So, I am taking AP U.S. History next year as a junior. Everyone says it is the “hardest class ever” and I know that it is really difficult. If you have taken this class, what is the key to getting a good grade in it? What can I do during the year to prepare for the AP exam at the end of the year?</p>
My class was easy, and I’m pretty sure I got a 5 on the exam. I would suggest to make sure you are keeping up with the chapters, and get a good review book such as Crash Course. Actually, no, get Crash Course for sure. It’s the only reason I probably got a 5. Anyways, ya it’s not that hard of a class at my school, just make sure you can write good essays and everything.</p>
Use AMSCO, and Crash Course to study and review. They’re probably the best prep books out there for APUSH and they will help you get a 5. I didn’t really study for the class, and I didn’t review much. The class itself wasn’t hard for me, mostly because I enjoy history and because my history teacher was really good, but that might not be the case for you.</p>
It’s not hard, it’s just a lot of info and work. I don’t know about your school, but in mine, we have to take notes for every chapter. That was annoying, spent sleepless nights on them…
I think you can do well if you buy the amsco book. It’s cheap, and it’s practically a mini version of the American Pageant.</p>
APUSH is much easier than say, AP Physics C or AP Calc BC. Just my opinion.</p>
The key to APUSH, like its companions Euro and WH, is an understanding of trends.</p>
E.g. If you know that the Supreme Court was very liberal during the 60’s, you can pretty much guess their actions.</p>
If you know the propensities of the Democratic Party, you can guess their actions too. Grover Cleveland was sandwiched in between a long chain of Republican Presidents, and thus was one of the few during his era to attempt to lower tariffs until Wilson(another Democrat) did it at the end of the 1st World War. (FYI, his Mills Bill and Wilson-Gorman Tarriff of 1894 were both failures.)</p>
If you know that the antebellum period was dominated by a bunch of white men who did not like one another, well, that’s all you need to know for that period. :D</p>
Ill give you my 5 Steps to A 5 and REA for free, since I have no use for them anymore. If you read both you are guaranteed at least a 4, most likely a 5. </p>
This offer was to anyone who is taking APUSH next year, send me a PM if you want one of them or both. I highlighted like 5 pages in each of them and there are little to no markings in them.</p>
APUSH is pretty easy if you understand the general framework of history. It’s majorly focused on slavery and the Great Depression, so you’ll need to memorize the names of a bunch of people and acts for those two areas.</p>
wow! thanks for the comments everyone! at my school, APUSH is one of the hardest classes, but then again, we don’t have AP Physics, Calc BC, or AP Chemistry, so that’s probably why.</p>
APUSH is one of the harder APs but it is nothing that hard work and a lot of reading can’t solve. First off, I didn’t even know what AMSCO was until after I took the AP exam, and I got a 4, so it isn’t mandatory to use, even if many people here say it is. I read every word of every chapter in my textbook: The Enduring Vision. I made very detailed notes for a large variety of people, events, etc. from each time period. I am alright at essays, but sometimes it is hit and miss. After a year’s work, I went through PR’s history review and took the practice tests. In the end, I was satisfied with my efforts and you will be too, if you put in the hours to study throughout the year.</p>
@byubound: thanks for the info! Did you order the PR history review online? I want to get it because of how helpful everyone says it is. =)</p>
Hardest class ever? no way
and physics, calculus, and chemistry are definitely not either</p>
@bobtheboy: well, it really just depends on how your teacher is.</p>
it is NOT the hardest class ever. It IS a ****load of memorization and attention to detail. You have to really make yourself interested in it, so when may rolls around you’ll still know the crap you learned in september.</p>
I can only give general comments, because it really depends on the teacher. I had a pretty difficult teacher who was like a walking textbook. She went in depth and wanted her students to know every detail. I got an 85 in the class but a 5 on the exam.</p>
I think most teachers make their students take notes and outlines on their textbooks. Don’t slack on this because this practice helps the most.</p>
Review book=essential. I recommend AMSCO, 5 steps, or Kaplan, but NOT REA (TMI) or Barrons (which only prepares for the essay).</p>
I second antonioray… apush is so much easier than ap calc bc. It’s difficult because of the sheer volume of material you have to cover, not enough time, and all that memorization.</p>
I wouldn’t say it’s the hardest, but it still takes a good deal of effort. Be sure to stay on top of textbook/AMSCO readings. Take notes- it really helps!</p>
I think the difficulty of the class also has something to do with your individual interests/talents. I took APUSH this year and honestly found it more difficult than my AP Chemistry class–though it may be because I had no interest in APUSH whatsoever. I just hate classes that are so memorization-oriented.</p>
I would recommend doing A LOT of practice tests, especially in the month before the exam, and getting your hands on past AP exams. It helps to get acquainted with the style of the test and the types of tricks they throw at you. In fact, the more practice tests you do, the more you’ll notice repeated questions, and if you’re lucky, you’ll notice similar questions on the actual exam (I actually did), because they tend to recycle questions.</p>
Also, I recommend against using Kaplan’s test prep. It did help for reviewing the material, but the practice questions were much more straightforward than those on the actual AP exam.</p>
At my school APUSH is a really difficult class, but we really learned the material. I used 5 steps to a 5-literally read the whole thing. I took the practice tests, plus 2 weeks before the test as a class we took a full practice test for a grade. It really helped ease my worries on what possible essay topics there could be.
Also, having taken AP Euro the previous year really gave me insight on how to study for an AP history test.</p>
does anyone have practice exams for this?</p>
Check out [AP</a> US History | AP Exam Review Course](<a href=“http://www.apexamreview.com%5DAP”>http://www.apexamreview.com) and go to the practice test section. Best practice exams I know of.</p>
worst ap class experience ever in my opinion, my teacher was known throughout the school as a fat english brit, but i came to respect the man despite the 350 index cards i had to write over the course of the year and memorize along with 5 dbqs in a 2 week period with 3 frqs the week before the exam, it was surely hell but i def got a 4-5, all in all toughest class i have ever taken yet most rewarding, take it with ap english like i did, and im still smacking myself for it</p>