Advice and Resources for Self-Studying AP Comparative Government and Politics

Shenaya B
Nov 19
6 min read

Updated: Dec 4

I took the May 2025 session exam for AP Comparative Government and Politics as a 10th-grade (Sophomore) student in an IB MYP school, where I also took the May Session for IB MYP e-assessment standardized tests. I fared well in both and got a 5/5 in AP COGO without any form of external tuition. Hence, I wanted to help anyone, especially students not based in the U.S who are considering self-studying for an AP exam and are looking for an AP that is both useful (helps for econ, political science, social sciences, etc. majors) and relatively easy to crack.

Personally I believe for Pre-IB Diploma students AP's are a way to have a subject and coursework that you may not be able to access through your school because IB and AP exams are equivalent to each other (the IB equivalent of AP COGO is Global Politics), personally taking AP Psych and AP COGO allowed me to explore the subject matter, have the subjects on my highschool transcript but also then take harder subjects in the IB that I would not have been able to self study (History, Eco, Physics etc.).

Now, finally, to the advice and study plan for anyone interested in self-studying for the exam:

Invest in the 5 steps for 5 textbooks (the only useful and up-to-date textbooks, at least as of 2025, for the subject matter).
Note: The exam does not test any content that is less than 5 years old (because geopolitics is ever-changing), so using a slightly old textbook for this exam is alright (the one I've linked was released in 2022). When citing the information, just remember to note as of 2018/20, etc.
1. I personally did not read the entire textbook (even though it was short, I procrastinate a lot), but the key features I used were the rapid review after each chapter (which is bifurcated into each of the 6 countries, and then case studies of the specific concepts you need to know, like civil society organizations, legislature, etc). I then did the practice MCQs at the end of each chapter and marked myself.
2. There is a diagnostic test at the start of the book that helps you understand where you stand (personally, I did well in it, which is one of the reasons I decided to move forward with studying it).
3. There is some extra information about environmental stuff that you do not necessarily need for the exam, but there is no harm in learning it. The rest of the content is tied perfectly with country-specific case studies (eg. I remember the Structural Adjustment Program concept was tied with the IMF intervention in Mexico during its 1980s economic crisis, and the IMF necessitated the Mexican government to liberalize its economy.)
Youtube Channels
Videos are honestly the best way to study for this exam because they break down the concepts and perfectly tie the case studies with these concepts. There is a plethora of resources available on the internet; hence, even though there is no up-to-date Barrons or Princeton Review textbook to crack AP COGO, you don't really need it.
1. Global Chat with Mr. Tisch
  This guy's videos are the ONLY reason I got a 5. I am not exaggerating, the day of my exam, I was playing his videos during my one-hour ride to the test centre, and I swear that is the biggest reason I got a 5.
  
  His videos provide a good analysis of the concepts and very good examples of case studies to memorize for each country and each of the key concepts you need to know. Listening to his videos passively also will help you retain information; hence, playing them in the background like a podcast while you do other things is also a good way to study for the exam.
2. APUSH with Simone at FPM
  He made videos for each country (similar to Mr. Tisch), and I used his videos specifically for Nigeria and the United Kingdom. His analysis is good, and he covers a broad range of topics; the only drawback is that his videos are over 6 years old as of 2025, so some information may be inaccurate.
3. AP Daily Videos
  These are good for MCQ practice. Make sure to go through all of them that you possibly can. They help you retain the content you are learning (and practicing MCQs for me without finishing the syllabus helped me learn new information that I ended up applying in the exam - I do not know if this makes sense, but trust me half way through studying for the exa,m just start doing MCQ practice, it will also help you know where you stand).
  
  You can enroll in the course using publicly available codes and access it on the College Board website (eg, I know Greenwood High International and Bangalore International School both release the codes for students, because many of us self-study for the exams). So if your school does not offer the course, and you still want to take the exam, you can access the AP daily videos using the codes from these 2 schools because they release the join codes along with their registration forms (they usually link it in the year's registration).
4. The Eason
  I personally only used a couple of his videos, but when I was researching (yes, doomscrolling through Reddit) how to self-study for the exam, many people told me to use The Eason (he has good videos for U.S gov, and history as well, I think). Also, he has good MCQ practice. I got a lot of my practice from his YouTube videos (just pause it and choose your answer before he reveals it).
5. Mrs. Ocampo AP World History Lectures
  I personally did not use his videos, but he seems to have pretty in-depth videos for Nigeria, Mexico, and the sociopolitical and economic concepts you need for the exam.
Cram Review Videos
1. Fiveable - Used this Cram guide before my exam (helps if you procrastinate like me).
2. Fiveable - More of a review version, but yeah, good content, learn source as well.
3. Mrs. DeLong-Moorefield - I personally did not use this, but while researching review packets, I found it, and it seems to have a solid review of the concepts, content, and case-specific examples in the playlist I linked.
4. Western Civ - Concept-based review videos with specific case study ones as well. I did not use this one, but again, while researching, I found it, and it has a pretty solid overview of all the concepts you need for the exam.
KNOWT Notes
Honestly, the best consolidated note platform, I printed the ultimate review packet and just re-read it before sleeping every day. Helped a lot!
FRQ Practice
It is here that the AP Daily videos become very useful, along with the past papers available on the College Board website. The FRQs are very scoring, and looking at past questions, they are quite easy to crack if you know the key definitions and know 3–6 of the countries inside out. They usually give an option of 4–5 countries to choose and analyze when you compare countries or give case study examples for the question at hand, and it is here that knowing countries in-depth becomes important (especially for the last two questions). Use the 2020-onward FRQ practice from the College Board and look at the mark scheme. Similar to the MCQ practice I mentioned above, while practicing these, you can learn a lot of new information and end up using it during your exam when you are asked similar questions. So don't worry about doing practice questions without knowing all of the content. If you actively practice side by side, you learn content through practice (for self-studying, this is like engaging in class and learning from the responses your friends give you).

Use YouTube videos that practice the FRQS as well (like The Eason), especially because of the new update limiting access to the number of FRQs available.

Note: When I was studying, FRQs were available from every year, but there is a recent update that only gives you the past 3 years (if I find the ones from before that, I will edit this post a link them here).