How to survive APUSH?

Again, I agree with what @joeweller said. @FireBallsDJ it might have been beneficial for you to know dates, but you really, really shouldn’t be bogged down by when different New Deal programs were instated or when every President came into office. The redesigned exam was especially tailored so you don’t have to memorize dates anymore; they often give the dates up front to you anyway, as in the MC section. US History can be specific as a curriculum, but the test itself is essentially a somewhat shallow review on a wide breadth of topics.

Also @Yakisoba, if you’re wondering my scores, I ended up with a 94 and a 98 in APUSH and a 5 on the AP.

@IBscholar @joeweller I referred to dates as years because that’s how my teacher said it. Obviously, you don’t need dates for different New Deal programs, but what I meant was that you need to know the years the New Deal took place. So, knowing the years you can know exactly what events happened and answer a MC or essay prompt. For example, when it asked what prompted a rise of conservatism from 1960s to 1980s, and you’ve already memorized these years with their events (Civil Rights Act, Desegregation, Reagonomics, etc), you would be able to answer the question well. Otherwise, if you don’t memorize these dates/years, you wouldn’t be able to say much other than guess.

  1. I would suggest getting AMSCO too. I used my textbook, the Princeton Review, and AMSCO to study throughout the year.
  2. I'd say read the first chapter before school starts. We kinda skipped over the first chapter in my class.
  3. Yes, but it is a little more detailed because it is not as long of a time span and about only one area. When I got to the AP exam, everything I learned was useless. You didn't really have to know anything to do well on the AP exam--you just needed to be able to read passages and answer questions. Some people who made 5s on APWH made 5s on APUSH, and people who did not take APWH made 5s on APUSH. The scoring was weird. I studied A LOT for this class and didn't really get anything out of it--a rather disappointing class. I made A+s both semesters and a 4 on the exam.

I finished APUSH with a B (my teacher is so difficult) but got a 5 on the exam.

  1. I used Barron’s and the textbook. Quizlet was a great resource for studying.
  2. At least the first chapter. Summer homework last year was read and outline the first six chapters.
    3)You do not memorize every detail, but rather change over time, relationships, and continuity. I don’t know about AP world; I’m taking it the coming school year. To develop it further, we practiced in class, but it is unnecessary to prep over the summer for that.

How did you guys study for in-class tests?

Reread notes, studied on quizlet, participated in class, and hoped for the best. I didn’t really know how to study for this class tbh. None of my peers did.

My teacher would always tell us the general topics that would be on the test. Then normally my friends and I would make a study sheet together, using bullets, that way we had short information blurbs to study by. I also recommend using quizlet. I bought a set of APUSH flashcards from Barnes & Noble and they helped a lot too!

Our teacher made us do the flashcards of all his key terms (basically the ones on quizlet) as the only required homework. I found just writing them down to be enough studying, and probably would have faired similarly if I just read the cards on quizlet a couple of times. The key though is to find similarities and contrasts between the terms to further your understanding.

If you want to pass the class and the exam I extremely recommend purchasing AMSCO’s United States History (preparing for the advanced placement examination) 2015 Edition because the test is redesigned and it has all the material from all time period in American history laid out explicitly with practice MC quizzes, short responses, long response essays, and DBQs (also comes with 1 full length practice exam). I PERSONALLY brought the book with me to class most of the time when I felt like I needed it for lectures or even pop quizzes. APUSH the class isn’t particularly difficult if you do the reading every night and it will bite you in the butt if you don’t make time for one night’s reading. The class is a lot of reading, writing, memorization, and analyzing so if you can’t handle all of that then don’t take the class because you don’t want to be the reason why the teacher’s pass rate is low. Also make sure you do the summer assignment or else you’ll fall way behind. Just to put it in perspective I didn’t take AP World or anything and I got an A both semesters and passed the AP exam. If you believe that you can do it and are up for the challenge, go for it!