Hey, so I am taking 3 AP’s this year Lang. and Comp., Psych, and APUSH. I have a few prep books for each subject. I just want to know how to use those books as efficiently as possible. I am prominently concerned about Lang because my teacher will write me a superb recommendation if I get a 4 or 5. If you have scored a 5 on any of these tests please feel free to share tips, strategies, or study plans. Thanks!!!
As general advice, try to study for breadth not depth. By this, I mean try to read through all the topics at least once, then worry about going deeper into any specific topic.
I always have found it useful to buy books that split the material into 8-15 chapters, and study one chapter each weekend leading up to the exam. In the two weeks before the exam, I take the practice exams in the book and analyze all the mistakes I made. If I am on track to get a 5 based on those practice tests, then I relax a little. If there are major content gaps, then I try to spend several hours each day reviewing the material from the prep book and from my class notes during the 1-2 weeks remaining. This is what has worked for me in the past- 5’s on 5 AP exams during my freshman and sophomore years, including APUSH and Lang&Comp. Good luck!
Thank you both for your advice! I appreciate it! @goldenbear2020 @Studious99
For APUSH, the AMSCO book worked really well last year! My teacher didn’t go into a lot of depth, but the book did, which helped me on the Short Answer questions and the Multiple Choice.
Don’t cram everything into the last two weekends or the last weekend; start studying ASAP. Learnerator.com has free practice questions for each test. They’re rated by difficulty from easy to difficult, and they’re all free except for the difficult ones. You can also take a look at old free response questions online and practice those.
thanks guys! @glassflowers and @mirandaf
I was a junior last year and I scored 5 on Lang, a 5 on Psych, and a 4 on APUSH! For AP Psych I started studying the vocabulary I’d copied from the textbook a month before the exam and I also read through the Crash Course book for Psych. I especially made sure to memorize important figures in the field of psychology because the textbook for my class didn’t really compile them into a nice list like the Crash Course book did. I do remember the exam last year asking several questions about these key figures and their ideas, so it’s a good idea to memorize them!
I was late to start studying for APUSH (2 weeks before exam) and as such did not score a 5, but I did get about halfway through the Barron’s review book that I used. I’d say definitely start studying earlier than I did. The revised APUSH exam is easier than the old exam because the questions are more general and ask about specific trends from different time periods, cause and effect, etc rather than specific facts and dates. It is important to still know some specific facts from US history to use in your short answer, long essay, and DBQ.
English has always come naturally to me, so Lang was not a difficult exam. Three-four days before the exam I began studying rhetorical devices/vocabulary so I wouldn’t be surprised by any on the multiple choice. It helps to have a large vocabulary to quickly comprehend/analyze the passages that will be on the multiple choice. If writing essays is difficult for you, the Cliffnotes AP Lang book has prompts you can respond to for the Synthesis, Argumentative, and Rhetorical Analysis under the 40min time constraint. Then, you can grade your own essay or ask your teacher to grade them for you.
@writerzt71 Thanks! I appreciate the lengthy response!