How to Get a 5 on the Human Geography Exam? Study Tips?

MetalMeatwad · 05-03-2008, 08:55 AM

Ok I'm starting to study for this Exam? Do you think I'm cramming by doing this? Ok, back to my main question I got the Barron's 2008 Human Geography Book, and I'm about to order the 2006 exam online. What else should I study. My weak spot is FRQ (Free Response Questions) Any suggestions? I started studying for this 2 weeks ago, but nothing seriously (Just reading the Barrons Book, but not like quizing myself that much, and memorizing each term, etc).... and I'm scarred I'm cramming for this thing.

jodessky · 05-03-2008, 09:14 AM

ohhh ap human. i'm taking it, too, and i've had the class all year. honestly, 50% of the exam is vocabulary, which Barron's will cover, and the other half is pure common sense. i just took the mock exam from the collegeboard. i got an 83 on multiple choice and some score lower once i took the points off, and i BSed all of my essays and got like 2/5, 2/9, and 3/6 on each of them, and once i put it through the whole calculating formula with weight and such, it was still a 5. ridiculous curve, so all you really need to do is read Barron's. for each vocab word, write 2 or 3 examples from different places around the world. that should really be enough prep. if you feel like you need to do some in-depth prep, get your hands on a textbook (don't buy it, but maybe get it from a friend who's taking the course), such as deBlij or Rubenstein, and skim through it. kaplan is the other prep book which is new this year, but it's superrrr specific, and i'm sure very little of that will show up on the exam.

Sligh_Anarchist · 05-03-2008, 09:15 AM

The reason your weak spot is the free response is because you don't know the material that well. I began studying for this exam four weeks ago and finished up all of the curriculum last week. Have you finished reading the entire book yet? Do you do the MC at the end of each unit? Make sure you do. I started a thread a while back seeing if anybody wanted to do an AP Human Geography chatroom. I will be working on that soon, sending out PM's to all of those who replied, and we can start discussing material such as all of the map projections (Fuller Dymaxion, Mercator, Azimuthal, Robinson, et cetera) and other tricky memorization stuff. Feel free to take advantage of this. I will make a thread when I have schedule of when we can discuss in a chatroom.

Remember, many of CC say this is an easy exam. Well, it is. But Human Geography is a wide and diverse field and you need to learn the material accordingly. Don't cram.

MetalMeatwad · 05-03-2008, 09:50 AM

Send me a PM when you do so. Also, I have not finished the whole book yet, we will be finished Tuesday. I don't have the best teacher, she doesn't review well with the class, but I think I know the material pretty well, I just need to review a little more to refresh my mind. I started studying the Barrons Book about 2 or 3 weeks ago, by just reading it, and just doing those quiz questions at the end. I didn't do the FRQ's in their though. I know the material pretty well. My last FRQ was a 7/9, but I have done worse, like a 4/8 (Ouch) I will begin studying really hard (Very seriously) for this starting Tuesday Night. I have an AP Test (last one)Tuesday, so I need to focus on that. By the way, what is your grade in the class I've had a high-middle B throughout the year, but I may get an A this quarter, which would average for an a A in the class for the semester, and what do you get on tests in the class? Someone please send me the link to the mock exam, Thanks! Edit: Do you mean the exam in the Barron's book, or an actual mock exam online?

Sligh_Anarchist · 05-03-2008, 09:55 AM

I don't have a grade for AP Human Geography; I, like many other CC'ers, am self-studying this exam. Sure, I will send you a PM when I get a chatroom open for all of us taking the exam.

raller · 05-03-2008, 11:42 AM

If you do well enough on the multiple choice, you only have to do decently on the free response. I studied for it last year simply by reading some very interesting and readable books on the history of human migration, though they are probably too long to help you now.

-Serendipity- · 05-03-2008, 01:37 PM

I took the Human Geography exam last year, and really, all you need is Barron's. Like another poster mentioned, the majority of the exam is terms. Read through your prep book and the night before, go through the list of terms in the back, and you'll do stellar. As for FRQ, don't bother making those essay format. My teacher (who also graded for AP) told us that they grade only on content, not formatting, etc like the other history exams.

icooufoo69 · 05-04-2008, 11:40 AM

If you took the class or have any knowledge at all you probably don't have to study. Just look over some vocabulary and you should be set for a 5... I bought the barrons last year but never got to reading it and the test was a joke

MetalMeatwad · 05-07-2008, 06:03 AM

You can't get an 83 its out of 60???????? talking about the 2nd post.

zainuu · 05-07-2008, 12:10 PM

any more tips any one else can share please.

MetalMeatwad · 05-07-2008, 04:31 PM

Yes, PLEASE!

sball12 · 05-07-2008, 04:52 PM

Basically, just make yourself notecards and make sure that you get the general gist of just about every sub-topic.
I took it last year-the class too-and never really read the chapters in the textbook, or read through the entire Barron's guide for that matter. I just picked and chose what sections I had the most trouble understanding.
What I recommend you do (I did it last year with a bunch of friends-really helpful!) is get a huge study group together at someone's house on the friday/saturday night before the test and just completely go at it. This really helped me-as well as my friends-to smooth out the folds in my basic understanding of the topic. Just tackle all the main points of the Barron's guide and answer their essay/other questions together. (Make sure you are not just skimming the top though, really make sure it sinks in!)
That's about all I can tell ya, but good luck-and I'm sure you'll do great!! Oh, yeah, all five of us that did the study group thing got fives, so I would highly recommend at least something of the sort.
Hope this helped!

MetalMeatwad · 05-07-2008, 04:54 PM

Thank you, you gave me hope lol. I made a chatroom: Chat Rooms at Buzzen - Online chat - Live chat - Chat Now! Find New Friends on Chat - Free Chat

anotherparent · 05-10-2008, 01:59 PM

does anyone know the formula for scoring, and what the score ranges are for a 5?

Thanks!

jodessky · 05-12-2008, 08:45 PM

I posted the formula for scoring here.
The Thread for AP Exam Curves

I meant an 83%. It was like 62 out of 75, and then like a 58.75 with points taken off. The mock exam is given out by the CollegeBoard to AP Human Geography teachers each year. If you ask, yours probably has a copy. I've gotten A's consistently, but I know friends who took it last year and got B's and still landed a 5. Like I said before, it's vocab and common sense. Don't forget to study Carl Sauer, though... not just for cultural landscape, he shows up on agriculture, too.