<p>Right now my school is on spring break so I don't have school until the 17th, but the AP test is still less than a month away.</p>
<p>Technically, my class has "covered" everything in our APUSH textbook (Kennedy and Bailey's American Pageant, 13th Edition), but really most of us don't understand things starting at WWI. We skipped a lot of chapters too. Any advice on how to fill that gap for the 20th century? Do any of you guys have good notes that you can share, just on WWI and post WWI?</p>
<p>So far I've read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the US, and I have Barron's prep book, but I really want to get a 4 or 5 on this test</p>
<p>You should take the REA prep book and read the last few chapters, then memorize whatever is in the Barron's book about the century. The REA book is available at most stores.</p>
<p>Thanks, I saw the REA book - is it just me or is the information in there pretty shallow? Most of the time it looks like its giving definitions of different acts and policies</p>
<p>Hey Phoenix, I took the test last year, and I found a LOT of good websites that helped me prepare. I ended up getting a 4 because I freaked out on the MC part and left 21 blank, but I think you'll end up doing just fine. </p>
<p>All year I hated the class, I generally hate history, and I never really payed attention. I could NOT read the pageant book without losing interest very very fast, and in fact, I didn't read my book most of the time. The weekend before the test (yes i'm a procrastinator unfortunately..) I read the entire REA book, using a highlighter and paying attention, and learned a whole lot of things that I missed during the year. </p>
<p>ALL you need is REA, barrons might work, but REA is all you need, dont worry about Barron's at this point. </p>
<p>Right now I'm at school but when I get home, I'll give you all the links with notes (specifically for Am.Pageant) that are saved on my computer .. best of luck!</p>
<p>i took the test last year and we rushed the post-war era as well...from the 1980s onward there was very little questions on the AP. didnt really learn any of that until the last week before the test, and i got a 5...and its not that im good at history or anything (im not...)....i wouldnt worry about that part. but you should definitely reread the book for WWI until 1980. if you want, i have typed notes from the book Nation of Nations, though they basically repeat what the book said...and are probably unnecesarily long. anyways, here are some sites that i found useful</p>
<p>and make sure you have practices a few DBQs and FRQs...good luck! you'll do fine. and just think, you will never have to take US history again....well that was my inspiration anyway.</p>
<p>The REA book was in no means shallow; the actual test I earned a 5, and a very high one at that; on the 2001 AP release I earned 71/80 on the MC (no omits) as well as 3 9s on the essays; my teacher is an AP grader like all in the school, as it seems that it is required. I mainly stuck to large amounts of memorization. Now how I will pass the Spanish Lit and Chem tests are another matter.</p>
<p>Launch up your Music downloader of choice...and download Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire." It may sound funny, but honestly...this song covers pretty much every topic in modern American history, the stuff that we have to rush through at the end of the year. </p>
<p>The REA is best I have seen, but that is probably because I have never seen an AMSCO product anywhere. Are they good for other subjects as well?
Finally, Jon has a point as the REA tends to ramble; I mainly used Kaplan to be true, because I am good at term and theme outlines.</p>
<p>Noo APDoolittle, well, AMSCO is great. but, i bought the book like in March, got it about 2 weeks later . . and it was waaaaay too lengthy for me to benefit from before the AP test. . come on, there are about 3 weeks left till the exam, REA is your best bet. Do a search. </p>
<p>I actually own both AMSCO and REA, and I'm telling you now, REA rocks for preparing you for US History. It covers EVERYTHING, and is short enough for you to read quickly, yet not skipping anything. And the practice testS (notice the s, amsco only has one) has ANSWERS with explanations at least, while amsco doesn't even have answrers provided. . . . . .. . . . </p>
<p>both books are good, but at this point, REA will help you the most due to its shorter length and greater coverage.</p>
<p>yeah well .. i didnt have that last year, people told me this crap that i'd have to call the company blah blah .. so i was like, it isnt even worth all that trouble, i'm using REA. </p>
<p>REA has really good practice tests too, 6 of them! With sample FR responses . . everyone I've asked who's used REA has no regrets.</p>
<p>Ehh... while REA covers the material quickly, by no means does it cover it with enough quality. That's the main difference between REA and AMSCO. Quantity and Quality. I'm telling you, I was able to read through the AMSCO chapters over spring break. I scored a 5. I don't believe I could have scored a 5 with the REA book alone b/c there were questions on the AP exam that REA didn't touch on. The only thing REA is good for is the practice exams. If you can, purchase both. Read AMSCO for the text and do the REA practice tests. There's little hope for you in getting a 5 if you rely on REA's skimpy/sparse review. It just doesn't cut it. If you do... unfortunately, you'll see what I mean on the AP exam. LOL, good luck writing two decent enough thematics (for a 4 or 5) based on the very little REA gives you. But honestly... if you read AMSCO for the quality, and then resort to reading REA's review a few nights before the exam, you'll be in the BEST shape. So use BOTH (not just REA). Good luck!</p>
<p>Can't Pageant + REA + those online resources previously posted be enough? The bookstores in my area don't have AMSCO so I would probably have to order it online from Amazon, and rush deliver it. That would leave me with only two weeks. I'm taking 5 other AP exams other than APUSH by the way, so the first week of may is probably out of the picture for studying</p>
<p>i really think those sources are more than sufficient. ive never even heard of amsco, and i got a 5. if you can reread parts of pageant, and do a few practices, you'll be totally fine. the online things are supplementary--ýou don't have to go through all of them, just use them if you feel like you're still not confident about something. </p>
<p>too many sources is never a good thing... it ends up being confusing...study what you have, since you are most familiar with it--this helps your ability to memorize things quickly</p>
<p>you'll be fine with what you have, just keep going!</p>
<p>Phoenix, that's exactly what happened to me, so by the time AMSCO came, there wasn't enough time. It's much longer than REA. (669 vs 232) </p>
<p>Jon, I can't believe you said REA doesn't cover enough lol . . it covers EVERYTHING, down to how many people voted for which candidate in an election . . I specifically remember an election question last year about Ohio and which year it was held, and I only knew the answer because I had read it in REA . . </p>
<p>Amsco seems like the book that might help you during the year, but for such a short period of time . . i'd say REA is good</p>