Keep up with your reading throughout the course. Playing catch-up at the end will rob you of valuable review and study time. Make a plan at the beginning of the semester to read material every day, and make time on the weekend to review sections already covered.
Familiarize yourself with the format of the AP exam by reading about it on the college board website. For instance, you should realize that wrong answers count against you a quarter of a point, while blank answers do not. Become familiar with the types of questions asked and what type of content they are typically focused on.
Take practice tests. Some can be found online, at sites such as the college board website or petersons.com. Bookstores may have texts with sample questions to practice with, or ask your teacher for supplementary material or practice tests.
Practice writing essays. A major component of the AP World History exam is the essay section. Practice writing these essays, and have your teacher or a fellow student read through and give a critique. The more you practice these, the better prepared you'll be for the real thing. The three types include document-based essay, where you will analyze a document; a continuity-and-change-over-time essay, where you will focus on a large topic over a time period; and a comparative essay, which looks at developments, for example, in two different cultures or time periods. You'll be given 40 minutes to write each of the essays, with a 10-minute reading period for the document-based essay.
Understand how the exam separates the information covered on the exam into time periods. Also, understand what different areas of world history are covered. For instance, no more than 30 percent of the exam will focus on European history, and U.S. history will only be included in connection with other countries.