AP World History... should I do it?

Test Preparation AP History & Social Sciences
1

Hey all!

I’m considering whether I should take AP World History for Sophomore year. The prerequisite for my school is that I need a 95 or above in “Modern European History” (a required history course I’m taking). I’ve just barely made the prerequisites: a 94 last semester and a 96 this semester. So there’s a few things that have made me doubt:

  • The current AP World History teacher is leaving, and I have no clue if the new teacher will be good or not.
  • This is my first AP course. I mean, "technically" I've been taking AP level Chinese since 5th grade. So a better way to say it is, next year will be the first year that I take AP exams (AP Chinese & AP World History).
  • My planned career path isn't actually in the History/Social Sciences field, I plan to major in accounting/finance. Will this course be disregarded?
  • It says online that the passing rate and "5" rate for AP World History are quite low!

ANY advice would be helpful! I’ve spoken with my history teacher + course advisor and they’ve both given me the OK to take the course, I just want to know what I’m about to get myself into…

2

Sounds like you got an excellent grade in the prereq course which your school uses to weed kids out. Your teachers say you are ready, so challenge yourself and take the class. My freshman opted for AP European History for his sophomore year and I have already bought the textbook online so that he can get a head start over this coming summer if he wants to. Since you sound a little worried, you might consider doing the same with AP World. Get the ISBN number (10 or 13 digits) from your teacher together with the publication year and check online. A used book should be just as good. Then take the book out anytime you can’t sleep.

3

Sounds good. Also, this course covers a lot of ground regarding context. So even if you don’t go into history it can help you understand politics, geography, economics and much more. I sat in on one of my kids’ classes in AP world and was surprised how much it encompassed. I think the course is a great thing to take.

4

You definitely should take AP World! I took it my freshman year and it’s helped me so much in a ton of other courses and extracurriculars, like AP Euro, AP English Lit, and debate club. You learn a ton of important skills there, like contextualizing, formulating arguments, and sourcing, that you use throughout other ap courses, so if you can fit it into your schedule, I def would.

I found that I had a good teacher, so I ended up not studying much content for the AP exam and I think I did pretty well, but it all depends on who you have. Overall, if you like history, the course feels pretty easy for a first AP and you should take it : )

5

AP World is my D’s school’s standard Honors track History course for Sophomores. Almost everyone taking it has not previous has an AP course and it’s not a problem.

From similar posts from others, it seems to be a very common first AP course.