<p>I am a sophomore, so i am only taking AP US History. I just wanted to know some effective, studying methods. All i've done so far is read the crash course book, highlight, and make notecards. i'm in the process of memorizing the note cards, then i'll go back to the book and take the practice exams and some other practice tests i find online....i don't know if i can memorize them successfully by May though...is there a better strategy?</p>
<p>Don’t simple memorize; understand. Since you have 1 AP exam, and you are studying so hard already, not to mention have a whole month left, you will be just fine. I have to study for APUSH + 6 others and I have hardly started. Don’t worry, just go through review books and do practice questions.</p>
<p>I read AMSCO once and Crash course twice, did some FRQs, and got a 5.</p>
<p>The key is to make yourself find APUSH interesting. You don’t have to memorize every little detail; you just need to remember important events/people and why they were important. If you can remember things in the bigger context, you’ll be good, and finding something interesting will help you with that.</p>
<p>For example, this is how I remember the Dred Scott decision: a slave wants to be freed because he & his master move to a state where slavery is illegal. Makes sense, right? But then this ***<em>**bag Supreme Court judge, who just so happens to be slaveowner, says that Dred Scott isn’t a citizen and doesn’t even have the right to sue. In fact, ALL slaves aren’t citizens and have no rights. *</em>*ff. How do you get “slaves aren’t citizens and have no rights” out of a lawsuit? This made me, like many abolitionists and northerners, really mad.</p>
<p>Just think like that haha.</p>
<p>Well, I guess we won’t forget the Dred Scott decision ;)</p>
<p>thank you to the both of you! i feel bad for you Metrical! i feel overwhelmed with just one, but you have what? 7? But thank you both for your advice 
and i doo enjoy history haha so it’s not just memorization…but certain things i don’t care about or recall so easily…haha</p>
<p>XD Well I’m a Junior, so this is really the last chance to stress over AP exams (next year it will not matter so much). Besides, I enjoy the classes, so I can suffer for a month and a half.</p>
<p>I’m in the same position as Metrical except six instead of seven… I haven’t really started studying for any of them, although I do have spring break coming up and hopefully that time can save my butt lol. </p>
<p>As for studying for APUSH… you sound to me like you are going to be just fine. You already have a solid base. For me it’s all about exposure in as many forms as possible, and effective memory of what you’re exposed to. I have a nice base from studying throughout the year, so I’m probably going to end up reading through AMSCO once, then maybe flash through the Barrons flashcards that I somehow ended up with, and read AMSCO another time, but this time highlighting relevant, major items that I still don’t remember or have a strong grasp of. Then the night before the test (okay, maybe this is just me, but I remember a LOT from the night before, and I don’t end up stressing on the day of the test so I suppose I can get away with it haha) I’d reread all of the highlighted material, or at least skim it to get some context into my head. </p>
<p>Because this is your only AP test and you really seem dedicated to getting your five, I’d suggest going further than what I (and most sane people) would end up doing. You might want to check with some of your friends and see if they have different study guides–I’ve heard that Crash Course is excellent and MUCh shorter than AMSCO: it gets right down to the facts. You might wanna propose a week-long trade with them and check out the other’s book. It’ll force you to study it in that week as well 
</p>
<p>You really sound to me like you’ll be fine either way! I basically did what you’re doing in Freshman year for World History and it was a breeze and an easy 5 for me. Good luck and stay strong! You’ll be fine. :)</p>