Advice for Ap Psychology and Ap European History?

ShadowFay555 · August 16, 2011, 9:48pm

Hi, I'm going to be a junior come September, and I'm going to be taking Ap Psychology and Ap European History. I was wondering if you CC'ers could tell me:

1.) General Advice on one or both subjects
2.) How your class experience was
3.) How your test experience was
4.) What did you learn? ( I guess.. )

By the way, my school lists down Ap Psychology as I think under "History" or "Social Studies", but isn't it a social science? it counts as my 'history' credits but how would other college view the course?

blackandyellow · August 17, 2011, 12:05am

Psyche is easy. You don't even need a textbook (I never used one), just the Barron's AP Psychology book.
I wasn't in a psychology class, but the subject matter is insultingly easy, I got a 4 without ever even writing an FRQ.
Euro I have no experience with.

IceQube · August 17, 2011, 10:14am

AP European History:

1) Keep up with the textbook readings. Take copious notes.

Learn how to nail the essays. The DBQ is mastered with practice. The 2 FRQs are just information dumps. Just dump all the information from your textbook into your FRQs and you are set :p.

2) My class experience was wonderful. I had a great, knowledgeable, and easy-going teacher.

3) I was in 7th heaven throughout the AP Euro exam. The M/C section was a walk in the park, thanks to Crash Course. There were only 2 questions I was unsure about. Everything else was covered in Crash Course.

The DBQ was easy because I had outlined every single released DBQ (great practice, btw).

The FRQs were strolls down memory lane because I read the textbook. I was dropping proper nouns, dates, and facts like how Ice Cube drops rhymes :D.

4) I learned a lot from AP Euro.

I saw the term austerity recently in a couple of magazines. Thanks to AP Euro, I knew what "austerity" meant! I also saw references Maggie Thatcher when perusing through magazines, and I knew who she was! Not surprising, given the current state of affairs in Greece ;).

ShadowFay555 · August 17, 2011, 11:07am

I got the Ap Psychology Barrons and Princeton Review books plus the Barrons flashcards so I guess I'm set?

Thank you so much IceQube for your advice on Ap Euro! I'll definately practice the DBQ's on the the released ones, but where do you find these by the way? Are the found on collegeboard? If so, where in collegeboard do I find these? Lol I liked how you said the FRQs are information dumps.

For Ap Euopean history I have Modern European History by Birdst Vault ( spelling? ) and the Ap Achiever. Does anyone have experience with these books?

IceQube · August 17, 2011, 12:09pm

Your Viault book is acceptable, although I have some reservations about it.

The main problem is that it isn't much different from a textbook - it covers a lot of information - including some that'll never show up on the AP exam. And it completely lacks social/cultural history.

On the other hand, I have heard a lot of praise for AP Achiever. I haven't used it though.

In any case, you should read Crash Course for AP Euro before taking the test. It's very small. A couple of hours at the bookstore and you'll be finished and armed with all the information you need to know for the M/C section.

--

You can find the past essay prompts here:

<a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/eurohistory/samp.html?eurohist%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/eurohistory/samp.html?eurohist</a> (Euro)

and here:

<a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/psych/samp.html?phych%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/psych/samp.html?phych</a> (Psych)

ShadowFay555 · August 17, 2011, 4:30pm

Alright then, I better find a Crash Course for Euro! I'm still going to use Modern European history and Ap Achiever due to the fact that my class meets only 2 times a week. I'll definately try to find a Crash Course. Thank you for the links, I appreciate it! :)

It doesn't matter what version of crash course I get right?

IceQube · August 17, 2011, 4:47pm

Hey, ShadowFay555, the Crash Course books I'm talking about are by Larry Krieger.

I forgot to mention that there is also a Crash Course by Larry Krieger for AP Psych. I haven't taken AP Psych, but I heard that the book is excellent as well. So it looks as if you'll be stocking up on Crash Course books by Larry Krieger :p!

You can read dark knight's review of Crash Course for AP Psych and AP Euro below. You'll be interested in what he has to say :D. He is the same guy that recommended CC for Euro to me :).

<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/885433-ap-psychology-best-text-best-prep-books-worst-prep-books-real-tests.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/885433-ap-psychology-best-text-best-prep-books-worst-prep-books-real-tests.html</a> (CC for Psych)

<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/875911-ap-euro-book-best-ultimate-test.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/875911-ap-euro-book-best-ultimate-test.html</a> (CC for Euro)

ShadowFay555 · August 18, 2011, 9:04am

Ah I see alright thank you! Wow these are great reviews ( even better than the ones on amazon.. )! I guess I know what I want for Christmas! ;)

I like dark knight's reviews. Finally I have something other than " it is very good" and "it gave me a five".

Thank you Sooooo much for all of this information IceQube! :) You really helped me here!

shayonsaleh · August 18, 2011, 9:19am

Modern European History did wonders for me. Still, it is a lot of material. If you have experience with other AP History classes, it's not too bad, but if it is your first, you may struggle a little bit.

I actually found AP Psychology one of the hardest APs, unlike the majority of people. It may have been because I wrote it off after hearing all the CC comments of it being easy. But essentially, it's a lot of memorization.

IceQube · August 18, 2011, 10:29am

Glad to help, ShadowFay555 :).

Good luck on getting a 5 on both Euro and Psych :D!

ShadowFay555 · August 18, 2011, 10:58am

@ IceQube Thank you! :) I'm hoping to get a 5! :D

@shayonsaleh It's my second Ap overall and my first Ap History class. Ap Psychology I guess is my third. Yeah a lot of CC comments say it's easy, but my classmates say otherwise. I looked at the Barrons flashcards and I already saw LOTS of memorization. As long as I'm diligent I'm pretty good at memorizing things, although I do want to learn the material as well.