AP World History Survival Guide
By: Grace Dawit

AP World History can feel overwhelming at first, especially with outlines and quizzes every week. But once you understand the rhythm of the class, it becomes way more manageable. This survival guide breaks down how to handle all the outlines and quizzes while managing your time so you can succeed.

Managing Outlines
Every Tuesday at 9:00 pm sharp, students must turn in a 120-line outline based on the textbook reading. It can be extremely boring and long, reading the whole chapter, but it is honestly really helpful once you get the hang of it. People usually just focus on getting it done and copying down the first thing that looks important. However, that isn’t going to help you with the quiz, which is always the day after the outline is due (every Wednesday). The key is to read everything and understand it first, then go back and write down what you think was important. Writing down information in your own words will help you understand it better and make it easier to remember later.

Getting the outline done earlier in the week brings flexibility, so you do not have to rush at the last minute. A good strategy is to break the reading into smaller sections, rather than doing the whole thing on Tuesday night. The earlier you finish, the more time you have to do the next outline.

Outline quizzes
Having an organized and detailed outline really helps on the quiz. All the outline quizzes are thirty minutes with thirty questions, which only gives you one minute per question. Having a messy outline will be hard to find all the important information that might be similar to the question that is in the outline. Bolding important topics, using bullet points, and using headings could quickly help you find the important information you need.

Time Management
Time management in this class is extremely important. What is on the outline quizzes is different than what he is teaching you in class. This means that you are learning two different topics at once, and you need to manage your time so you are successful in both topics. Reading over the notes he gives you in class every day could really help you, especially when the test comes around. Even 10-20 minutes a day could prevent last-minute stress, as well as even up a letter grade. AP World History is not just about whether you know the information or not; it is about the effort and strategy you put into it.