<p>I'm an immigrant who came to Texas last September. This year I'm going to be a sophomore and one of the classes is AP US History. MY knowledge on this subject is very limited; I had never learned anything about the American History before I came (Or I did but completely forgot). How can I prepare to get a five on the AP exam as well as ace this class?
Really need advice</p>
<p>You don’t need to…you go through the class. Hopefully your teacher is good and will prepare you well. It isn’t necessary to know too much (though it helps).</p>
<p>However, I recommend watching the History Channel’s documentaries about the presidents
[Amazon.com:</a> The History Channel Presents The Presidents: Movies & TV](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/History-Channel-Presents-Presidents/dp/B0007VY3ZK]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/History-Channel-Presents-Presidents/dp/B0007VY3ZK)
I used this to study for the AP exam haha…worked out great.</p>
<p>I also recommend getting some sort of study book (like Princeton Review) to get summaries for chapters and stuff.</p>
<p>Also check out course notes (google it), it summarizes the APUSH course for you.</p>
<p>One more thing is that I’m poor 
and I go to a crappy high school so…</p>
<p>Course notes is free, so thats a good start.</p>
<p>Try looking for a used book, or maybe check out your library.</p>
<p>Just take notes during the class, read the chapter, pay attention, do your homework, etc. etc.</p>
<p>If you really need a practice test: [SparkNotes:</a> AP History: Test Center](<a href=“http://testprep.sparknotes.com/testcenter/ap/history/]SparkNotes:”>http://testprep.sparknotes.com/testcenter/ap/history/)</p>
<p>I used this during my preparation: [AP</a> US History Resources | Course-Notes.Org - Outlines, Notes, Vocabulary, Essays, DBQs, Practice Quizzes and much more!](<a href=“http://www.course-notes.org/us_history/]AP”>AP US History Notes, Outlines, DBQs and Essays | CourseNotes | CourseNotes)</p>
<p>But I used this more: [AP</a> Central - AP United States History Course Home Page](<a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>AP United States History Course – AP Central | College Board)</p>
<p>If you know nothing about American History, and visit your local library, Charlie Brown’s This Is America is an awesome TV series!!! But that’s just for fun, not really great for AP US History. </p>
<p>You can use all of those sites, but your notebook will be your best study guide if you take good notes. Good luck :)</p>
<p>Use the library.
Borrow AMSCO or other prep books.
Read and memorize.</p>
<p>i wouldn’t recommend learning all of AP history in one year, in my school system american history is a 3-year process and it’s insane to try and cram all the tariffs, immigration trends, laws, court rulings, etc. into a year’s worth of studying.</p>
<p>^This guy is lulz.
People have crammed AMSCO in a week and got a 5.</p>
<p>This may seem quite pompous but this is what I did:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Didn’t take notes</p></li>
<li><p>Read book </p></li>
<li><p>Use review books, but sparingly.</p></li>
<li><p>Not participate in class</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I’m telling you, this is honestly the best way I have found to do well in a class. For me, notes do nothing but lull into a false sense of security. Just because you wrote it down doesn’t mean you know it, all it means is you heard it/read it. When you take notes, you tend to assume what you heard is all you need to know; it won’t be. </p>
<p>Forcing yourself to remember is the key. Read it and thoroughly understand it to the point where you can remember what a passage entirely said after you are 5 pages past that point. That means you really absorbed it; simply writing it down does not do that, unless you wrote it down 7 times (proven). The ultimate purpose is to learn the material, not write it down. Using your head and forcing the information to stick there is really the only secure way I have found to remember and apply what I remember.</p>
<p>I have no real justification for not participating, I just don’t like talking.</p>
<p>It may seem against what most people will tell you, but I got a 5 on AP and 800 on SAT II with this strategy. After a while, you get so good at managing with this strategy, you can stop reading text for months at a time and still absorb.</p>
<p>This advice is definitely not for everyone probably, it’s just what I did to get through Euro and US with minimal, and has produced 5s, 800s, and A+s in classes. </p>
<p>Then again, I’ve always been naturlly good at social sciences, so this could be a result, rather than a cause of success, so…yeah .</p>
<p>^ I agree, that’s what I did. I really wish we hadn’t had to take notes in APEuro, I might actually had learned the material if we didn’t, and not gotten a 4. My APUSH class was more lax and I ended up with a 5 (probably borderline though, but I’m not great at social studies, I think I’m just good at bsing essays).</p>
<p>I just want to second course-notes for US History. The website is completely free and was my AP US class. I never read my textbook after October when a friend showed me the site. I just memorized its notes and got a 5. If US AP teacher uses The American Pageant textbook you can get an easy A in the class too. :)</p>
<p>Course notes was nowhere near detailed enough to get me through my actual class. Hardcore studying wasn’t enough to get me through that class either, but whatever.</p>
<p>I got a 5. As long as you keep your head and remember everything you’ve learned, you’re good to go. Memorization and understanding is key</p>
<p>
haha, this is basically the opposite of what I did. I just payed attention in class and took notes, read the textbook but also used review books (because they are more succinct and to the point). And I participated in class…it’s always good to do so, because it helps (at least for me) get the material in my head. And it’s also a good idea to make flashcards of famous events, people, concepts, etc. (this helps so much for the essays in the AP test). Good luck!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you love (or even remotely LIKE) history, the class won’t be as bad you think. (And it helps having a great teacher).</p>
<p>My AP US History class was structured differently than most APUSH classes I would assume because of time constraints (our school starts late in the summer and both US 1 & 2 were merged together, so we had less than 8 months than the typical 2 years for the course). A lot of what we had to do was absorb information and regurgitate with little to no experience w/ writing essays b/c of the obvious pace of the class. If you can manage to stay on track and not lag behind w/ understand the importance of each time era and pull it altogether - you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>I would advise that you do take notes. Then, have somebody quiz you on them periodically, more frequently the closer you get to AP time. That which you have committed to long-term memory, you know. That which you miss when you quiz yourself, put into condensed new notes, and quiz yourself from those. This way, you only have to study what you need.</p>
<p>Which website, prismatic?</p>
<p>course-notes.org</p>
<p>Amsco.</p>
<p>Really.</p>
<p>read the book. <---------</p>
<p>I received a 2 on my AP US exam. I know I would have scored higher if I had not taken that class in the first place. We were given TOO much work and TOO many unnecessary notes. Not to mention, my teacher was cramming us w/ tests days before the exam. Nobody in my class had any time to review or refresh our minds. I do so much better when I study at my own pace.</p>