<p>Everytime I study APUSH, I ALWAYS go back to something I have studied before because I want always want to strengthen what I have learned in the past, or make sure that I have something remembered correctly. Does anyone else do this?</p>
<p>I mean, if you come to something that you aren't sure of, shouldn't you review it? The thing is, it just doesn't feel right when I'm reading something and there is something that I'm not sure of or have forgotten. There just feels like a gap when it comes to history. </p>
<p>History, to me, needs to be complete from the beginning till the end to make everything flow together- like a story. I can remember so much better if I start from the beginning, from the cause to the effect. </p>
<p>So, what should I do when it comes to studying APUSH? Should I continue to do what I like better or should I just move on to save TONS of time? Will reviewing like this everytime I study allow me to bypass cramming in the end (right before the AP exam)? Should I study like this now or later? Why?</p>
<p>I am exactly like you, AlwaysTired. I feel like I have to make "connections" from chapter to chapter, and realy understand what led to what, where in chronology things are. I have the tendency to go back in the book also. This works fine for the first few chapters, but once you get deep into the book it is hard to do this! What I have done is made a document on my computer: Big Picture Notes. Summarize the political/econ/social/diplomatic situation in each "era", "unit", or "presidency". And make it short and sweet; then, when you study a new section, you can glance through this in like 2 minutes and see that "OK, I know everything up to now." Also, I have found that by organizing everything kind-of matrix style, with presidencies, with political/econ/social, etc, it becomes really easy to write essays that so often mimic this structure. So far, I am on chapter 20 of American Pageant (starting Civil War), and my "Big Picture Notes" are about 12 pages. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry too much about it; I would imagine all of us that are doing well in the course/did well on the exam do the exact same thing. After I get done reading Pageant, I read the AMSCO and often times it will refer back to other treaties, amendments, etcetera with a given page number. I will always refer back to that page number to get myself up to speed on the stuff that I have forgotten such as what did the Teller amendment do for the Cuban government and et cetera. </p>
<p>Hey, the better you get the "big picture" the more likely you are getting a "5!"
However, my APUSH course is only one semester, so I feel like I am going to forget in all next semester in a new frenzy of courses :-(</p>
<p>"AMSCO for the win" is all I have to say!!!</p>