Rating: 
Summary: Would have been helpful if I had used it more..
Review: I took AP World History (or as my fellow classmates and I affectionately called it, WAP) last year (sophomore). Well, seeing as I'm no fan of history, I essentially zoned out everyday and during the lectures. I seldom read the actual textook, yet still managed to scrape a B in the class each quarter. My 2 friends and I decided to start our own review sessions in about March (looking back, I would say start reviewing sooner!!), and so we each bought a copy of this book to help us along. Our first few review sessions went OK, but eventually they were no longer review sessions, rather chit chat time. I ended up only reading about the first 9 or so chapters. I found the review quizzes after each chapter pretty helpful, especially since they were relatively painless (only 10 questions). However, I failed to take the full-length practice exams, or read over the sample essays/essay questions. If I had actually used this book, I would probably have earned a much higher score than I did (I choose to withhold this so as not to dishearten any of you, because my low score was an exception, everyone I talked to earned at least 3, most got 4's, and some even got 5's...oops, I guess that gives away my score...). the point is, for the litte of this book that I actually did use, it was helpful, and easy to understand. I would recommend using it. But don't expect to use it as a last-minute resource, becasue trust me, it won't work. Keep up with the reading during the year (taking notes helps you coprehend it more), pay attention in class (take notes if it helps you listen better). I know that most of my other classmates bought this book (you could always identify a WAP student on a test day or before the actualy exam by their Barron's book kept by them all day). One of my friends even used it to help her review before Unit Exams throughout the year and found that it helped. It puts pages and pages worth into 1-5 paragraphs, making remembering the information much easier. In addition to this book, USE YOUR TEACHER (if they are good)! My teacher was available after school almost every day of the year, and gave special help sessions for essay writing, and even worked with students individually on thesis writing (something I would also recommend perfecting, trust me, it helps!!!). When the test was about 3 weeks away, he held review sessions where we would take the tests we had takne throuhout the year, then review each answer. Talk to your teacher about help with review and essay writing, and make a small study group. However, study somewhere that is not distracting (i.e. a library, because the librarians will usually get mad @ you for laughing excessively). DO NOT, i repeat, DO NOT go to a Starbuck's or somewhere simialr, because TRUST ME, you will get NOTHING done!! Get plenty of sleep the night before, and don't freak out about it. Be calm, and have faith in yourself. DO NOT try to answer every multiple choice question, even if you're like me and hate leaving ones blank - they DO count agaisnt you. That said, GOOD LUCK on the test!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Simply Horrible
Review: I took AP World History in my freshman year of high school. I bought this book and Princeton's Cracking the AP World History Exam. I must say that Princeton's book was way much more better. It had good advice for tackling the multiple choice and essay questions on the exam and has enough information for you to get a 4 or 5. It also has questions that are EXTREMELY similar to the one's on the exam. However, the practice questions and sample essays in this book are NOTHING like what is on the exam. If you want to do well on the AP exam, take my advice and go for Princeton's book.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, But Not The Best Choice
Review: I used this APWH study guide with my students for 2 years and while it's an "OK" test prep manual, I've found factual errors about the APWH course and overly complicated sample answers to the essay questions. Until the Princeton Review "Cracking the APWH Exam" came out 2/2004, it was about the best you could find.
Rating: 
Summary: I went from failing to passing!
Review: I was having an extremly hard time with my AP World History class. In November, I finally pulled this book out of my locker (where it had been sitting since my mom bought it in early September)and looked through it. It is an excellent book, and my whole class has bought it. I can't imagine taking this class with out it. I went from failing to passing and I think I'll be ready when the exam rolls around in April. It is a great book!
Rating:
Summary: THIS GOT ME A 5, IT WILL GET YOU ONE TOO
Review: I'm not exagerrating when I say that if it were not for this book, the world history test would have been a miserable failure. If you buy any book for the AP test, buy this one. It's very organized and indepthly covers all the topics that showed up on the test. I have taken many AP tests, but this test prep book beat out all the others when it came to how much they really prepared me for the test. You won't regret this buy.
Rating:
Summary: an awesome study tool
Review: if you read the book front to back like i did, there is no way in hell that you won't get a five. My suggestions is to come up with a reading schedule starting during spring break and read it all the way until the exam. Good luck and use this book!
Rating:
Summary: A Work in Progress
Review: In terms of price per page, this study guide is a bargain. But that's one of its problems - length - and the authors know it. Like they say, "It is best to use this book over a long period of time, rather than trying to cram at the last minute." I confess that I have always been partial to Barron's AP study guides, in part because they included a comprehensive review. But in the case of world history, we're talking about a terse 500 page 'world history in brief' that is still half as long as the average textbook. Yes, they have practice tests, but then so do textbook publishers. The question arises whether this study guide is better than just using the textbook - at least this year. It's anyone's guess whether 2002 students will find this study guide useful. It's going to require at least 50% more time to read and study than the typical AP guide - probably much closer to twice the time. If you're going to give it a try, I would suggest a careful reading of the test taking strategies, the unit overviews, and the key terms and concepts - and then skim through the review chapters to the questions at the end of the unit. Above all, I would suggest buying this study guide early and following the advice of the author; do not wait until the last minute. Teachers who plan to recommend it to their students should probably do so at the beginning of the year. In many ways, this study guide is an impressive piece of work, but basically I think an AP study guide should be limited to 350 pages and suitable for a last minute "cram". This one's too long for that.
Rating:
Summary: Great resource
Review: My AP World History test is next week and for the past few weeks I have been using this book. I haven't been reading it, but I've been using it as a resource for making study guides and charts for myself. I find it is easier to use than my text book, and when taking my Mock AP really helped because it is "World History in 500 pages." It doesn't give too many specifics but general trends which are valuable when writing essays.It would be valuable to use over the year as well, to review for tests and such.
Rating:
Summary: AP World
Review: This book does a pretty good job at reviewing for the exam. Since this was a new class last year, the course was somewhat disorganized in the first semester. This book really helped me refresh things from the beginning of the year (primarily from 1000 to 1450 ce). I had a great teacher and our class' text book had an enourmous amount of information. This review book only seemed to get a small part of all of it. But, it turned out that the test didn't have nearly as much as my text book. I did read through parts of this book and did the practice tests. The test was really easy though. You shouldn't worry if you do somewhat well in the class. I thought I didn't write very good essays, but I got a 5. It is still good review though, but it is a bit long.
Rating:
Summary: Really good overview
Review: This book is a really good book. Not only does it sum up the important trends, but it also goes into some details that will help you to remember the event. These details are interesting and sometimes even funny. This book is a lot better than the AP Writer's textbook (Stearns) because it keeps the reader interested and it has really good comparisons and change-over-time, which will definitely help you in writing the essays. It states everything in simple terms, not SAT vocabulary. I would really recommend this book as a study guide...even at the last minute! So if you're in a hurry, I'd definitely recommend this book to guarantee you a 5 bc it does such a good job. I personally did not start reviewing until two weeks ahead of time and ALL I did was read this book! I got a 5!! Woohoo!
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