<p>With the AP US History exam looming a week ahead, I'm in somewhat of a panic over the essay sections. I find myself doing consistently well (4 or 5) on practice multiple choice tests, but when faced with a free response sample question I tend to completely freeze. Any advice on how to prepare for the essay portions specifically, other than doing practice DBQs?</p>
<p>What i find that helps for me. (I'm also taking it this May). Is that you memorize just lists of terms and acts, and absolutely KNOW a few key terms from each period so you can parachute them into your essays. The conceptual part is easy, bringing in details trip most people up.</p>
<p>yeah what marktopia says is right, theres not much more you can do than just memorizing key concepts from each period and hopefully, more will come to you as you think of those... there is a really good apus cram packet somewhere online that we used... also, doing the MC q's can help jog your memory about facts and ideas</p>
<p>speaking of a list of terms and what not that you need to memorize, this packet here is basically the best thing EVER!
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/athens/pantheon/9910/%5B/url%5D">http://www.geocities.com/athens/pantheon/9910/</a></p>
<p>-do well on the MC
-the DBQ is diff from world/euro and you need a lot of prior knowledge, hopefully yours will be intelligent unlike last years (republican motherhood and domestic servatude???)
-essays take a side and pick 3 examples
-good luck</p>
<p>I second ego<em>magnus</em>sum. I had minimum preparation for the essays and, too be honest, really felt like I did horribly on them. The DBQ was especially difficult and obscure as ego pointed out but if you know enough, you can usually find something to write about. The MC section is where you have to rack up a lot of the points since the essays can sometimes be difficult and the timing may also pose a problem. Ace the MC section, do decently on the essays and you should be fine. Thats how I felt after I took the test, I knew I had aced the MC q's but was iffy with the essays. I got a 5 btw.</p>
<p>GL</p>
<p>for the essays maybe choose a time period and then write down everything u know about it. This is great practice</p>
<p>if you pwn the multiple choice (70+) then just worry about the DBQ and do what you can on the thematics.</p>
<p>For those of you who took both SAT II US and AP US before, how hard is the APUS MCs compared to the SAT II?</p>
<p>I thought SAT 2 was harder because it asked a lot more minute detail questions than the AP.</p>
<p>Yeah, I totally agree...Like that random question today about the first female presidential nominee or something.</p>
<p>LOL that was so easy if you studied presidents in 5th grade...well, I'm the only one I know who would pick out such a crazy hobby back then but oh well. Geraldine Ferraro was the correct answer...as for being harder, I don't know...REA's tests completely destroy me (I usually get 15 - 18 wrong on the MC) yet I feel I got no more than 2 or 3 wrong on the entire SAT subject test, if any.</p>
<p>I knew who the first female presidential nominee was, we took a test earlier last week and that same exact question was on there!</p>
<p>I used PR for US History last year and it saved my life.
My classmates and I sat down at Barnes and Noble for three hours asking each other practice questions and going through the answer explanations extensively.
The DBQ sucked last year, but I think it was the free response portion that screwed me out of getting a 5. I ended up with a 4, but then again, I didn't really study. I just did review questions and studied for a half hour before the test.</p>
<p>I got a 4 on it last year. The thing that screwed me the most was the DBQ, which had to do with women's rights or womanhood. We barely went over that topic in our class because our teacher thought it would be highly unlikely that they would give us free response on it. She predicted that it would be a pre-Civil War question. Lol. </p>
<p>Anyways, concentrate on the MC...unless you are a terrific writer. Then you have some leeway.</p>
<p>Prior to the exam last year, I was scoring from anywhere a 55-65 on the MC section. I had like around 5 full MC's so I just practiced them over and over.</p>
<p>I agree with most people that you really do need to focus on MC and do decently. Last year's DBQ was a surprise for me and for many others.</p>
<p>If you get stuck on the DBQ, you want to use as many documents as you can. Surely this won't give you a good DBQ score, but remember it's only half the battle. Luckily, you (still?) get to choose from multiple non-dbq FRQs and those can boost you from a 4 to a 5.</p>
<p>most likely they wont repeat essay question from the last 3 years so get it out of the way. Works for me i got a 4 last year. Anyway history is really easy, if you been reading and do some practice test it should be a walk in the park. Guys come on now its only the A.P. test, they standard are quite low.</p>
<p>Has anybody used the Peterson book? This book has such poor tests. It's just way too specific, more than I've seen on any of the real MCs that we have taken in AP US. What books do you guys recommend for practice?</p>
<p>I'm reading out of the Peterson's right now, the questions require such esoteric knowledge (IMO).</p>
<p>"Which one of the following colonies was self-governing?"...lol</p>
<p>I'm probably going to end up using the Kaplan book for practice questions.</p>
<p>I'm an ol' APUSH vet from last year who received a 5. I actually used Peterson's to review. If you remember specific random things, it may help you like to it did for me last year. But then again, I had a really good teacher so...</p>