AP Human Geography

[teachermom2834]

ETA: ok I edited the title to the full name of the course. I thought AP HUG was a pretty common acronym. Apologies!! Lol 

Say your child is in brick and mortar school and has this course and it has been inadequate at best. It was an experiment for the school to offer it and it appears the teacher and 90% of the students have given up and have no hope of passing the test.

But my kid is fiesty and isn’t just giving up. If she can devote 3 weeks to it what resources are the best to prep for the test and give it a shot? 

I know everyone here says it is super easy but the truth is tons of test takers fail this test, probably because it is offered to unprepared freshman like my dd’s class. So I don’t think she can just roll out of bed and pass. But she is pretty sharp and motivated so maybe she can salvage something.

I am not super enamored with racking up APs and know this one doesn’t always count (though likely would in some way for my dd) so I’m not going to cry if she bombs but it’s been paid for and she’s taking the test so she might as well give it her best shot. 
 

There is a lot out there online but I figure people here know the best tips and websites to go to. 🙂

Edited April 10, 2023 by teachermom2834

[jplain]

I thought there would be hugs here!  My AP prepping kid could use some hugs.  Endless practice FRQs and MCQs are wearing her out.

In your shoes I'd look into getting a month of access to albert.io's prep materials.  Unfortunately you do need to create an account to see pricing. Don't be stubborn like me last year and try to make them give you prices by email.  It'll waste too much time.  I can't recall the cost, but it was reasonable.

https://www.albert.io/ap-human-geography

[Clemsondana]

My kid has found that the prep videos on the college board site are a good overview of what will be on the test.  

[Kassia]

30 minutes ago, jplain said:

I thought there would be hugs here!  My AP prepping kid could use some hugs.  Endless practice FRQs and MCQs are wearing her out.

 

I thought the same thing and read the OP twice trying to figure out where it said hugs were needed!  So I will send hugs to your child and wish good luck to @teachermom2834's dd and yours too and all the other AP kids here!  

Edited April 10, 2023 by Kassia

[teachermom2834]

5 minutes ago, Clemsondana said:

My kid has found that the prep videos on the college board site are a good overview of what will be on the test.  

Thank you! She has been using these along the year to supplement the course so she is familiar. 

[kokotg]

My kid took HUG as a co-op class that just met once a week and covered a lot of the AP material but not all (it wasn't intended as an AP class). I gave him the Barrons test prep book a month or so before the test, and he went through that and did fine. My number one tip for human geography (I've also taught it in a small group setting) is for kids to remember that they already know a lot of this stuff just because they're humans living in the world. Not all of it, obviously (and there are some concepts, particularly at the beginning of the course, that are very tricky for some kids). But on the FRQs especially, if they just say things they already know to be true about religion, immigration, agriculture, cities, etc. they can get a lot of the points. My experience is that kids tend to grasp for things they learned in class specifically or overanalyze what the questions are asking and fail to put down things they know. 

ETA: and this song is really great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzxREH08EkI

Edited April 10, 2023 by kokotg

[Arcadia]

DS17 spent two days studying before the exam and got a 4. He did not take a class. We went to Barnes & Noble to pick a test prep book a week before AP exams started and end up buying the Princeton Review one. He used that as a study guide. Then he read through the latest past year FRQ scoring guidelines. That was all he did. The APHUG exam score satisfy a general education requirement for community college so that helped him complete his associate degree. 
 

ETA:

I read the chief reader’s report too as that would say what not to do.

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-human-geography/exam/past-exam-questions

Edited April 10, 2023 by Arcadia

[Malam]

https://www.reddit.com/r/APStudents/comments/otl4di/definitive_guide_for_a_5_on_ap_hug_please_upvote/

https://www.youtube.com/@MrSinn/playlists?view=50&sort=dd&shelf_id=1

Word on the street is that the Princeton Review book is better than Barrons. You can get an e-book version here: http://library.lol/main/44D35CD2D5F757241DE7284F3D57BAE9

Vocab is also important, you can find plenty of lists online:

https://course-notes.org/flashcards/ap_human_geography_unit_1_vocab_flashcards_1

https://www.chino.k12.ca.us/cms/lib/CA01902308/Centricity/Domain/5834/APHG Vocabulary.pdf

https://hhsrobinson.org/HHSRobinson/Voc._1_Thinking_Geographically.html

[teachermom2834]

Thanks everyone. I have the Princeton Review book here (along with Barrons) that I picked up earlier in the year when it was clear she was in trouble in this class. She has used them to study a couple times when the teacher gave them tests on AP classroom and she has used the videos there too. So she has been supplementing the class all along at least some. So maybe she isn’t as underwater as we think she is. She has some time and her extracurriculars have wrapped up and it is her only AP. So we will give it a go. 

