Nucleus

Should you read everything in the preparation books to get a 5 on APUSH? I mean, should you highlight it or something? I don't know if I should continue to highlight if I should just read everything.. Almost everything is important in it right?

azstudent

I don't know how you are as a student, but this is what worked for me. My teacher gave as a couple study guides a week before the test. I pretty much memorized the study guides. I found the multiple choice section to be ridiculously easy after doing this. Even though I didn't know really how to write the essays I still got a 5. You could use your preparation book in the same way.

dchow08

Nucleus, try writing down a bunch of terms you come across on a piece of paper. Then, every once in a while, go down the list of terms and try to define them and state their evidence. Try to make the whole response coherent. This is a great way to review.

I used Princeton Review, and I have to say that I didn't find highlighting very useful, because everything in the prep book is important!

Your book is a prep book, but you don't need to memorize everything. Just know the basic, general trends. That's what the AP exam tests.

Also if you find sample essay questions, try to answer those as you're reading.

hater_of_haters

i got a 5, w00t, w00t, they call me da historian!!!

nhsharvard

I got a 4, but I think reading your textbook, reading review books, and periodically writing FRQs and DBQs will give you a 5. You should focus on main events and trends.

aa6590

i got a 4 --- read amsco and u will get a 5. if i cared for one, i woulda done it.

katia11

I took a "Regular" american history class, which was not as rigorous. Never did an actual "Ap Style" DBQ for that class but tons of Regents ones. Didn't study except for what I learned in that so called "regular" class. Got a 5.

So it all depends I suppose. I'd say if you are in an AP class or a particularly good American history class, you should be fine with that. Take a practice test to make sure. I didn't but then again, I had a crazy teacher who taught us lots of VERY specific details (like the proposed silver:gold ratio was 16:1 and Betty Friedan wrote the Feminine Mystique)

Squirrel_Monkey

Yup, if you're in a good class, you should be fine. Just use the prep book to review the information and take a practice test to get a feel for what the test is like.

PKswmr76

the only thing i did to study for the exam is read AMSCO front to back over 2 days. i got a 5 and thought the exam was extremely easy.

(I did pay attention in class however - 95% in class)

Squirrel_Monkey

Yes, I heard AMSCO was a really good one for APUSH.

hater_of_haters

it is...all i did was read over the book...

gk23

Just read and memorize the AMSCO review book for AP US history. It is extremely good. I was in an online class, and it was very hard for me to keep up, so basically the only preparation I had for the AP exam was reading 22 out of the 30 chapters in the book. Even though I had seven chapters remaining, I got a score of 3 on the exam. I know a 3 isn't as great as a 4 or 5, but if you don't stop where I stopped and read (with interest) all of the 30 well written chapters, you can easily get a 4 or a 5. DO the questions in the book as well.

arwen15

I got a 5 (and a 790 SATII USH) but the amount of work was ridiculous.

Just doing Barrons though will do it for you if you do not get snagged into a
time gobbling course at school

Nucleus

How much work did you guys have? 1 chapter a week? 2 chapters?

We have to write summaries for each of the sections (like 5 BIG paragraphs per chapter). Do you think that is a good thing or should I just read it? How do I know if summarizing what I remember helps me or not? I guess it makes you "think about what you've read" which is like paraphrasing..

PKswmr76

make sure you do ALL of the work in class properly...AMSCO is only for the few weeks before the AP test.