AP World History Review 5-Step Study Plan

AP World History Review 5-Step Study Plan SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips It's difficult to know where to start when studyingfor the AP World History test. The few months you have to study for the class are dwarfed by the thousands of years of history covered by the curriculum. The good news is that the AP exammainly asks you to look at long-term trends rather than minute details, so it's not as daunting to review for as you might think. In this guide, I'll give a brief overview of the test content, lay out a template for a successfulAP World Historyreview plan, and provide some essential study strategies for making the most of your prep time. What’s on the AP World History Exam? The AP World History Exam covers five themes that stretch across six historical periods.For links to notes that go through all the content, you can visit my article that deals specifically with AP world history notes. The Themes Are: Theme 1: Interaction Between Humans and the Environment Theme 2: Development and Interaction of Cultures Theme 3: State-Building, Expansion, and Conflict Theme 4: Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems Theme 5: Development and Transformation of Social Structures The Historical Periods Are: Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations, Before c. 600 B.C.E. Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural Societies The Development and Interactions of Early Agricultural, Pastoral, and Urban Societies Period 2: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies, 600 B.C.E. - 600 C.E. The Development and Codification of Religious and Cultural Traditions The Development of States and Empires Emergence of Transregional Networks of Communication and Exchange Period 3: Regional and Transregional Interactions, 600 - 1450 Expansion and Intensification of Communication and Exchange Networks Continuity and Innovation of State Forms and Their Interactions Increased Economic Productive Capacity and Its Consequences Period 4: Global Interactions, 1450 - 1750 Globalizing Networks of Communication and Exchange New Forms of Social Organization and Modes of Production State Consolidation and Imperial Expansion Period 5: Industrialization and Global Integration, 1750 - 1900 Industrialization and Global Capitalism Imperialism and Nation-State Formation Nationalism, Revolution, and Reform Global Migration Period 6: Accelerating Global Change and Realignments, 1900 - Present Science and the Environment Global Conflicts and Their Consequences New Conceptualizations of Global Economy, Society, and Culture Here’s a chart that shows how much each historical period will show up on the multiple-choice portion of the exam: Historical Period Percentage of Multiple Choice Questions Before 600 B.C.E. 5 600 B.C. - 600 C.E. 15 600 - 1450 20 1450 - 1750 20 1750 - 1900 20 1900 - Present 20 Note that eighty percent of the multiple-choice section will ask about events in world history that occurred after 600 C.E. There’s a lot of information packed in here. How can you actually start reviewing for the AP test? In the next section, I’ll give you some advice on how to create a study plan that will get you the best score possible! This represents your progression towards a 5 as you go through the review plan. Hopefully, you'll end up less arrogant than the dude on the tallest pillar, though. He needs to tone down the attitude. AP World History Review Plan Here's a step-by-step review plan for the AP World History exam that will get you on the right track with your studying. Step 1: Take and Score a Diagnostic Test The first step in your review should be taking a full practice test to see where you’re scoring on the AP scale.Based on your scores, you can set a goal for yourself and make study plans that fit with the amount of work you need to do to improve.When you take this test, you should adhere to the time guidelines set by the real exam: 55 minutes for the 55 multiple-choice questions 50 minutes for the four short-answer questions 55 minutes for the document based question 35 minutes for the long essay questions It’s a challenge to write this fast, so you should get used to it as soon as possible.Also, circle any multiple-choice questions where you weren’t entirely sure of the answer. Even if you get them right, you should still review the content. If you find you’re in the lower range for a certain AP score, you should continue to work on your skills even if you’re satisfied with that score.The curve tends to get tougher over time, so the calculator givesa slightly inflated score estimate. Step 2: Analyze Your Mistakes After you take and score your test, go through your mistakes and detect any issues you had with the material.Categorize your mistakes by era so that you can get a better idea of what you need to study.Note any patterns that occurred. Were you especially rusty in one geographic area? Did questions dealing with particular themes give you the most trouble?Take this step very seriously because it will get you on the right track with your studying going forward! Step 3: Study Relevant Content Areas Now that you’ve gone through your mistakes, it’s time to dive back into your notes and review whatever you forgot.Work your way through all the gaps in your memory that manifested themselves on the test.Make sure that you’re absorbing the information and not just reading it over.Follow the tips in the previous section on looking for larger themes, and check in with yourself after each section of notes to make sure what you learned didn’t fall out of your brain immediately. Step 4: Essay Dress Rehearsal The next step before taking another practice test is to do a little essay rehearsal.I'll reemphasize the importance of practicing essay writing skills in the upcoming strategy section, butI also think they warrant their own step in the study