So you want a 5 on your AP Euro exam? Duh! Of course you do! If you get a 5 on the AP Euro exam, you'll be on your way to earning college credits for TWO courses. It's actually one of very few AP exams that can lead to double credit like that. In this case, most colleges teach the content of AP Euro across two courses, European History: Renaissance to Enlightenment and European History: French Revolution to European Union. But if you pass this exam, you'll have credit for both of those classes before you even get there.
So. Worth. It.
Last year, only 12% of students that took the AP Euro exam scored a 5. You'll need to surround yourself with the absolute best resources if you are headed toward a high score.
Although there are thousands of teacher websites and other free content across the internet, these five resources are proven to help students pass the exam with flying colors. Some of them are free, some cost as much as $40, but when you consider the amount of college credit you can earn, it's a worthy investment to pass this exam.
Let's jump in!
What is it? Kind of like tutoring, but in a group and all online. Every week, experienced teachers and former students host live reviews to discuss topics and write practice essays live. You can rewatch any of the live sessions as many times as you want!
Why is it helpful? The key feature that Fiveable has that you won't find in any of the other listed resource is a live, real teacher to answer your questions whenever you have them. If you attend sessions live, you can submit questions for the teacher to discuss. The replay will get time-stamped with the answered questions, which makes it really easy to go back and review that answer
Fun Feature: The cool thing about Fiveable is that even though the live reviews are at the core of this resource, there are several other key features like trivia games that members play live! There are thousands of members across the world and you can see how you stack up against them!
What is it? Chris Freiler, a former exam reader and member of the redesign committee a few years ago, has put together one of the best prep books out there. It's a very comprehensive book that covers everything you need to know in European History. There are very clear content summaries and practice questions throughout the book
Why is it helpful? Any prep book that was written by a teacher is the way to go. Teachers have experience with the exam and the common questions that students have. This prep book is no different. It's clear that Freiler is very experienced with this content and with the AP Euro exam.
Fun Feature: Throughout the book, there are plenty of practice questions to test your knowledge as you go!
What is it? Tom Richey is an AP Euro teacher from South Carolina that has been developing his website and YouTube channel for years. He has hundreds of videos that cover every aspect of European History.
Why is it helpful? There are tons of resources on his site including powerpoints, videos, and explanations of content and skills. You can find anything you need to know about Euro on this site.
Fun Feature: Tom Richey is very active on social media channels and often interacts with students on Instagram Live or through Twitter! You can follow him @TomRichey on all channels and catch him live with Fiveable on Wednesday nights!
4. Romulus AP European History (for iOS and Google Play) What is it? It's an app! Actually, it's a super useful app and super affordable ($2.99). There are 300 questions on here that cover all 4 time periods in a really straightforward way to help you study terms. These practice questions are not stimulus-based like the exam, but rather quick recall so you can play it a whole bunch of times.
Why is it helpful? Vocabulary is such a big part of any AP exam and this app was created by teachers who truly understand the value of studying key terms. You can play the whole deck or focus just on a time period. Either way, if you play this a few times a week, you'll be golden.
Fun Feature: For every question, there is a detailed explanation in case you need a reminder for why the right answer is right. Each explanation also includes why the other three answers were wrong and it's all right in the app so you don't have to stop and Google anything.
What is it? It's a bit more than your average prep book, but way less than a textbook. A lot of teachers just use this as the textbook because it is so much more condensed in a good way! Each chapter is 10 pages or less and just gets to what's important.
Why is it helpful? It's super easy to read and if you get it soon, you could definitely read the whole thing.
Key Feature: Every chapter has practice questions at the end, which are amazing! There are multiple-choice, short-answer, long-essay, and document-based questions that you can practice throughout. The only downside is the answer key is super secure and for teachers only, so you won't have a quick way to check if you were right.
What resources do you use? Tweet us at
@thinkfiveable or comment below!