Hey Guys, Im just curious on what is the best review book for APUSH that IS NOT AMSCO (because it is too long), nor Crash Course. Have any of you guys ever used:</p>
5 Steps to a 5
Barron’s
Princeton Review
(i don’t really trust Kaplan)</p>
THANKS!</p>
Direct Hits is a great new book that helped me get a 760 on the SAT II and hopefully a 5 on the AP. I also used the Sparknotes Guide to AP U.S. History, which was very useful for studying throughout the year, along with the Crash Course (I skimmed it once so it didn’t really help). Princeton Review worked very well for my friend who thinks she got a 5. When I was looking over books to pick for my APs, I thought that 5 Steps to a 5 was unorganized. One of my friends told me Kaplan was meh.</p>
so direct hits specifically covers both sat ii and ap content? does direct hits contain a lot of practice questions?
also i was wondering how similar crash course and direct hits are, because they are by the same author.</p>
Yes, Direct Hits covers both SAT II and AP content. The Direct Hits book itself does not contain any practice questions, but there are three question sets based on that book here:</p>
[Direct</a> Hits Education](<a href=“http://www.directhitseducation.com/Downloads/Content/index.php]Direct”>http://www.directhitseducation.com/Downloads/Content/index.php)</p>
Although the two books are written by the same author, they are pretty different. Crash Course kind of covers many topics in a short space, while Direct Hits picks several topics (that are the more frequently tested one) and explains them in more detail. Direct Hits really does review the most important topics, leaving many of the untested topics out. Although the two are both good books, Direct Hits taught me several specific things that really helped as I was studying for the exam.</p>
I used Kaplan because my teacher recommended it, thought it was fine. Not the best prep book I’ve ever had, but certainly not the worst.</p>
I HIGHLY recommend Direct Hits (for studying) and AMSCO (to help you understand concepts that you don’t get or for in class very detailed tests)
I HATED kaplan, 5 steps to a 5 was good only for its practice tests… i didn’t like princeton review. and i don’t know about barrons sorry. good luck 
With DH you should do great</p>
Amsco is good and not 700 more like 500 and it’s not even much… And yes Kaplan is not to good, contains too little, only should be used as summary</p>
Hmmmm, I haven’t heard of my favorite on here 
I used the REA one ([Amazon.com:</a> AP United States History (REA) - The Best Test Prep for the AP Exam: 7th Edition (Test Preps) (9780738602189): J. A. McDuffie, G. W. Piggrem, Steven E. Woodworth, Gregory Feldmeth: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/AP-United-States-History-REA/dp/0738602183/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1309735661&sr=8-5]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/AP-United-States-History-REA/dp/0738602183/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1309735661&sr=8-5)) for APUSH. I haven’t seen AMSCO so I can’t compare the length between the two, but REA is pretty thorough. </p>
I was <em>struggling</em> with this class, and I MEAN struggling. I could never concentrate on that immense elephant of a friggin textbook we used in school, so I picked up the REA review maybe a month of two before the exam and legitimately put effort into it, which wasn’t hard cuz it was so much easier to read than the textbook…</p>
I got a 5 
I definitely think it’s working looking into! Good luck and I hope you find a good fit</p>
I’m thinking of ordering AMSCO to get ahead because I’ve heard that our APUSH classes at our school are notoriously evil. </p>
Should I buy Direct Hits when 2012 edition comes out?</p>
I have that book too :D! Great to see a positive testimony from an actual user. </p>
</p>
[Amazon.com:</a> United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination (9781567656602): John J. Newman: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/United-States-History-Preparing-Examination/dp/1567656609/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309903702&sr=1-3]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/United-States-History-Preparing-Examination/dp/1567656609/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309903702&sr=1-3) </p>
This book is FANTASTIC. If you don’t have much money like I do, buy used. Trust me, it will be pretty beaten up by the time you’re done with it :)</p>
I used the Princeton Review book…the practice questions were very similar to those on the AP exam. I read the whole book the week before the exam. Found out yesterday that I got a 5. :)</p>
i used kaplan, and it screwed me. I got a four.</p>
Direct Hits is amazing.</p>
Sent from my iPhone using CC</p>
At my school, 3 people(including me) had access to Direct Hits and used it. The other 2 got 5’s, and I’m pretty sure I did as well. Meanwhile, many people who are considered as smart or smarter than the DH users got 4’s after relying on only AMSCO.</p>
Another 5 here 
I used Direct Hits and Amsco. I would say to use AMSCO only for certain topics you are unsure about, such as more recent chapters for me, but on the week of the test use Direct Hits. It’s my favorite prep book to date ^^!</p>
I used my Barron’s and it was terrific. Great amount of information on each era (breaks it down) and then a few questions, explores different types, like graphs/pictures/data etc. Used it for the SAT II as well, got me a 700, and hopefully a 4-5 on the AP exam</p>
I reccomend always using two review books, because no one book has everything you need to know. Both Sparknotes and Princeton worked, and I got a 5</p>
I also made a short review guide, if you want me to email that to you</p>
My students used Crash Course this year and loved it. We use a few review books, but for some of my students Crash Course made a huge difference in their multiple choice scores. While this book does not have the depth of analysis of some of the other review books, it offers a number of advantages in my opinion for the average student.</p>