[Malam]

If you want some more exam-like questions, check out uworld: https://collegeprep.uworld.com/ap-human-geography/

[Sneezyone]

11 hours ago, teachermom2834 said:

ETA: ok I edited the title to the full name of the course. I thought AP HUG was a pretty common acronym. Apologies!! Lol 

Say your child is in brick and mortar school and has this course and it has been inadequate at best. It was an experiment for the school to offer it and it appears the teacher and 90% of the students have given up and have no hope of passing the test.

But my kid is fiesty and isn’t just giving up. If she can devote 3 weeks to it what resources are the best to prep for the test and give it a shot? 

I know everyone here says it is super easy but the truth is tons of test takers fail this test, probably because it is offered to unprepared freshman like my dd’s class. So I don’t think she can just roll out of bed and pass. But she is pretty sharp and motivated so maybe she can salvage something.

I am not super enamored with racking up APs and know this one doesn’t always count (though likely would in some way for my dd) so I’m not going to cry if she bombs but it’s been paid for and she’s taking the test so she might as well give it her best shot. 
 

There is a lot out there online but I figure people here know the best tips and websites to go to. 🙂

There's a phone AP for AP HUG that's very helpful and recommended by DS's teacher for multiple choice questions in particular. There are some FRQs as well. It's a relatively gentle first AP so studying last minute is fine for students with decent foundations. We're not AP/DE chasers either but DS will probably finish with 4-6.

[teachermom2834]

41 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by teachermom2834

[Sneezyone]

Just now, teachermom2834 said:

Okay I don’t know what this means. Is this a typo or what is a phone AP? I’m feel stupid asking like I should know but I’m stumped.

But thank you for the encouragement! I am going to take all these tips and suggestions and encouraging thoughts to her. 

Err, sorry, typo. There's a phone app for APHUG put out by McGraw Hill.

[teachermom2834]

@Sneezyone of course you meant an ap. Bedtime for me apparently 🤦‍♀️ thank you!!! I’m going to look for that now.

[Farrar]

My number one tip about all the social studies AP exams is that you can't get credit on the FRQ's unless you connect the dots and put down everything you know. I know that seems obvious, but some students think what they're writing about is SO OBVIOUS that they forget to say the most basic things. My example in my history class is a student is given a photo of the Eiffel Tower to discuss... they talk about all these things they think sound sophisticated about the lines of the structure and make up some vague stuff about the time period it was made in and so on and so forth and never mention that it's the Eiffel Tower or that it's in Paris or at least that it's in France. Because they assume everyone knows they know. Well, you know what they say about assuming. And the scorers can't give credit for assumptions.

[teachermom2834]

2 hours ago, Farrar said:

My number one tip about all the social studies AP exams is that you can't get credit on the FRQ's unless you connect the dots and put down everything you know. I know that seems obvious, but some students think what they're writing about is SO OBVIOUS that they forget to say the most basic things. My example in my history class is a student is given a photo of the Eiffel Tower to discuss... they talk about all these things they think sound sophisticated about the lines of the structure and make up some vague stuff about the time period it was made in and so on and so forth and never mention that it's the Eiffel Tower or that it's in Paris or at least that it's in France. Because they assume everyone knows they know. Well, you know what they say about assuming. And the scorers can't give credit for assumptions.

This is helpful. 
 

 

[Clemsondana]

5 hours ago, Farrar said:

My number one tip about all the social studies AP exams is that you can't get credit on the FRQ's unless you connect the dots and put down everything you know. I know that seems obvious, but some students think what they're writing about is SO OBVIOUS that they forget to say the most basic things. My example in my history class is a student is given a photo of the Eiffel Tower to discuss... they talk about all these things they think sound sophisticated about the lines of the structure and make up some vague stuff about the time period it was made in and so on and so forth and never mention that it's the Eiffel Tower or that it's in Paris or at least that it's in France. Because they assume everyone knows they know. Well, you know what they say about assuming. And the scorers can't give credit for assumptions.

