AP European

History

  • A or B in Honors English 9 or A in English 9

    Typically taken by Sophomores, can be taken by Juniors and/or Seniors

  • coming soon

  • coming soon

  • Section I, Part A: Multiple Choice

    55 Questions | 55 minutes | 40% of Exam Score

    Questions usually appear in sets of 3–4 questions.

    Students analyze historical texts, interpretations, and evidence.

    Primary and secondary sources, images, graphs, and maps are included.

    Section I, Part B: Short Answer

    3 Questions | 40 Minutes | 20% of Exam Score

    Students analyze historians’ interpretations, historical sources, and propositions about history.

    Questions provide opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know best.

    Some questions include texts, images, graphs, or maps.

    Students choose between 2 options for the final required short-answer question, each one focusing on a different time period:

    Question 1 is required, includes 1–2 secondary sources, and focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1600 and 2001.

    Question 2 is required, includes 1 primary source, and focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1600 and 2001.

    Students choose between Question 3 (which focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1450 and 1815) and Question 4 (which focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1815 and 2001). No sources are included for either Question 3 or Question 4.

    Section II: Document-Based Question and Long Essay

    2 questions | 1 Hour, 40 minutes | 40% of Exam Score

    Document-Based Question (DBQ)

    Recommended time: 1 Hour (includes 15-minute reading period) | 25% of Exam Score

    Students are presented with 7 documents offering various perspectives on a historical development or process.

    Students assess these written, quantitative, or visual materials as historical evidence.

    Students develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence.

    The document-based question focuses on topics from 1600 to 2001.

    Long Essay

    Recommended time: 40 minutes | 15% of Exam Score

    Students explain and analyze significant issues in European history.

    Students develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence.

    The question choices focus on the same skills and the same reasoning process (e.g., comparison, causation, or continuity and change), but students choose from 3 options, each focusing on historical developments and processes from a different range of time periods—either 1450–1700 (option 1), 1648–1914 (option 2), or 1815–2001 (option 3).

  • AP European History

    5: 13.0%

    4: 34.0%

    3: 25.0%

    2: 21.0%

    1: 7.0%

More Info

  • College Credit Oppurtunites

    Passing scores typically grants between 4-8 units (1-2 semester classes) at universities.

    (Click to see Full List of AP Credit at Colleges)

  • Course Synopsis

    “Fascinated by European culture and society? —AP European History may be for you!  In this course we study major events, developments, and processes of Europe from 1450 to present day. From the Renaissance to why orphans make excellent factory workers, AP European History demonstrates to universities that you possess a curious mind, undaunted by rigor.” 

    Questions?  Please contact Mrs. Merrill at katherinemerrill@cusd.com, or stop by P-4 at lunch!”

    -Mrs. Merrill

  • College Majors

    For those considering:

    humanities

    social studies major .

    (Click to see the College Board’s list). 

  • “AP European History is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for motivated, well-disciplined students who want to challenge themselves by pushing their limits through the content and expectations of this course. This course provides you with the opportunity to expand your comfort zone as well as develop skills necessary for college and beyond.”

  • “Although AP Euro is a challenging course, it has taught me so much in this past year. Not only has it taught me a bunch about history, but it has helped me improved in my education tremendously. I have learned so many new study methods and I have been applying them to my other classes. This course allows me to challenge myself and pushes me to work hard and not procrastinate. I have learned proper ways to take notes, study for tests, memorization techniques, and I have improved my reading comprehension and writing. In the future, I know that I will be able to take on other challenging AP courses using the skills I have learned in this class.”

  • “AP Euro is a very interesting class. Sometimes when I am reading the lesson I’ll find things so shocking and interesting I’ll tell my family and friends! We also do some fun stuff correlating to what we are learning like group activities and dressing up. Although it’s tricky sometimes, my creative brain is always pumping in the class.”

What is the difference between AP Euro and AP World?

AP Euro. History

-Covers approximately 550 years of history

- Focuses on the European perspective on global conflicts, covers primarily one continent

- Covers less historical events, but goes more in depth on each event

-Narrower perspective

-College board course synopsis: “Students cultivate their understanding of European history through analyzing historical sources and learning to make connections and craft historical arguments as they explore concepts like interaction of Europe and the world; economic and commercial developments; cultural and intellectual developments; states and other institutions of power; social organization and development; national and European identity; and technological and scientific innovation.”

AP World History

- Covers approximately 750 years of history

- Focuses on the global impacts of conflicts

- Covers more historical events, but goes less in depth on each event

- Broader perspective

- College board course synopsis: “Students cultivate their understanding of world history from c. 1200 CE to the present through analyzing historical sources and learning to make connections and craft historical arguments as they explore concepts like humans and the environment, cultural developments and interactions, governance, economic systems, social interactions and organization, and technology and innovation.”

Complexity of Material Covered

On average, students gave a AP European History a complexity score of 3.83 out of 5, which places the course in the moderate complexity tier.

We recommend planning a balanced schedule consisting of all three tiers of complexity: mild, moderate, and high to have a healthy school-life balance and avoid burnout.

All data was collected anonymously by Clovis West students who previously completed the course. Numbers represents the percentage of students who selected that reponse

Workload of AP European History

On average, students gave AP European History a workload score of 4.67 hours per week. This places AP European History in the heavy workload tier.

We recommend planning a balanced schedule consisting of all three tiers of workload: mild, moderate, and heavy to have a healthy school-life balance and avoid burnout.

All data was collected anonymously from Clovis West students who previously completed the course. Amount of time students spend studying or doing homework per week. Numbers represent percentage of students who selected that response