Last year I took AP World History as a freshman and got a B+. I figured that wasn’t too bad because my weighted GPA was a 4.0 and I had As in Honors Bio and Honors Geometry from that year. Now this year I am in APUSH and AP Bio and getting Bs in both. I keep trying new study ideas and I keep getting Bs on the tests. I feel I understand the material well, and I always think I do well on tests, but they come back with a B grade. Does anyone have any ideas for getting an A in these classes? I want to get into NYU and that’s gonna be hard with a bunch of Bs on my transcript.
I can’t speak for Bio, but for APUSH the key for me was not so much learning the material as it was figuring out how to address the multiple choice questions. Review books really help with this- I got one at the beginning of the year and would go through some questions before each test. A lot of it is just being aware of the different ways that the material can be worded, etc. And being able to keep an open mind, and not jump to a certain answer just because you “recognize a word,” (I could get away with this in a lot of other classes) is also important.
Can’t speak on Bio either, but APUSH was pretty easy for me. Quizlet really helped. Print that stuff out and review it every night. Buy a review book (I bought the Barrons but most buy the Crash Course) because they tend to cut all the BS and get to the point.
AP Bio is a really difficult class but I have developed some good habits. Honestly you have to read the textbook, maybe even twice if you don’t get it the first time. And take notes on what you are reading. Draw diagrams, make flashcards. It also helps if you buy a review books and use it to study for your chapter tests. Our teachers give us these Holzclaw Reading Guides for each chapter that go right along with the textbook. They help quite a bit! Here’s a website that has all of them http://www.biologyjunction.com/campbell_8th_edition_reading_gui.htm
Thank you! I’ll definitely give those a try!