How is the material in an AP course different than a regular course? Answered
I plan on taking AP World History next year, it'll be my first AP class, I'm wondering how the material learned will be different than regular World History? Is it harder?
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5 answers
The material (for AP history subjects) tends to not be so different as just formatted and paced at the AP level. You will have to analyze it more, though. Instead of learning/test-taking at the pace and standard you are used to in a regular classroom, you will now be assessed at the AP standard. You will be tasked with writing full DBQs in an hour. Your teacher might first assign a modified version of the DBQ, perhaps by giving you more time to write it, not making you write an analysis, or allowing you to use open note, but eventually you will be expected to do it as you would on the AP exam. I haven't taken World, but I have been taking APUSH for nearly 2 years now (some schools make it a 2-year course), and I have done a handful of complex projects on subtopics of the material we study: you might have to do similar projects.
I've noticed AP/honors classes tend to be pretty rigid in structure: new material is introduced/you take notes during the lecture --> you are assessed --> you move on to next material. That depends on your teacher, of course, but they have a curriculum to teach that must be covered before the AP exam in May, so you can ideally have time to review.
Material in other AP courses might be more complex than non-APs. It's up to you to look at any courses you are interested in at collegeboard.com and see if they interest you, especially since many have prerequisites.
I took US History 2 last year and am currently in AP World. It's a lot of info and writing as in DBQs, SAQs, most of which are graded. At the same time you keep up with reading and constantly learning new material. For me personally it's been a huge jump as it is also my first AP class. But if history is something you like and you're willing to put the time and effort in I'd say go for it. Good luck!
Ap courses usually have a lot more work outside of class. Because you tend to have more information to learn teachers will usually advice much more work outside of class.
I'm taking AP World History right now and took Pre-AP World History last year. They both used some of the same resources, most likely because they collaborate on the assignments. I had the some assignments this year be the same as last year. This kind of depends on whether your regular WH teacher collaborates with the AP WH teacher, but I'm sure that the course will be around the same. It's just that in AP WH, you'll have to learn how to write essays, contextualize, and do more homework, which makes the class much harder than the regular WH.
I took Honors Global and then AP World the following year, and a lot of the material is the same, which is nice. There was more DBQ writing and prep for the AP test in AP World compared to Global, at least for my school. I think AP World was a nice first AP course to take because of the introduction to the material in Global/Regular World History. If you don’t mind a lot of note taking it’s a good class.
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