<p>Just totally stalked this thread for answers! I’m taking English Lang/Comp and APUSH in the fall, so everyone’s advice was perfect. Thanks LoseYourself for starting the thread and everyone for replying!</p>
<p>So I’m just going to hijack this now…
I’m also curious about a few classes/exams I will be taking next year:
AP Micro
AP Macro (self)
AP Bio
AP US Gov
AP Physics C: Mech
AP Physics C: E&M (self, perhaps… if I can grasp mech well)
AP Psych (self)
AP Physics B (self)
AP BC Cal</p>
<p>Also, I’m retaking AP Lit exam again because I took it while in AP Lang and got a four (while I got a five on Lang -_-), and perhaps the AP Chem exam again.</p>
<p>In the end, I’ll probably drop Physics B or Physics C: E&M. But, as of now, this is my plan. Any tips, suggestions, etc. would be fantastic!</p>
<p>@ Coconutso,</p>
<p>Are you going to be a sr next year? My advice is based on that, since most people take English Lang hr year.</p>
<p>Retaking English Lit may not be useful. It has a low percentage of 4s, and many people get 5s in English Lang jr year and then 4s on English Lit sr year. I would only do this if getting the 5 in Lit is necessary for getting useful credits at your college (at many colleges this is not so. Oftentimes English Lang and Lit give the same credit and doing well on both does not augment your credit. For example, at Cornell Arts & Sciences you get exemption from one writing class with a 5 on English Language or Literature. Getting 5s on both does not give anything more). As far as college admissions go, the improved score would not be useful in anyways, so . . . I personally wouldn’t do it.</p>
<p>US Government is great if you’re interested in it. Since we are now going into an election cycle, you’re going to want to watch it closely. One of the FRQs this year was about nomination of candidates by the parties, and the only reason I knew what Super Delegates are for the Democratic Party was because I followed the 2008 election (now, if only I had remembered what a caucus was . . . but it wasn’t essential information). I think the PR prep book is good, and I bought it . . . but I didn’t actually use it (senioritis and Comparative Government left me cramming US Gov from just my class notes, and that was enough).</p>
<p>Physics B is an interesting AP test. It is mathematical, and many of the MC ?s boil down to having memorized the formulas. They aren’t all math problems, but a lot of it has to do with the direct and inverse relationships in the equations (i.e., increasing distance reduces centripetal force, F ~ 1/r^2). I personally think of electromagnetism as the hardest part of it, and while I was able to become decently versed in electricity, I had very little understanding of magnetism. On the FR question dedicated solely to magnetism, I probably got 2 out of 5-6 parts. I probably left some 20 MCs blank (mainly electromagnetism ones) and I still managed a 5. My point is, if you can learn everything else well enough, you can do well without knowing electromagnetism well. You also want to try to get a good understanding of the conceptual physics, not because it’s necessary for AP, but because it’s good if you plan on going into a field that uses physics. It’s similar to chem in that you’ll have a hesitant confidence after the MC but then you will be raped by FR but then the curve will be lenient and you will get a good score.</p>
<p>Psych is easy and basically a test on vocab and the history of psych and a little bit of logical stat stuff.</p>
<p>APUSH- I had an amazing APUSH teacher; but even if you don’t, Crash Course + PR + read your textbook = solid.
AP English Lang- once again, solid teacher. There is not much prep work you can do for this, just write tons and tons of essays, and get some practice CRQ THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
AP Chem- pay attention throughout the year, and use PR. Crash Course has errors. Also, do past FRQs, especially for the equations, which is what I did weekend before the AP test. Memorize colors. Do bookwork + read textbook (so useful).</p>
<p>Memorize colors… Your usage of precise details astonishes me.</p>
<p>I’ll talk about the ones I took. And can someone add some more advice on Physics B? That’s honestly the class I’m most worried about next year…</p>
<p>I scored a 5 on all 3. Below- a huge wall of text :P</p>
<p>US History- Get two books. AP US History in a Flash and AMSCO US History. Use AMSCO in supplement with your textbook to thoroughly understand the important material, and use Flash in preparation for the test. The class itself depends on your teacher. My teacher made us do chapter outlines each week, easily the most tedious thing I’ve done in my life. [We used American History: A Survey, by Brinkly] Being the rebel I was, plus due to the fact homework was only 10%, I just used AMSCO along with some online coursenotes to ace every single exam we took. The essays can be a bit difficult, if you’re someone that’s good at writing. Your essay, ironically, can not be sophisticated to the point of diverging from the topic- it must be succinct, clear, and fluid. My problem was that I went logic mode and made some analyzations that had nothing to do with the question, plus my thesis were extremely convoluted and wordy. It’s a lot of work, no matter what teacher you have…keep with the pace! The AP exam isn’t too bad honestly- it’s a test of rote memorization, which is why they have plans on changing it.</p>
<p>AP Lang- Oh god. Well, let’s see. The class itself, once again, depends on the teacher. My teacher gave us timed essays every single day, and was a ultra hard grader(never gave out 8’s and 9’s, the average scores were a 4). But she was incredibly dedicated to making sure that we tapped our inner writer. The point of AP Lang is not to learn, unlike other APs. It is to mature, to perceive, to understand the intent of what is not your own. That is not something that happens in a day, and it is most certainly not something that is instilled to you by another person. Anyways, to get to the point, Let me give some highlights about the exam itself.
