1. What is your level of confidence about your knowledge of the content tested by the AP European History Exam?

A. Very confident—I know it all

B. I’m pretty confident, but there are topics for which I could use help

C. Not confident—I need quite a bit of support

D. I’m not sure

2. If you have a goal score in mind, choose your goal score for the AP European History Exam.

5 4 3 2 1 I’m not sure yet

3. What do you expect to learn from this book? Choose all that apply to you.

A. A general overview of the test and what to expect

B. Strategies for how to approach the test

C. The content tested by this exam

D. I’m not sure yet

Before you can decide how to use this book, you need to take a practice test. Doing so will give you insight into your strengths and weaknesses, and the test will also help you make an effective study plan. If you’re feeling test-phobic, remind yourself that a practice test is a tool for diagnosing yourself—it’s not how well you do that matters but how you use information gleaned from your performance to guide your preparation.

So, before you read further, take Practice Test 1 starting at this page of this book. Be sure to do so in one sitting, following the instructions that appear before the test.

2. Check Your Answers

Using the answers/explanations that start on this page, count the number of questions you got right and how many you missed. Don’t worry about the explanations for now, and don’t worry about why you missed questions. We’ll get to that soon.

3. Reflect on the Test

After you take your first test, respond to the following questions:

• How much time did you spend on the multiple-choice questions?

• How much time did you spend on each essay?

• How many multiple-choice questions did you miss?

• Do you feel you had the knowledge to address the subject matter of the short-answer questions and essays?

• Do you feel you wrote well-organized, thoughtful short-answer responses and essays?

4. Read Part III of this Book and Complete the Self-Evaluation

Part III will provide information on how the test is structured and scored. It will also set out areas of content that are tested.

As you read Part III, reevaluate your answers to the questions above. At the end of Part III, you will revisit and refine the questions you answered above. You will then be able to make a study plan, based on your needs and time available, that will allow you to use this book most effectively.

5. Engage with Parts IV and V as Needed

Notice the word engage. You’ll get more out of this book if you use it intentionally than if you read it passively, hoping for an improved score through osmosis.

Strategy chapters in Part IV will help you think about your approach to the question types on this exam. This part opens with a reminder to think about how you approach questions now and then closes with a reflection section asking you to think about how/whether you will change your approach in the future.

Content chapters in Part V are designed to provide a review of the content tested on the AP European History Exam, including the level of detail you need to know and how the content is tested. You will have the opportunity to assess your mastery of the content of each chapter through test-appropriate questions and a reflection section.

6. Take Practice Test 2 and Assess Your Performance

Once you feel you have developed the strategies you need and gained the knowledge you lacked, you should take Practice Test 2, which starts at this page of this book. You should do so in one sitting, following the instructions at the beginning of the test.

When you have taken the test, check your answers to the multiple-choice sections. See if a teacher will read your essays and provide feedback.

Once you have checked your answers, reflect on what areas you still need to work on and revisit the chapters in this book that address those deficiencies. Once you feel confident, take Practice Test 3, and repeat the process. Take Practice Test 4, and repeat the process again. Through this type of reflection and engagement, you will continue to improve.

7. Keep Working

As we’ll discuss in Part III, there are other resources available to you, including a wealth of information at AP Students, which is the AP section of the College Board’s website. You can continue to explore areas that can stand improvement and engage in those areas right up to the day of the test. For updates and information on the AP European History Exam, as well as free practice, check out its home page: http://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-european-history.