Burhgfh. I do not want to do another AP history. And I was a moron and chose to read Miracle at Philadelphia for my summer reading, that thing is unreadable and constantly goes on random tangents.</p>
Just to add my experience…
I took APUSH last year. What I did was read the American Pageant. I read each chapter once before my teacher went over notes (which is pretty much all we did in class + movies), again the night before our tests, and then I skimmed over some chapters before my semester exam and before the AP tests. Our tests in class were extremely hard. Some of the questions you could argue multiple answers for. But because of those tests the MC on the AP were easy for me. We also did DBQ and FRQ in class essays and take home essays. </p>
To review before the test I skimmed over Fast Track to a 5. The edition was from like 2004, though. Haha. I also used flashcards…forgot what company. To be honest, I never even heard of Crash Course and these other books until after I took the exam when I found this website. I never looked into other options. I did get a 5 on the AP because I studied hard and learned the material. </p>
You don’t need a ton of books to study. You just need to find what works for you so that you can learn the material.</p>
As for summer homework, all I had to do was read a few chapters from our textbook. We ended up going over them in class anway (notes). We had no time at the end of the year to study except for a few days. You just have to put the effort into it.</p>
So here is what I did to get a 5:</p>
1.) PAID NO ATTENTION IN CLASS</p>
2.) Starting in April I read 1 chapter of Amsco a day, did not do the reviews or the help pages. During the weekend I would read 2 chapters a day, thus when I finished the book I had an ample amount of time before the exam.</p>
3.) READ THE CRASH COURSE!!! IT IS THE SINGLE QUICKEST AND BEST WAY TO IMPROVE YOUR SCORE.</p>
4.) I actually then skimmed through AMSCO again, but at a MUCH faster pace.</p>
So there it is guys I took the exam in may of 2011 as a sophomore and got a 5! Good luck to all of you!</p>
for next year, i alrleady started reading the american pageant and im 100 pages in. Since dh and amsco have been getting so much attention thought it was the best option.</p>
Before buying though, I wanted to know if the amsco book actually has practice tests or if you have to buy crash course. Also I just need a clarification on weather I should get amsco or dh to supplement my textbook reading.</p>
My Steps to a 5:</p>
<ol>
<li>Pay attention in class - this may have helped me more because my teacher was a f****** boss, but you should keep good notes. This will save you time come March and April.</p></li>
<li>Buy flashcards - I used Sparknotes flashcards which had people, places, battles, documents, laws, and most of the other important stuff in APUSH.</p></li>
<li>Buy a good review book - I used Crash Course, but a lot of people say DH is a lot better. To my knowledge, DH is longer but covered more important things while Crash Course gave a quick run-through of important facts, people, documents, etc.</p></li>
<li>Take practice tests - Starting about 12 weeks before the test, I worked on one practice test a week. These came from test prep books, College Board Released Tests, etc. The first few I allowed myself to look up the answers while on the last 3 or 4, I didn’t use any outside resources. When you get to those last few, the tests will seem easier because you will see the same questions about Whig Financial Policy and the Wilmot Proviso and the Yalta Conference.</p></li>
<li>Practice the writing - I think the writing is 50% of the test but I’m not sure. Luckily, our teacher prepared us well by giving us a released DBQ once about every two weeks throughout the school year. Not once did we practice an FRQ. If your teacher is not as aggressive as this, I would recommend attacking the writing early and often.</p></li>
<li>Go hard late in the game - April, specifically, should be the month where you go HAM on your preparation. By this time, you should be pretty good on everything, so use this time to polish up on your weak points.</p></li>
<li>Relax and have fun - Being my first AP test, I saw APUSH as an exciting challenge. You always have to be positive, even when you get frustrated. YOU HAVE TO BE THE MOST CONFIDENT PERSON IN THAT TEST ROOM. </p></li>
</ol>
An extra tip: The FRQs are split up into 2 before the Civil War and 2 after. From the 2 before the Civil War, 1 is almost always on events leading to the Revolution or the after-effects or early colonization of North America (English, French, Spanish). I would familiarize myself with both of those topics so that when it comes to the FRQs you will be able to nail at least one.</p>
good luck to everyone taking the class this upcoming year. I got a 5 and here is what I did. </p>
READ AMSCO! The book is really good. I underlined key points and took the 10 question multiple choice test at the end of each chapter. If your getting at least 8/10 right then you are comprehending and remembering the chapter you just read. I started intensively studying right when my spring break had begun, so around April. I tried to read around 80-100 pages a day during spring break to try to get through amsco which is a very large book. This did not work out but I still finished reading amsco before the AP exam. I never checked out crash course because I felt amsco was sufficient enough but the reviews of that book seem to be very good. Otherwise, the night before I took a few practice tests to get confident and looked over some DBQ’s and essay topics of years past. </p>
Good luck everyone</p>
I’m taking the course next year. We don’t have a summer assignment.</p>
why is AMSCO so expensive on Amazon? Has anyone heard of the textbook “Give Me Liberty!”? Because that is the textbook that I will be using this fall and it seems here like American Pageant is very good… so maybe i should purchase and read through that instead. I am going to buy Crash Course, DH, and AMSCO as of now.</p>
Just get dh and crash course. They are more than enough if you do all your textbook reading.</p>
^^ehh^^ I want to say that if you ACTUALLY read American pageant u won’t need anything else…but I guess if u need review get someting small</p>
has anyone heard of Give me Liberty? Or should I get American Pageant? Or will I be ok with just DH, AMSCO, and CC</p>
In my opinion Pageant isn’t that great. It seems to focus more on writing style than US history.</p>
Direct Hits is THE best. I went over AMSCO, then went over DH the 2-3 days before the exam and got a 5.</p>
I got a 1 on the world and a 5 on the US a year later.</p>
The ONLY thing I did differently was read the textbook. If you read the entire textbook ( which isn’t hard if you’re above an eighth grade reading level) you should get a five.</p>
I’m kind of excited for this class. It will be my first real US History class, since my us history class in eighth grade was a joke. It’s gonna be tough though… We have The American Pageant and basically we outline the chapters. I think it will work. Good luck to everyone!</p>
My summer homework was rather random!</p>
I had to write a lot about Sacco and Vanzetti (two essays and a lot of questions).</p>
I also had to read chapters 24 and 25 (WWI, 1920s) of the text book and do vocabulary.</p>
I had to make a timeline of Silas Deane’s life.</p>
I had to read a “What is history?” article and answer a lot of questions.</p>
Finally, I had to read an excerpt from a book and compare it with the ideas of what history is from the previous article.</p>
I feel like I’m no more prepared than I was at the beginning of the summer!</p>
<ol>
<li>screw american pageant</li>
<li>bs everything by just skimming info to find whatever you need to answer questions</li>
<li>get a review book, read that crap</li>
<li>who the hell is silas deane LOL.</li>
</ol>
i got a 5 without taking notes except for in class where the teacher made us do it or she’d have a *****fit. just depends on how you study :D</p>
^that is the best thing I’ve heard. The Pageant was a waste, and my school wants to do away with it. And I got a 5 on the test and know American history like the back of my hand, and I have no idea who the eff Silas Deane is.</p>
Pageant is weird in their descriptions of people. Hell, the whole book is filled with weird stuff irrelevant to history that makes you go *** lol.</p>
So, should I buy DH or AMSCO or both? I’ll be reading crash course later on into the year. I bought the REA recently, but I think I’ll probably return it after reading this. :P</p>