Many AP subjects can seem insurmountable due to their breadth and depth, but AP World History may appear to be particularly impossible due to its focus. Initial impressions can be deceiving, however, and while AP World History is certainly a challenge, it is not an impossible endeavor. While students taking AP World History may want to claim that they’re studying everything that ever happened in the history of the world, that is simply not the case. AP World History focuses on certain events and periods more so than others, and helps students learn to analyze them as test cases in order to develop the skills and methods that they can then apply to new facts as they learn them and integrate them into their knowledge of certain historical contexts. After previewing the particular events and periods that World History stresses, this guide will provide an overview of the AP World History exam’s structure, timing, and question formats. Finally, a great source of AP World History resources will be discussed. So, if you’re at all concerned about learning “everything in the history of the world” for your AP World History class, realize that with the right attitude and studying regimen, you don’t have to memorize all of world history—just a fair bit of it. Whether you need top History tutors in Miami, History tutors in Louisville, or top History tutors in Oklahoma City, working with a pro may take your studies to the next level.

AP World History courses are meant to cover the same amount of content as is covered in two semesters of typical college introductory World History courses. From this statement alone, it should be clear that AP World History covers quite a large time period—8000 BCE to the present day, in fact. The course organizes itself by considering history through five lenses in particular: the environment, cultures, state-building, economic systems, and social structures. More specifically, it focuses on several themes when dealing with specific historical periods: Technological and Environmental Transformations up to around 600 BCE; Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies between about 600 BCE and 600 CE; Regional and Transregional Interactions between 600 CE and 1450; Global Interactions between 1450 and 1750; Industrialization and Global Integration between 1750 and 1900; and Accelerating Global Change and Realignments between 1900 and the present. When studying for AP World History, you can use these general categories as a basis for organizing your perspective on world history as a whole. It is important that you have a good sense of how historical events and periods influence each other, as well as compare and contrast with other, as AP World History tests these skills. Along with these abilities, AP World History expects students to learn to compose cogent arguments about history based in historical fact, as well as to be able to analyze and synthesize new information that is presented them by recognizing the ways in which it corresponds with their preexisting body of knowledge. Varsity Tutors offers resources like a free AP World History Flashcards help with your self-paced study, or you may want to consider an AP World History tutor.

Every AP World History course culminates in the three-hour-and-five-minute AP World History exam. Half of students’ exam scores are based upon their responses to seventy multiple-choice questions, answered in fifty-five minutes; the other half of their AP scores is based on three response questions: a Documents-Based question, a Change-over-time question, and a Comparative essay. Each response counts for one third of the free response half of the exam—that is, one-sixth of a student’s score.

There are no official prerequisites for AP World History course, but a track record of success in previous History courses can demonstrate that you have begun to develop the skills you need to succeed in AP World History. If you have decided to take the course and want to try answering some practice questions to get a feel for the breadth of content with which you’ll be expected to be familiar, or if you are currently taking an AP World History course and need to brush up on a specific topic, look no further than Varsity Tutors’ free AP World History Practice Tests! These Practice Tests are like miniature quizzes which you can use to measure and analyze your AP World History knowledge, and in particular, to identify gaps in it. After completing each Practice Tests’ ten to twelve multiple-choice questions, you will receive a report detailing your performance in relation to others who answered the exact same questions. Should you have missed any of those questions, robust explanations are provided detailing the logic and steps one can use to arrive at the correct answer.

One great way to evaluate your understanding as you begin your review is by taking a Full-Length AP World History Practice Test. comprehensive format helps you assess your pacing and understanding of the course’s full range of concepts. The results page following each complete practice test includes the same insights as the results pages for concept-specific practice tests, like detailed explanations and additional information regarding relevant concepts. The complete practice tests give you the additional benefit of helping you tailor your AP World History review by showing you which concepts you need to review. After you’ve created a study plan that meets your needs, you can use the other Learning Tools to do an in-depth review. Once you’re ready, you can track your improvement by taking another Full-Length AP World History Practice Test. In addition to the AP World History Practice Tests and AP World History tutoring, you may also want to consider taking some of our AP World History Diagnostic Tests.

By taking advantage of the variety of free AP World History resources offered on Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools site, you can supplement your studies with the exact practice that you need and feel completely confident when sitting down to take your AP World History exam!