- The Multiple Choice is tough as nails. Average scores hovered at around 50% of the questions right for them. I usually got around 80-85%. You simply have to adopt to the format. It’s like SAT CR, but a tad bit more advanced. While it seems only to be 45% of the exam, the essay grades have your MC score with them in case they have to assess the quality of what you write- thus it is of utmost important to do good in this section. The questions are more ambiguous than that of the SAT- they aren’t as blatantly evident in the passage as the CR questions tend to be.
- The Synthesis Essay is easy. All your evidence is given to you. You simply have to explore a logical connection between them and blend them smoothly into your essay. It’s not as hard as it sounds. If you have any experience with the World History DBQ, the Synthesis essay is very similar. One thing though, make sure to read the question- do not assume it’s just an argumentative essay question(below) with evidence in it.
- The Argumentative Essay is honestly the hardest part of the essay, the reason being you have to come up with your own evidence to the question. One thing you should do in AP Lang is build a cheat sheet of sorts- underused yet excellent examples to support your point here. It is furthermore, the most important essay- the room for possibilities are endless here unlike the other two essays, so you will have more of a chance to expose the individual in counter to the whole nation. The best thing to do for an argument is to qualify- that is, to look at the issue in question in grey rather than in black/white. But that skill is very hard- it seems to be innate rather than built upon, so if you can’t qualify, please do just stick with a side.
- The Analysis Essay can be tough for a lot of people because it requires you to abandon your perceptions and take the role of the author. The key here is to make sure that you can support your point with the essay in piece. There are many strategies to do that, so you’ll have to discover that for yourself. My strategy was: “part of the thesis to talk about” “quote” “analysis” “reflect back to thesis” [repeat] “conclusion of one part of the question”. Length is vital- a good essay will use as much of the passage as possible and fit in accordingly to the question. Describe literary terms, diction, structure, and so on and describe what they mean to the passage, and you’ll get a great score on this part.</p>
<p>It’s hard to get a 5. You need -14 on MC(out of 55-75%), and 3 7’s(out of 9) to get a borderline 5. That is easier said than done. Just make sure to express your individuality[which is why unique examples are important] and stand out against the countless repetitive essays the Collegeboard has to grade, and you’ll get it =)</p>
<p>AP Chem- According to most, a tough class. According to me, it’s fairly easy. I contribute this to an excellent textbook: Brown and Lemay: Chemistry, the Central Science. Learning chem is like learning a language, honestly. Understand the concepts, everything clicks in and makes sense. The concepts aren’t that hard, truth be told[if you have a great book though]. Like languages, AP Chem requires memorization. You must dwell into the realms of something which isn’t as common as say biology or physics. You must learn to accept principles without too much questioning, but a lot of chemistry is so brilliant that at times you’ll go “WOW. That’s amazing! Makes perfect sense!” Then again…I had an excellent teacher haha! Anyways, you must learn your concepts, as they will be used in every section[especially things like stoichiometry]. Practice counts as well, like a language, you must immerse yourself in chemistry to become good at it. Do the problems, follow the lectures[if you guys don’t have the Central Science, powerpoints are available on the internet], and soon Chem will become an innate part of you! The exam is tough because it is so comprehensive- just like an AP language exam. It covers nearly every aspect of chemistry. But as long as you keep yourself immersed and interested, you’ll do great. A good review book is 5 steps to a 5, but I honestly stuck with Central Science because it had excellent questions and explanations. For each section you cover, say thermochem or acid/bases, make sure to supplement with the easily accessible AP Chemistry Free Response questions, to get a feel of what get’s tested. And labs are important- focus very carefully to them, as they will be intensively tested on the test.</p>
<p>@Coconutso</p>
<p>AP Psychology: I self-studied this, and I probably received a 5, but I didn’t get my scores in the mail yet. Personally, I don’t understand how members of this community can knock out a 5 with only a cram-session the day before. I start 2-3 weeks early and read the book. After I read the book (Barrons), I took a diagnostic test and received a 64%…</p>
<p>I ordered the Barrons flashcards after that and read the book again, making sure I knew all the stage theories and famous researchers and scientists. Eventually, this led me to an 80-85% on previous released AP Psychology tests. </p>
<p>On the night before the AP Psychology test, I looked over every single FRQ and did them all in my head and looked at the corresponding rubrics to see what exactly the graders would like. I also looked at some student samples to get the format down. </p>
<p>Finally, when I took the test, it was tremendously easier than the real test. I knew the answer to almost every single question and slightly struggled with the first FRQ question, while annihilating the second one. </p>
<p>All in all, the test is 95% memorization with 5% application of the memorized materials.</p>