Bad start to APUSH....take it or leave it?

Hi everyone, I am taking APUSH this year and unfortunately I’ve had a rough start. It’s been about a week of school and we have taken a couple quizzes total which I scored about a 60%-70% on both. I overestimated my studying skills as the questions have been extremely specific, and I easily missed them on the quiz. The thing is, I don’t want to drop the class and I want that as my last resort. But I don’t want to stay if I’m going to end up in the C-D grade range by the end of the semester. The workload is definitely heavy and I feel like I have what it takes to do better, but I still have this sense of doubt since I know it will be difficult. Any opinions on what I should do? I’m trying to raise my grade up to at least a B and we only have a week left to change our schedules.

What year are you? Have you taken AP level social studies classes before and if so, how did you do in them? Have you talked to your teacher to find out if there is a better way to prepare for the class?

Without knowing you or your high school’s standards and customs, it is tough for anyone on these boards to give you a definitive answer. Hopefully we can tell you what questions to ask yourself and what answers might raise red flags.

@Groundwork2022 I’m currently a junior and have only taken AP Psychology, which I passed with an A. Although from what I’ve experienced so far, those two classes have completely different learning/teaching environments. I’m gonna have to be much more dependent on myself for this APUSH class. As for my teacher, he has definitely lectured us about the rigor of the class and I understand the habits I’m gonna need to adapt to but I just have some doubt. Thanks for the response!

Talk to your teacher. How are you doing compared to others? If everyone is starting slow, and he/she grades on a curve, you may be okay.

Fwiw, my D transferred from APUSH to Honors USH and it was the right decision for her.

AP Psych is one of the easiest ap’s. APUSH is one of the hardest.
So, it’s a big step up.
Have you talked personally (one on one) with your teacher about how he expects you to study? Have you formed a study group with classmates (you can’t be the only one struggling)?
At a basic level, do you take notes and quiz yourself before each class? APUSH often requires 1+hour oebwok per day - do you out in the time?
Finally, does your HS offer honors ush and what kind of colleges are you aiming for?

My DS (senior) took APUSH last year and found that there was definitely an adjustment period for him. He had to re-think how he studied, took notes, wrote, and prepared for exams. There was also a significant amount of homework and reading. That being said, once he made that adjustment, his scores came up and he ended up getting an A. So- it is probably good to speak with your teacher, let them know how you feel like you haven’t had the start you wanted, and see what their thoughts are.

It’s extremely common to have a low grade on your first test for APUSH. IIRC from my kid’s class, the first test average was 71%. And this was to a group who the vast majority ended up going to an elite school. I remember this because we had parent orientation soon after that first test was issued and the teacher clearly stated to the parents (mostly parents with super-high expectations if you know what I mean) to not be worried since kids need some time to get used to the much more grinding lifestyle of an AP class as opposed to a regular Honors class.

So I’m pretty confident that you’ll figure out very soon that you have to work a lot harder in this class in order to get your desired result. APUSH will definitely involve 5+ hours of studying per week excluding any homework or projects. No worries, it’s probably in the middle somewhere as far as difficulty goes for an AP class.