<p>Maybe I"m missing something, but Im looking at the Princeton Review for history and it seems to have the core ideas. If one is ambitious and just memorized the key events in the prep books would they be able to score a 5 on the exam? Heck, is a high school course even necessary?</p>
<p>Or am I missing something and perhaps w/o textbooks you can’t “fully grasp” the concepts.</p>
<p>Opinions?</p>
<p>No. In my honest opinion, you really don’t need a textbook anymore to succeed on the AP exam. However, you certainly will not learn as much by simply reading an AP prep book. This may differ by person, as some people may prefer the textbook to the AP exam book, but overall, I really think a good review book is more than enough to prepare you for the AP exam (there might be exceptions such as AP spanish/english/etc). </p>
<p>As to your second question, it honestly depends on who the student is. If the student is driven and genuinely passionate about the material and has sufficient background knowledge, it is definitely possible. With all these incredible online resources these days, you really don’t need a teacher to learn a subject. Exceptions could include foreign languages / english, however.</p>
<p>yes because you need to write the DBQ/FRQs and you need to know the facts and how they are connected. Those essays are worth 50%, ya know!</p>
<p>Once again, some people may need a textbook… but I know many good review books that “connect the facts together”… If you know the facts well, and you do some old practice FRQs, you should be fine on the essays.</p>
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<p>I would remember not just the key events because that doesn’t sound too thorough.</p>
<p>If you’re doing World History, I don’t think PR would do you much good. The information is just way too concise.</p>
<p>^Ya, some prep books aren’t enough or just suck, but if you find a good prep book, I think it’s all you need to score the 5.</p>