@collegeboundJon I’m reading zinn’s book too as a summer assignment for good background information.</p>
I have a couple of articles to read and I think one of them is an excerpt of Zinn’s book. So which books out of those 4 mentioned above should I get? I’m torn between Crash Course, AMSCO, and Direct Hits… Princeton I’m not too sure of</p>
Hi everyone!</p>
So I’m also going to be taking APUSH next year. My textbook is Brinkley’s “American History, A Survey.” We have to have the first 5 chapters read, TONS of identifications, and a few essays written for the first day of school. (Essentially 20% of the AP exam)</p>
I’m a little concerned that because I’ll be learning so much of the material independently I might not get as much out of it. Should I really buy AMSCO as a supplement?
Thanks!</p>
I don’t know about you guys, but I like AMSCO. I’m very fond of history, so it reads pretty nicely for me. Also, I plan to, out of my own will, study main presidents and what they virtually did (domestic and foreign affairs, events known by, etc…). </p>
For now, I’ll read AMSCO deeply a couple of times (the first few units) and buy Direct Links in late July.</p>
I have actually have directs hits and the crash course, and I can say, without a doubt, that direct hits is a superior book for SAT II AND AP test prep.</p>
Well, wasn’t Direct Hits strategically designed for SAT II as well?</p>
I used
Direct Hits
AMSCO
Crash Course
Got a 5.</p>
Only Direct Hits or AMSCO (by THEMSELVES) was necessary, though. I just happened to have already had Crash Course lying around, and my teacher lent me AMSCO</p>
I have no homework for APUSH! which is amazing because I have a lot of homework from everywhere else (: I recently acquired princetons review book for APUSH 2010-2011. is this book sufficient for a 5 with a class is rate 5 out of a 10 point scale. (I know the teacher, and his minimal knowledge of APUSH) haha</p>
Sent from my iPod touch using CC</p>
For those who took APUSH already, can you give me a list of resources you used? I want to kick it into full gear next week.</p>
I only used Amsco but I heard Direct Hits is amazing. I didn’t even finish Amsco and our teacher only got up to 1940s</p>
@EddieAP
I didn’t even get into the class until more than a month after my school year started with no plans before then of even getting into the class</p>
Read the entire American Pageant textbook if your school uses it (helps for ap english lang sorta)
Fast Track to A 5 Preparing for the AP United States History Examination
Kaplan AP US History 2011 (not that good but helps with post cold war)
Look up “mr.wallace ap us history” on youtube</p>
that’s pretty much it, found out that I got a 5 today 
I may have over prepared so you can leave some things out but just make sure you have the multiple choice down and you’ll be alright</p>
^Direct Hits kills the multiple choice.</p>
I definitely recommend AMSCO. Without it, I would not have survived the AP exam</p>
So here’s my structure of studying for the remaining of the summer: </p>
<li>Read AMSCO and take side notes.</li>
<li>Read multiple guides on the presidents.</li>
<li>Find some good podcasts.</li>
<li>Learn the terms.</li>
<li>Purchase DH.</li>
</ul>
A class SHOULD suffice. I also used sparknotes flashcards and got a 5</p>
Do you seriously have to know the terms the presidents served?</p>
^Not for the AP test, just the important presidents.</p>
I got a 5 on the test and had a terrible teacher who also missed 3 months so I’ll give my 2 cents. I used both REA and 5 steps to help me prepare, although REA was head and shoulders better. I also used the 500 questions made together with 5 steps. To be honest, this and an interest in US history is all that’s needed.</p>
5</p>
Princeton Review will get you 90% there. </p>
The last 10% is doing practice MC and writing good essays </p>
(the quality of your introduction in each essay basically determined you score (1-9) on that essay +/- 1 point, seriously)</p>
Bumping this. I’m in a 3 semester APUSH/Civics course. We’re only at the election of 1800 (because first semester is mainly Civics and my teacher is not the brightest crayon in the box). However, I have bought an old REA review book, REA Crash Course, and an old Princeton Review book. So far, the old REA review book (super old, my sister bought it used and a couple of years old for when she took the exam 4 years ago) seems to be the most in-depth and helpful.</p>
Sadly, I think I’m going to be relying on this thread a lot because my teacher’s AP-like tests (which just are a bunch of poorly worded questions that sometimes have subjective answers) aren’t much help. Not to mention, every test we had in the first semester (3), all had at LEAST two questions that he had graded incorrectly so that my scores are lower than they should be. Basically, he sucks and he’s the only one qualified to teach a AP history course. I really do read the advice on CC and heed it, especially in cases like these in which I desperately need it.</p>