Yes!  My kid got a 5 on US History last year and said that the thing they learned from the video is that if it said to give 5 reasons, that they could be incrementally tiny and obvious reasons.  Like, if you were supposed to describe some differences between the colonies and England then it was fine to say that England was on an island and the colonies were part of a larger body of land as 2 separate things, while kid would have said 'geographic differences' and thought of it as one thing.  

[teachermom2834]

This is kind of funny as I’m reading this thread. One thing is the suggestion that most kids know a lot of this stuff just because of being informed people that live in the world, well, I have been dismayed and shocked this year by the things my daughter does not know. She is the youngest and we have always discussed current events and I have been horrified several times this year by things I really thought she should know but didn’t. That said, she likely would write every little detail in her FRQs because it isn’t that glaringly obvious to her. Hahaha. That and she has realized going to brick and mortar school that whenever she has a short answer question she writes everything she knows in hopes of scraping up as many points as she can. And she is a girl, with lots of words and thoughts. So that all might work together to her benefit. 
 

We have checked out a lot of these suggestions and she is figuring out what she feels is helpful. She does like a challenge so she’ll probably make a game out of it. Thanks everyone! 

[cintinative]

43 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

well, I have been dismayed and shocked this year by the things my daughter does not know.

At the BMV:

BMV worker to my son: Are you a U.S. Citizen?
my son: blinks, looks at me

Me: Yes, you are. You were born in the U.S., so you are a citizen.

Mental note: never assume they know anything. LOL.

Edited April 11, 2023 by cintinative

[Roadrunner]

1 hour ago, teachermom2834 said:

This is kind of funny as I’m reading this thread. One thing is the suggestion that most kids know a lot of this stuff just because of being informed people that live in the world, well, I have been dismayed and shocked this year by the things my daughter does not know. She is the youngest and we have always discussed current events and I have been horrified several times this year by things I really thought she should know but didn’t. That said, she likely would write every little detail in her FRQs because it isn’t that glaringly obvious to her. Hahaha. That and she has realized going to brick and mortar school that whenever she has a short answer question she writes everything she knows in hopes of scraping up as many points as she can. And she is a girl, with lots of words and thoughts. So that all might work together to her benefit. 
 

We have checked out a lot of these suggestions and she is figuring out what she feels is helpful. She does like a challenge so she’ll probably make a game out of it. Thanks everyone! 

Actually I came to say this before. The hardest thing about this exam is most kids simply haven’t lived/read enough to have the general knowledge to use common sense on this exam. I can get a 5 without lifting a figure because I am old enough to have read a ton. My son was puzzled why French would be a second language in Vietnam. general things that most of us could eliminated from answer choices or recognize easily as right or wrong aren’t as easy for kids to identify. And hence lies the biggest problem with this exam. There are questions on this exam that assumes context/historical/regional  knowledge that isn’t taught in the textbook (or at least not the one my kid used in school). He was always shocked how I knew answers. It felt like a class that took a ton of general knowledge and made it difficult by coming up with fancy definitions to memorize. He hated the class, did little work, then the last two weeks woke up to study. Got a 4 by basically reviewing vocabulary from class. Could have done better if he bothered to read throughout the year. 
 

[Sneezyone]

7 hours ago, Farrar said:

My number one tip about all the social studies AP exams is that you can't get credit on the FRQ's unless you connect the dots and put down everything you know. I know that seems obvious, but some students think what they're writing about is SO OBVIOUS that they forget to say the most basic things. My example in my history class is a student is given a photo of the Eiffel Tower to discuss... they talk about all these things they think sound sophisticated about the lines of the structure and make up some vague stuff about the time period it was made in and so on and so forth and never mention that it's the Eiffel Tower or that it's in Paris or at least that it's in France. Because they assume everyone knows they know. Well, you know what they say about assuming. And the scorers can't give credit for assumptions.

Yep. I have been having this talk with DS from DAY 1. He knows all the things, traveled extensively, read a ton, but is too curt with his responses b/c he assumes ‘everyone’ knows XYZ. I told him to pretend mom is harassing him for deets and asking why questions and then he’ll kill it.

Edited April 11, 2023 by Sneezyone