process. Just knowing the information won’t guarantee you a high essay score if you write too slowly or aren’t prepared to connect specific examples with trends and themes.Take a look back at your first test, and note the strengths and weaknesses of your essays.Try to write new essays (or essay outlines) that improve on your original essays and would score higher based on the AP guidelines. Step 5: Take Another Practice Test Finally, take another practice test to see whether all that studying paid off!If you find that you’re happy with your new score, you can take a break and just do a few light review sessions before the test. If you’re still unsatisfied, you can repeat the study process again using the results of this test. If you find that you haven’t improved from the first test, you need to reexamine your study methods and your analysis of incorrect answers.You may have been distracted during part of the process or read through your notes too quickly without understanding them on a deeper level. Attention to detailis key if you want to see big improvements! Here’s an estimate of the timeline for these five steps: Step 1: 3.5 hours Step 2: 1 hour Step 3: 2 hours Step 4: 2 hours Step 5: 3.5 hours That’s a total of around 12 hours for one cycle ofthis process.It’s well worth your time to go through it at least once if you’re dedicated to earning a great score! Twelve hours is but a blink of an eye compared to the whole of human history! Try not to think about that too much. AP World History Review Tips and Strategies These are three of the most important strategies to keep in your back pocket as you review. Check out this article to findadditional study tips for AP World History! Strategy #1: Don’t Try to Memorize Everything The main thing you should know about AP World History, before you start reviewing, is that you’re not expected to memorize tons of specific dates or the names of every ruler of every empire in history.Don’t fill up valuable space in your memory with minute details that most likely won't come up on the test. You should have a good idea of how major events have progressed chronologically in each region throughout history, but there’s no need to get into the nitty gritty of less prominent names and places.Study the same way you might read Lord of the Rings (I assume you’ve done this if you’re truly a nerd):Skim over the insane names of minor characters and places that are peripheral to the main storyline, but hold onto key details that will allow you to make logical sense of the plot as you progress through the book. Strategy #2: Look for the Themes A strong understanding of the five themes and the ability to connect them to events throughout history is the key to doing well on this test.As you study content, think back to how the themes might play into the reasons for shifts in political dynamics, cultural developments, or other trends.This can help you to come up with supporting examples to use in your free-response essays.The essays will ask you to explain changes over time and compare different societies.The course themes are great jumping-off points for your essays that will help you explain how events are connected and why societies have adopted different values or political systems. Strategy #3: Practice Essay-Writing Skills I want to doubly emphasize the fact that the free-response section is your most challenging obstacle to a high score on AP World History. Twoessays in an hour and a half is no easy task, even for the best writers!That’s why it’s critical to practice plenty of essays before you sit down to take the real test. If you’re short on time, you don’t have to practice full essays. However, you should at least write a thesis and then outline how you would support it with specific examples.For the DBQ, which many students find to be the most challenging question on the test, look at questions from past exams, and think about how you would weave together your analysis of all the documents.Here’s some more information on the DBQ and what you need to include in your answer to get a high score. Just be thankful that you don't have to read the original documents. Most of these things are so illegible that I wouldn't be surprised if we were completely wrong about certain parts of our history. Conclusion Reviewing for AP World History doesn't have to be a super stressful experience. Despite the fact that the exam covers a huge amount of content, it's also pretty forgiving if you happen to forget some of the minor historical players. Themes and long-term trends are the focus of both the course and the exam. To recap, this is the process I recommend for conducting your review: Step 1: Take and Score a Diagnostic Test Step 2: Analyze Your Mistakes Step 3: Study Relevant Content Areas Step 4: Essay Dress Rehearsal Step 5: Take Another Practice Test As you go through these steps, some strategies to keep in mind are: #1: Don't Try to Memorize Every Little Detail #2: Look for the Themes #3: Practice Essay Writing Skills Regularly As you do more practice and start to get used to the format and content of the test, you'll see that a 5 is definitely within reach if you put in a strong effort! What's Next? If you're taking AP World History as an underclassman, you're probably still planning out the rest of your high school schedule. Read this article for advice on which AP classes you should takebased on your school's offerings and your goals for college. Are you bummed that your high school doesn't offer an AP class that you're interested in taking? Learn more about AP self-studying so you can decide whether it'sthe right choice for you. You may end up taking SAT Subject Tests in addition to AP tests if you're applying to very competitive colleges. Check out this article for the inside scoop on which type of test is more important for college applications. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: