Hello, I’m taking AP Biology and AP US History my junior year. What should I do to prepare for the AP exams? I really want to score a 5 on both. Last year I only took AP Human Geography (got a 5). Also, I’m taking Honors Physics, so I’m basically taking 2 science classes my junior year.
I took AP US History last year. I got a 5 on the exam and an A in the class.
My teacher was very nice and chill. I didn’t study much for the tests but managed to get A’s. The course itself was not that hard for me but many in my class struggled for some reason.
I did not buy any review books. The beginning of the year I got through with minor studying on some review packets my teacher gave me. I didn’t use many third party sources.
I found this website towards the end of the year that I wish I had found earlier.
He has videos that stem directly from the collegeboard cirriculum for the course. They split history into “periods” and each period has certain key concepts you need to know. On the official APUSH cirriculum from college board, they have examples that you can use. They’re definitely reliable ones too, because they’re directly from college board! These are especially helpful for the free response if you need good examples to write about.
If you want the official curriculum from collegeboard here it is:
If you’re struggling with the multiple choice, just take a load of practice multiple choice exams. If you’re not a history person and notice that you’re struggling on tests early in the year I’m sure someone on these forums could recommend a good review book to supplement the two websites I gave you.
For APUSH, I recommend getting the AMSCO book. Last year, my teacher used the AMSCO book in addition to our textbook, American Pageant. The AMSCO book has different sections based on the time periods. In it, there are multiple choice questions, short answer questions, and DBQs. My teacher always assigned us the multiple choice and short answer questions for homework because the AMSCO book exactly resembles the MC and SA questions that are on the APUSH exam. AMSCO also gave summaries of the chapters/time periods. Some people might think that AMSCO was too lengthy, but my teacher and class really liked using it. AMSCO doesn’t leave out any information, unlike some of the other APUSH review books.
I second taking a look at the College Board website to become familiar with the curriculum. There are three important things you should do in order to succeed both in the class and on the exam: understand, review, and practice. You need to understand the material that you are being taught- you don’t want to get too far behind trying to understand a certain part of history. Make sure that you review the topics from your textbook and/or notes. There were so many people in my APUSH class who thought that they could get by without reviewing, and this ended up hurting them. It’s also important to practice! Practice everything- multiple choice, short answer, and long essay questions, as well as DBQs. Don’t put off reviewing for the AP exam until March/April- there is too much information.
I haven’t taken AP Biology (I’m taking it this year), so I don’t know what to expect. I have heard that Barron’s is a great review book. Campbell’s makes a study guide as well as a textbook, and those are apparently very helpful. At my high school, AP Biology uses the Campbell’s textbook (as do a lot of other high schools).
For AP Biology I definitely recommend the Barron’s AP book and flash cards. I did not learn that much in my school course, but I spent around two months comprehensively reviewing the Barron’s book and ended up with a 5. For video instruction I also recommend Bozeman science.
For AP US History I didn’t really use a prep book to study because my in-school teacher was good, but I recommend practicing the written questions, as the multiple choice is pretty straight forward provided you have a basic grasp of US history. I would do the practice tests that the College Board has up on the site, and then review the comprehensive rubrics.
For AP Biology I used the Barron’s AP book as well and got a 5! It was extremely helpful and reviewed over the things that we learned that year. For chapter tests, I would recommend watching Bozeman videos on youtube, they helped me A TON, and were a great review on the night before the test!
The two posters above have already said it, but I’m going to say it anyways: get Barron’s for AP Biology. I also got a 5 with it, and it covers anything that could possibly be on the test. Bozeman is great too; I didn’t watch them much because I don’t learn that well from videos, but he has videos on all AP Bio topics too. Also, make sure to practice all of the AP Bio FRQs on the Collegeboard website and look over the scoring guidelines!
Unfortunately I took the APUSH test before they revised it, so I have no idea what’s a good review book for that now.