<p>So I read on a recent thread in HSL that how well you do in an AP class depends on your aptitude of the subject. Is this true? I’m having troubles with AP gov, and while many say that it’s one of the easiest AP classes, I think I’ve struggled with gov in the past.</p>
<p>I think it depends largely on the school and the teacher - I have never been a strong math student, whatsoever, and AP Calculus is currently my highest grade. I’m doing better in Calculus than I did in Honors Geometry by a good 10-15 points each quarter. But I genuinely believe that if I ended up in the other AP Calc class with the other teacher, I’d probably be doing a lot worse. </p>
<p>To your point about aptitude equaling success – I think that its true in the majority of cases but not necessarily all cases. While there are anomalies like my crappy performance in math for the past three years up until now in AP Calc, I think students strong suits tend to become evident in their performance in certain AP classes. A large number of students last year took AP World History because it was “easier” than AP US - and they wanted to beef up their AP schedules. The vast majority of these kids were really math minded and science-y, many of them were not native English speakers and their performance in history classes up until that point was questionable – and AP World gave them a run for their money. If you’re passionate about something (not necessarily talented at it) – you’ll do well in it, and I think the same applies for AP classes. </p>
<p>AP Government (to me) is very easy - I received a 100 both this quarter and last quarter - however, many students in my class struggle. I’ve always been fascinated with Political Science and a lot of the material that I learn is really just review from previous familiarity, for instance, I’ve known about the nuances of the Electoral College since I was in Middle School - however, I’m fully aware that something like Pluralist Theory or the conflict between the Electoral College and Modern Dealignment would be confusing for someone who wasn’t exposed to it prior. The average test score in our class is about a 65-70%, and many of the students in my class have taken multiple APs in the past, including tougher history courses like US, World, and Euro – so there’s that. I don’t think Political Science is necessarily really easy and I don’t think AP Government is a cakewalk for everyone - I think that certain people thrive at it and others have to work harder to excel - but it’s definitely a class that everyone can do well in if they put in the effort (assuming that your teacher is okay and the curriculum isn’t insane/disorganized or anything.)</p>
<p>On a side note - I should be studying for an AP Gov quiz right now on two chapters I haven’t read… whoops.</p>
<p>bump, any more input?</p>
<p>Force yourself to enjoy government. Watch the news more often, keep up with current events, and read court cases. If you enjoy it, you’ll find it far easier to learn about the subject. Nice avatar.</p>
<p>Good advice. Haha I’m watching the news right now. What about in other AP classes? Is it mostly about constant interaction with the subject matter, even outside of school?</p>
<p>One Piece forever.</p>
<p>You’re on College Confidential right now. </p>
<p>lol good point but i was working on ap gov at the same time </p>
<p>Well idk if you play a musical instrument, but try to think about it this way. If you’re trying to learn a difficult piece of music on the violin you don’t just take a few private lessons and then expect to be able to play the piece. After your lesson, your lesson teacher expects you to go home and practice the piece for hours, days, or even months until you get it to a satisfactory performance level. Same thing with AP classes, sure, having a great lecturer and taking good notes is a nice supplement to the learning of the material. Ultimately, though, your success will come down to the amount and quality of practice you put in outside of class and how well you become acclimated with the subject.</p>
<p>So yes, in my opinion it comes down to constant (and meaningful!) interaction with the subject matter.</p>
<p>“The easiest” doesn’t mean “walk in a US Gov virgin and ace the thing.” (Though not if you listen to my friend when she was telling me to take AP Psych, but I digress.) Repeat after me: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MINDLESS AP. No, Helen, not even AP Psych. (If only she were on here…)
There are some APs that have less complicated subject matter (like, IMO, US Gov) and those are considered the “easiest”- but that doesn’t mean easy, and that doesn’t mean that everyone will do well. Some people have a harder time with some subjects than they do with others, and that has ZILCH to do with what other people think is easy.
Just work it at your pace and sneer in everyone else’s faces.
For tips to IMPROVE (which I admit the above doesn’t really have so much) the people above me have great points- I just wanted to make this point. I think that it’s not overemphasized on CC, somehow.</p>