<p>I am currently taking APUSH at my school and it isn't so hard but when it comes to the multiple choice, I bomb. I do fairly all right on DBQ essays but I've taken two AP style multiple choice exams so far and have failed both. Of course my teacher curves them due to most of the class failing or just barely passing but I'm concerned on how this will reflect on my ability to do well on the AP exam in May. The first multiple choice I took, I got in the 50s as well as the second but on the second test, I improved about a point..</p>
<p>Are any of you taking APUSH having trouble with the multiple choice as well? Also, if you'd care to provide any advice, that'd be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>P.S. I didn't study (at all) for the first test and not too much for the second one. But I believe even if I do study, it'll be difficult to improve significantly in scores.</p>
<p>Hahaha are you seriously not studying for tests almost entirely based off of how much content you memorize? STUDY. Jesus you need to read the god damn textbook, at least twice, and read your review book. It’s not difficult, you’re just being lazy.</p>
<p>History MC=memorize everything. If you didn’t study and you bombed, it means that you didn’t memorize enough of it in class. So reading your textbook or your review book and internalizing the information will make your scores shoot up. Either that or cheating off the smart kid sitting next to you.</p>
<p>I would buy some sort of study guide. The APUSH Sparknotes packet and book really helped me. (I got a 5.) Don’t try to know everything, rather know the basics surrounding enough topics that you can make an educated guess. Books that provide general overviews of topics are a huge help! As far as help with the multiple choice- practice, practice, practice! Knowing the way the test works and paying attention to the tone of questions and answer choices can do wonders.</p>
<p>I took the AP exam, and here is my highly anecdotal advice:</p>
<p>To do well on the APUSH multiple choice section, you need to know the general trends of history, between about 1800 and 1950, and you need to be able to put LOT of names of people, movements, and events in their proper places along these trends. Exact dates and details are not as important as being able to say “Kansas-Nebraska Act… That was late in the build-up to the civil war, during which a series of compromises over the slavery issue failed to settle North-South tensions”.</p>
<p>You know you have 5 more months to learn the material? Stop freaking out.</p>
<p>I didnt study at all and got a 5. It was a hard test, but if you know the info you know it. I felt confident that I knew it. If you dont feel confident about every president, every war, every new state being added, every important inventor or philosopher in America, you’ll be screwed.</p>
<p>When you say you got 50s, does that mean 50% or 50 out of 80. If it means 50 out of 80 then its really not too bad-I started out getting those kind of scores when I took the practice tests and I ended up getting a 5 on the ap test.</p>
<p>I totally agree with the the guy who said buy the princeton review book. It’s concise and recognizes that you won’t be able to know EVERYTHING on the MC so it just sticks to the important stuff. Also it has quite a few MC practice tests which are very useful.</p>
<p>I know people say study study study and yes thats true…but at the same time I felt the APUSH exam was really quite easy. You can earn at least a 6/9 on any DBQ without knowing anything about the question’s subject.(though I wouldn’t encourage not practicing) For instance the puritan one last year that I got practically fed me all the information I needed to know. All I had to do was throw in a few names (I think I used Roger Williams and Ann Hutchison or something) and voila.</p>
<p>I am not trying to play down the authenticity of the AP test but I can truthfully tell you it really isn’t as hard as some people make it out to be.</p>
<p>What kind of practice tests?
I was making around 50-55/80 out of the Barron’s book for APUSH, but around 65-70/80 out of the Kaplan book. The real test turned out to be more like Kaplan’s tests; basic and general questions. I think I probably got around 70/80 on the actual MC last year. I guessed that my essays scored about a 6, 7-8, and 5 respectively. And I did end up with a 5.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the input and the tests I’m talking about are ones I took in class, not out of any book. Aside from this, I am definitely going to go grab a review book soon and I have AMSCO’s in mind as my #1 choice. Would anybody beg to differ from personal experience? I’m aiming for a 4 or quite possibly a 5 on the exam in May.</p>
<p>It’s more so like there’s just SO much information, nobody can hope to just know it all. So the tactic becomes to KNOW HOW TO TAKE THE TEST. </p>
<p>And yes, name dropping in the DBQ’s does help. Heck, I mentioned a woman I thought I remembered from class lectures. Turns out she was a person but I used the wrong name lol! But it’s all about the presentation. If you write solidly and know how to interpret the primary sources well, it goes way farther than knowing random facts about puritans. </p>
<p>(A funny story though: I spent my entire life at a private Christian school having the history of Christianity in early America shoved down my throat over and over and over, year after year, all so we could learn about the “heroes” who brought our faith to America. It kinda made me chuckle it actually was of use to me at some point in my life. )</p>
<p>I would again say the Spark Notes packet too. Not really to learn the information (which a book like AMSCO would help you do), but the flash cards are excellent for reviewing! I carried those things around for a solid two weeks before the test and quizzed myself everywhere</p>