AP World History

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This article is part of the
Advanced Placement Program series.

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Advanced Placement World History (also known as AP World History or AP World) is a college-level course offered through the College Board's Advanced Placement Program designed to help students develop greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts and interactions between different types of Human societies. This understanding is advanced through a combination of selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills. The chronological time frame is from 8000 BCE to the present.

The course is divided into five units consisting of the following time periods and big picture ideas:

Unit 1 - 8000 BCE to 600 CE - Classical civilizations: Rome, Han, and Gupta empires
Unit 2 - 600 CE to 1450 CE - Rise and spread of Islam and fall of Classical civilizations
Unit 3 - 1450 CE to 1750 CE - Columbian and hemispheratic exchange
Unit 4 - 1750 CE to 1914 CE - Imperialism and colonialism
Unit 5 - 1914 CE to present - World War I, World War II, and globalization

[edit] The exam

The first section of the world history exam consists of 70 multiple choice questions with a 50 minute time limit. These questions are taken approximately evenly from each of the time periods addressed in the course. This section is weighted as half of the total score.

The second section, the free-response section, consists of 3 essays which can be answered in any order.

Document-based question (DBQ)
Change-over-time question
Comparative question

This section begins with a 10 minute reading period, during which students are instructed to read through all three essay questions, and take notes if needed. After the reading period, students are given 120 minutes to write all 3 essays; notes taken during the reading period may be used. Students are encouraged to pace themselves.