So, you’ve taken the AP® Comparative Government and Politics exam, and it didn’t go exactly as planned. Fear not, AP® exams are challenging tests, and require a lot of preparation and practice. Many people have scored a 2 on the AP® Comparative Government Exam before, and retaken it to score highly.

AP® examinations are an adventure in trial and error. Having done poorly on your first attempt does not impede your ability to score highly on this exam. In this article, you will learn how to reassess your study strategies, ensure that you are utilizing your time well, and more fully understand the thought process of an essay grader.

What Your Score Means

AP® scoring is done on a scale of rendering qualification. So, the score you receive is not so much a traditional grade, as it is the CollegeBoard that informs anyone who your score is provided to,of your general level of qualification in the subject area. It is important to consider what scores your perspective school or schools accept when considering taking or retaking an AP® test.

2016 CollegeBoard Score Sheet

Step 1: Recognize Mistakes from Your First Attempt

To ensure that you improve the next time you take this exam, it is important to consider why you received a 2 on the AP® Comparative Government Exam. Did you run out of study time? Didn’t get enough sleep the night before? Were you simply mentally absent during the course? The answers to these and other similar questions should guide you towards your new game plan. When you acknowledge mistakes of the past, it becomes much easier to succeed in the present and near future.

If your error was a simple one, like not getting enough sleep, or forgetting something that you actually knew, then your main concern is knowledge retention, and you need a more rote memorization geared plan. Whereas if the issue was one of never having learned the information, it is important to learn the core concepts first, and then build on them until you get to great detail. A major error that people make is proceeding to learn a subject even when they have not yet understood the information that they have already learned.

Step 2: Decide to Retake the Exam

The decision of whether or not to retake this test is a difficult one to make, and later we will discuss how to make the choice that is right for you. However, if you do decide to retake the test, it is imperative that you commit to it. What is most important to your success is dedicating yourself to a plan of study that works for you. It is not enough to merely decide on a plan to prepare for a test of this magnitude, you must also be able to execute the plan.

This requires being honest with yourself about your schedule and expectations. If you are serious about your wish to succeed on this exam, you must ask yourself how much time per week you must commit. If upon pondering this, you think that you have no available time to study, consider your priorities. Is there an hour in a week that you currently spend playing video games, or watching TV that you are willing to utilize as study time instead? Studying is all about time management.

Studying with others can also be helpful, perhaps you have a friend who is also taking the test, and the two of you can spend time together while also studying for the exam. Regardless of what the compromise you find is, it is important that you discover it at the beginning of your studying, before you fall behind on the benchmarks that you have set for yourself.

Step 3: Make a Plan for Improvement of Your Study Strategies

An AP® test is much different than any other test that you will take throughout high school. It is more comprehensive than other tests, and as such it is also much broader. This means that what is most valuable to you is an understanding of major overarching concepts, rather than knowing the most inconsequential details.

For example, it is more important that you understand that the government of England is a constitutional monarchy, and the implications of this for its democratic tradition, than that you know the Queen is Elizabeth II. Of course, it is very useful to know the latter, but the former is imperative to the answering of questions pertaining to the country. Remember to focus on the big picture whenever possible, and only delve deeper into a topic when you have a full understanding of the basics.

One great way to gain a full understanding of the material is to make diagrams comparing different aspects of the countries of study. This will allow you to become familiar with the countries individually, while also gaining a better understanding of the relationships between them. Your study time is valuable, and any technique that allows you to get multiple benefits from the same work is a good strategy.

It is also helpful to make flashcards of vocabulary words, because this topic is particularly word heavy, and because many of the vocab words do generally not overlap with other AP® classes you may have taken. Learning vocabulary serves a dual purpose, as it will help you understand multiple choice questions better, and aid you in answering the essay questions. The essay graders look not just for specific content, but often also for specific words. Writing an essay that contains the wording that graders are looking for will give you a much better chance at a high score, and allow you to pick up additional points.

Sometimes studying alone grows tiresome, and we start to forget our goals. A great way to combat going stir crazy is to grab a friend or several, and form a study group. If anyone you know is studying for the same test, chances are they could use some extra encouragement just as much as you.

Even if you don’t know anyone else studying for the exact same test, sometimes just being around other people helps you work just that much harder. Try getting some friends together to study, it doesn’t matter if you’re all studying the same thing or not, what matters is that positive peer pressure will make you all more productive.

Step 4: Decide what Content You Plan to Study, and where You Plan to Find it

Another study strategy that can be helpful is the usage of online services, and apps, or test prep books. Practice questions are available online through the CollegeBoard, and many other places also offer practice multiple choice questions that are checked immediately. A great source for study resources is Albert.io.

There are lots of practice questions and other programs available that can jump start your studying, and help you make sure you don’t get another 2 on the AP® Comparative Government exam.

If you’re looking for more physical resources, study books can be purchased from The Princeton Review and Barron’s. These books are great resources because you can take full length tests on paper, and then grade them out of the back of the book. This is one of the most realistic ways to simulate an AP® Exam. The CollegeBoard also offers test questions from previous years’ exams.

Step 5: Mastering the Test

Knowing the structure of the test is imperative to scoring well. When you know, what is important, you are able to focus on the material in proportion to its value as part of your total score. It is also important to understand the learning objectives set forth by the makers of the test to avoid another 2 on the AP® Comparative Government Exam. The breakdown of the value of the sections is as follows:

Per the CollegeBoard, plus multiple choice questions make up 50% of the exam. Within that section there are six subject areas, each comprising a portion of the section, the scoring breakdown is displayed in the following table:

Knowing this about the multiple-choice questions is important because you know which topics within the subject are the most important to study, and which are the least important. For example, it is almost twice likely that a question will relate to political institutions than to the state. You need to have a broad understanding of all relevant concepts to succeed, but in order to avoid another 2 on AP® Comparative Government, it is most invaluable to understand the thought process of the creators of the test you are taking.

The other 50% of the test is comprised of 8 free response questions. These 8 are subdivided into 3 types; the first type is short answer, of which there are 5. These will be about course concepts, which you are expected to understand well enough to cite how they apply, providing examples from the countries studied. The second type of question is the conceptual question, there is only one, and it is a longer essay about a broad concept explored in the course. The third and final section contains 2 countries specific information, which asks for information about the particular countries studied.

Knowing what kinds of things, you are going to be asked is important before embarking on an attempt to study the information. If you learn with the test in mind, your efforts will be well spent, and suited to your task. Keeping that in mind, as defined by the CollegeBoard, the learning objectives for this course are:

• define and describe major comparative political concepts
• support generalizations with relevant factual information pertaining to the governments and politics of China, Great Britain, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia
• analyze typical patterns of political processes and behavior and their consequences
• compare and contrast political institutions and processes across countries
• analyze and interpret basic data relevant to comparative government and politics

When you are studying, remember the formatting of the test, as well as these objectives. Much of the reason that people do poorly on AP® tests is because of lack of understanding of the learning goals.

To Retake or Not to Retake

When weighing the decision of whether or not to take the test again, there are several things to consider. There’s the cost, the likelihood of you committing to your study plan, and the time involved. AP® tests are expensive, and you don’t want to waste that kind of money unless you expect a different outcome from the first time.

So, unless you are truly dedicated to the idea, it may not be the best choice for you. Conversely, if you are willing to put in the time, and your schedule allows for it, a good AP® score is a great frugal way to get college credits. What it really comes down to is if you are able to do better the next time. I hope this article allows you make the best decision for you, and hopefully improve your AP® Comparative Government score.

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