this week, I suggest you go on the website. If you need the links or anything, feel more than free to PM me! There are chapter outlines on the site, and they've been very helpful to me!

On the 2004 AP Euro test, there were like no questions about the Renaissance or the Middle Ages, but it would be quite helpful to still study them. But make sure you KNOW all of the revolutions that happened around 1848. I dunno why, but there seemed to be a lot of questions about society, such as the reason for the baby boom, lol.

Like stated in the Princeton book, there will never be any questions pertaining to military tactics/tools, but if there are, they will never be specific, such as, "What was created during the Age of Exploration? (List of different tools)" No.

I was very much relieved when taking the 2004 test to realize that this test is more broad. In my class, we had these chapter tests that were so hard, we had to know little, fine details, lol.

Don't worry, you will do perfectly fine! I have total confidence in you. I mean, if I can get a four, I know someone who has been working hard and studying as much as you can get at least a three!

Good luck!
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#15 User is offline   catchlight 

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Posted 03 May 2006 - 03:10 PM

1. what was your study plan before you took the test...i have the princeton review book, and i'm reading my textbook. anything else i should do?
Well, I for sure did NOT spend the whole year studying...the class was basically a joke to me. About a week before the AP though I decided eh maybe I should review. Soo I picked up a copy of REA and Cliffnotes and highlighted everything over two days just so it would have passed under my eyes once. A few days before the exam, I took a practice test and for the multiple choice answers I got wrong, next to it I would write out in a complete sentence the fact I should have known. Then I lucked out on the essays because they were on stuff I knew (modern!) and I got a 4!
2. would i have to be responsible for very specific information?? cuz i'm having a hard time just trying to finish reading all the information. but...do i specifically need to know about certain people, groups and organizations, laws, books, and other miscellanious info? and if so...how did you memorize all that stuff?
Basically, if you listened to your teacher's lectures or took notes during the past year, most of the info and connections you need to know are already inside your head ^^ there are a good amount of questions that COMPARE the ruling styles of monarchs, and ask about similarities between revolutions and all that. So what you should do is get the big picture..don't study one country's history at a time. Get a grasp of what went on politically (and RELIGIOUSLY<--important) in each country around the same time. =)
3. are the essay questions something that you have to really prepare for? cuz i'm pretty good with essay writing and i'm hoping to just wing it during the test. but i'm starting to get worried about it. so if you can give some advice on that....
If you're good at essay writing already, I would actually recommend not worrying about it at all. Studying for the multiple choice while keeping in mind the "big picture" and being able to compare and connect events that happened PARALLEL to one another in history..that should prepare you enough for what they throw at you in the essay section (it was very easy last year! Good general topics)
4. and any other words of wisdom. some good techniques you used during the test...etc.
Hmm well let's see during the test..I'm just a fast multiple choice test taker in general so I finished in half the time and had lots of time to go back and check answers. Like EVERYONE says..your first instinct on those questions is pretty much always right. When you go back to check, and you remember you had narrowed question 17 down to two choices and answered B the first time, don't change it to C because it seems more right the second time around. Only change it if a lightbulb goes off in your head and you recall the specific fact EXACTLY and there's no doubt in your mind it's true.

I hope that helped just a little bit darling! Good luck on your test laugh.gif

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#16 User is offline   Wonderful_Kimchi 

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Posted 03 May 2006 - 04:21 PM

QUOTE(azn@h3art @ May 3 2006, 07:10 PM) View Post

Only change it if a lightbulb goes off in your head and you recall the specific fact EXACTLY and there's no doubt in your mind it's true.

Yeah, that's what my teacher said, and it's most likely true. Why? Because my friend got a five on it last year, and she had that problem-- she second guessed herself. So for the AP test, he gave her a pencil without an eraser.

Hur, sounds funny, but it worked! happy.gif
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#17 User is offline   plusone 

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Posted 03 May 2006 - 07:43 PM

^lmfao
he did that?
i wouldnve gone nuts and snuck in an eraser lol
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#18 User is offline   tinasarangg 

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Posted 04 May 2006 - 03:59 PM

Argh. My head is spinning from all that history.
Good luck to everyone tomorrow smile.gif


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#19 User is offline   eliteninja 

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Posted 04 May 2006 - 04:16 PM

ahh!! i`m taking it tomorrow. LOL good luck to everyone else who is!
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#20 User is offline   Sky's Crying 

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Posted 04 May 2006 - 04:18 PM

I took the AP EURO test last year, I'm taking the APUSH test tomorrow sad.gif

I just read my Barron's book and did practice exams. I also went to after school lectures for 2 hours everyday in the week before the test as well. I got a 4 though. I think I could've gotten a 5, but I had some really obscure Marx question for the free response hahaha.
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