<p>I recently had an AP crisis as I wasn't offered the AP that I wanted. I had taken AP Psychology, but wasn't offered that. However, I could have (a.) gotten a new AP, AP Physics, and drop Honors Physics (which I did) and (b.) gotten AP Psychology at the expense of dropping APUSH. I only chose (a.). Note that I could have done both, but I didn't. As two weeks went by, my teacher gave me my first test in APUSH. I had studied for 4 hours the night before. I ended up getting a 73. I have NEVER gotten below 90 on anything in school. This has come as a shock to me. My grade at the moment is 85. Will the tests continue to be like this? The teacher touches on only the superficial, but important points in the chapter (X founded Y, A did this to B, X was persecuted because of Y), while the test was very holistic and too in-depth. Some questions had more than one answer that I thought could fit the blank, and some questions we had neither talked about nor read in the book! I e-mailed the teacher, and he sanguinely responded by saying that it's definitely possible to get more than 93 this quarter if I "try hard enough" (2 hour a day and 4+ hours day before test day wasn't enough), which I am skeptical about. This course is sacrificing my sleep, focus on other subjects, and practice time for the SAT's, as I spend average of 2 hours a day on homework and also reading. I took the class because of "rigor in schedule". I already have AP Stat (most think this is soft), AP Physics, and AP Lit. My question is, should I keep this course and try harder than I do? Should I read more everyday? Or should I drop it for AP Psychology, which many people consider a joke? I wanted to take AP Psychology, but never got it. People say admissions officers won't even care about AP Psychology and say I don't have a rigorous schedule anymore, as opposed to the leniency they would show with APUSH. I can work hard to get a B, but is it worth it? Won't an A in AP Psychology suffice?</p>
<p>You made wise choices with your schedule. Stick with it. You have a good start in APUSH so far, and seem very capable of getting that grade up. </p>
<p>APUSH is great preparation for the Critical Reading section of the SAT, because those DBQs teach the skills needed to do well on that section. Both of my kids took APUSH and scored 800 on the CR section. While they are good test takers in general, I don’t doubt that the APUSH course helped quite a bit.</p>
<p>My D’s school recommends start taking AP with APUSH in sophomore. It does involve a lot of reading and writing.</p>
<p>The thing is, I’m a senior. It doesn’t matter about the SAT’s. I mean, if I did take that into consideration before taking the course, that would be very inane as final SAT would only be same as 1 or 2 months of the course. What about the rest of the 6-7 arduous months? My friend from Duke suggests that I stay ONLY if my transcript will say that I switched out, as it would look bad. If not, I should move to AP Psych, as schools I’m applying to(all engineering) won’t even care about either.</p>
<p>“I had studied for 4 hours the night before.”</p>
<p>You need to learn more effective methods of studying before you go to college.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Studying the night before is probably the least effective method of studying something like history (and psychology). It’s difficult to take in two weeks worth of reading and writing in a mere four hours. </p>
<p>It sounds like the teacher followed the AP question format. Often students do poorly the first time they take these tests. Now that you’ve had a taste of the AP, you need to readjust your studying.</p>
<p>Don’t think AP Psych will be “easier”. D’s AP Psych teacher said that students who had previously taken either APUSH or AP World would do fine in the class but those coming in without any AP may struggle because it was a lot of reading and writing.</p>
<p>Stay with APUSH. </p>
<p>@ribbonroad224 Lol? Thank you for answering the thread’s question (sarcasm). Notice how I said I also studied for 1-2 hours a day as well everyday. Did no one read that?</p>
<p>A key to being successful in APUSH and other AP history classes is to buy study guides [5 steps to a 5, Kaplan, Princeton Review] and do lots and lots of practice questions. These publishers also sell flash cards, which are helpful. Reading the textbook is not sufficient. My kids used this method for AP Govt, US History, Euro History, World History. The guidebooks work!</p>
<p>My kids both took APUSH as sophomores - likely the most challenging course at our HS. The first time they took those AP style tests in history was killer but as they took more and more, they got better and better at them. Also, at our HS those tests were always curved so kids could get in the 70s for a raw score but might end up in the 80’s for a curved score. Second the advice on the guidebooks and the flash cards. They help. Also, my kids both had excellent, interesting teachers so that certainly helped. But you are right those AP essays really do require you to know material in depth and to make connections (isn’t that the point of taking the class, though?)</p>
<p>I am going to go against the grain here – our high school stopped offering APUSH because of the fact that it tends to be a rote memorization class with massive amounts of reading and memorizing, spit it back out, and then start over with the next chapter. I have heard that of all of the AP courses that have been discontinued at high schools, it is APUSH. If this class is hurting you in your other classes, and you are a senior, I would see if you can switch classes. It is far more important senior year to maintain your current GPA (and not have it go down) then to take APUSH.</p>
<p>The point of a class being AP certified is that it is gonna be harder. Don’t be a quitter. Put the work in, and you will get results. The only way you got a 73 after studying for 10+ hours is if you were studying the wrong material, or just weren’t paying attention in class. It’s not like history changes. It stays the same. Make flash cards and use the Cornell note taking system.</p>