What's the point of VERY detailed tests for APUSH/APES?

AlwaysTired · September 2007

Okay, my teachers are giving me fairly detailed tests that correspond to my textbook. What is the point of these tests? Do you really need to read that carefull to score well on the AP Exam?

One of the questions is, for example:

1. ln early 19th century, the center of manufacture was:

NewEngland, Newport, Boston, Philadephia, NewYork

.....

Does that even relate to the AP exam? If I do bad on these quizzes, does that mean I will not get a 5 on the actual AP exam?

What about for APES? I don't know if I should read that in-depth...

It'sGr82BeAGator · September 2007

It's mostly just to torture students and keep them in line (so they can make sure they read the book) unfortunately.

apathy · September 2007

is APES Environmental Science? because apparently it's the easiest one.

however, for APUSH, those WILL be the kinds of questions you'll get. they are painful, yes. you will have to remember you amendments, your acts, your eras, your presidents.

although the question you posted, that's actually pretty important.

kyledavid80 · September 2007

It'sGr82BeAGator is right. Teachers try to say that it's to prepare you, but really, all the preparation you need can be found in a prep book, since the questions are more general.

It'sGr82BeAGator · September 2007

Remember that the AP exam tests ALL chapters, thus making the questions more general, like kyledavid80 said. However, since the teacher is just testing you on specific chapters, they have to pull out harder questions from the text to up the difficulty and make it seem more like a college course. Believe me, they're just trying to force you to read that book by asking those obscure questions, not really preparing you for the AP exam.

TheMathProf · September 2007

That being said, my experience with college history and science courses was that they would pull the obscure minutiae and choose that to test you on, so learning how to pick that out in high school is an experience that I wish would have been required of me.

aperturegeek · September 2007

My APUSH teacher (who is amazing - her students do incredibly well on the exam every year) gave us not only detailed chapter tests but also weekly terms quizzes, which tested us on a list of terms found in the chapter. These were usually incredibly nitpicky; there would be questions on semi-obscure topics like the inventor of barbed wire and every person named John that ever existed in American history. Although these were incredibly difficult for me (I'm a thematic person... very, very bad at details) they ended up being helpful. Even though the actual AP test is usually more general there are always those sneak-attack MC questions that seem like they're just there to flaunt their obscurity. Internalizing details from your textbook can really help you with these - not to mention that throwing in details on the FRQs really, really helps your score.

Even though I at first questioned the seemingly obsessive focus on details on APUSH book tests, I came to realize that they truly do make a difference when it comes to the AP exam. What will differentiate you from someone who just read a prep book will be your richer knowledge of history and your ability to analyze it beyond thematic trends.

I wouldn't have gotten a 5 without my teacher making us pay attention to the details. It really is worth it.

wxmann · September 2007

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=4729397&postcount=17

What's the point of VERY detailed tests for APUSH/APES?

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