Hello,
This thread is dedicated to helping those who seek to not only pass but succeed in AP US History during the 2015-2016 school year. I am a 2014-2015 APUSH student and want to pass on the baton to others. I would like to help anyone and everyone in every way I can by suggesting resources to review material for APUSH.
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Yes, hahaha. Though it may see early, some people are getting summer assignments already and are eager to get a head start, especially since there has been some rumors about the intensity of the course. Therefore, I would like to help those who need help and seek to prepare for APUSH during the summer for the 2015-2016 school year. If anyone has questions or concerns about APUSH, please post your thoughts.
Great, @apstudent0 ! I’m glad to know you are interested in APUSH students this year. I am personally bad with historical facts and figures, but I am taking this course and exam next year, as well as AP Chemistry and AP Statistics, and would like to get as much time as I can to prepare for the exam. What is the main purpose of this course? Is it to memorize countless events in the US’s political, economic, and social history? Or to understand time periods marked by certain events and cultural shape of the country? My brother took the APUSH exam last year and said it was a difficult course, and that it was more like the latter of my suggestions. I have little background on US History, beyond several major wars and its origin. I took AP Human Geography this year and am expanding my understanding and perspective of the worlds situation as a result of past events. Thank you once again!
@apstudent0 I am however a prestigiously hardworking student and a lover of knowledge and advocate of perspective. I strive for a 5 in all of my exams, however unrealistic or crazy it may be. I am known to appear mentally ill when studying and note-ing lectures by my focus and interest(almost, fixation) of the topics I learn. Fair warning, I’m sure!
Difficult course, easy exam for my experiences. Everyones hardworking on CC so no need to give a whole backstory lol(just kidding of course) but I studied the day before the exam and I think i did fine. Taking notes helps and remembering the little details is a lot of the course because it allows you to get points of using historical outside info on the essays. It isn’t a military history course so there isn;t a point in knowing details about wars mores the impact the war had on america and foreign policy. good luck just some tips
@Gatortristan Haha yes, I apologize. I’m new to this website, so I’m still learning that myself! Thank you, had the feeling it would be less about war history anyways. Are you planning on going to Cornell?
@microversal Lol it’s still just a dream but hopefully so in december!
@microversal This class takes a Marxist viewpoint of history. The course is divided up into nine time periods. Every single time period has at least one group of individuals struggle to conform to the mainstream society or struggle with expansion-related issues. The course singles out many dark times in US history; however, there is a slew of examples of change and continuity in history, so you do not need to know the caliber of the bullet that killed Lincoln but you need to construct essays that take a thematic approach. For example, if you were forced to write an essay about the expansion of slavery before the American Revolution some of the examples that I would mention include: The first slaves brought to Jamestown (1619), Bacon’s Rebellion (1676), the New York Conspiracy, and the Stono Rebellion. The first two demonstrate a push towards slavery; meanwhile, the last two illustrate the African Americans’ resistance to slavery. Just pay attention for themes in history and the course should be a piece of cake–it was for me once I adjusted to this ideological stance.
@microversal I would highly suggest that you looked at the released 2015 APUSH exam, the outline of the course (provided by the College Board), www.apushreview.com, and JoczProductions on YouTube. A supplemental text that my class used (but not me, I don’t like to conform to the mainstream entities) was the AMSCO APUSH book. The book is on Amazon, so you can order it–it’s only $20.
for exam cramming use adam norris on youtube. Literally went over every topic on the exam
I agree with the suggestions to use AMSCO and Adam Norris
@ypmagic could you please specify what the unnecessary work is? Also, look for imperial interest throughout history. Some examples could include the following:
From Period 1: 3 G’s of Spain
From Period 2: Dutch, French, Spanish, and English expansion to New World
From Period 3: GB’s salutary neglect
From Period 4: War of 1812, Aroostook War, Adam-Onis Treaty, LA purchase
From Period 5: 54 40, or Fight! Mexican American War, Young America (wanting to expand slavery to Latin America), possibility of European Intervention in Civil War
From Period 6: Seward’s Folly (acquiring Alaska from Russia)
From Period 7: Annexation of Hawaii, Spanish American War (annexation of Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, Philippines), WWI (contradiction, isolationism b/c US didn’t enter League of Nations or approve Treaty of Versailles), Big Stick Policy (Theo. Roosevelt), Panama Canal, Dollar Diplomacy (Taft), Good Neighbor Policy (FDR), Destroyers for Bases policy (FDR), Japanese expansion to Manchuria and US response: Stimson Doctrine, Soviet Union and German non-aggression pact, WWII (fear of Soviet Union’s influence post-WWII, as seen in the Yalta Conference)
From Period 8: US gives up Philippines, US tries to prevent communist influence throughout the world (containment (Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin Airlift), Proxy Wars with Soviet Union (Chinese Civil War, Korean War, Vietnam War), decolonization), not much because of fear of communism
From Period 9: not much, but the US tries to maintain peace with the Gulf War and the War of Terror
I hope this brief list of significant imperialist events helps you in class!
A tip of from a freshman who took it this year, start reading this summer! Always try to get ahead of your reading.
This will be a very hard class, but stick to it. It gets easier as it goes on.
I took it last year, and would agree by saying the exam is easier than the course. I recommend using AMSCO, I read it a week before the exam after taking the class and feel confident. Other than that, I advise you to stay on pace with the class, as most APUSH classes are work-intensive and tend to go quickly. It’s a total relief once you’ve finished the test, though. Good luck!
Question- How heavy is the homework load? How many hours on average did it take you ex-APUSHers to do your homework every night? I’ve heard that this course is reading-heavy, but is it WHAP heavy or worse?
I can’t speak for AP World, but my class was very reading intensive. In fact that was pretty much the only homework was to read the book. Depending on the textbook this can be good or bad. We used the American Pageant. It seems like the AP exam likes that book. However the book to me was a little verbose than need be. So the chapters will take awhile. But work wise wasn’t too intensive.
I would say to read one chapter. … 3 hours ish perhaps. But I read slow. Again every class is different. The AP exam was easy to me. Without discussing questions, the exam is really broad and concerned about trends compared to what your teacher may ask which might be very specific facts. But knowing the specifics will help with essays and make knowing the exam easier. I am sorry I can’t compare it to AP World though.
Anyone know how this stacks up to european history? Just finished that up and got a 5 and my euro teacher says that US is a cakewalk by comparison, but he is somewhat biased in terms of how he favors the difficulty of euro (very difficult in his eyes) to US (Not nearly as extensive nor thorough). Would just like to hear from a former euro/US student to hear it from their perspective as well!
My APUSH class pretty much just consisted of constant reading. A LOT of reading. Honestly if you just know the material formulating the essays and understanding the essays is super easy. The textbook practically becomes your Bible. Got a 5 tho so it ended up working out well. I used Kaplan and my textbook as the main source of info for the test.
Also, if you’re textbook is America’s History by Henretta, USE ADAM NORISS. He has videos for each chapter in the textbook and for each APUSH period. It’s awesome - definitely would not have gotten a 5 without him.