<p>I'll be a sophomore next year, and I need to decide if I want to take AP US. History isn't my best subject, but I'm a decent writer, which I've heard is helpful for the class. So just how much work do you need to put in every week for good grades and a 5 on the exam? Any suggestions? Thanks guys.</p>
<p>How difficult the class is really depends on the school. I’m taking it right now and it isn’t too hard. I’ll be taking the test next week, so I don’t know how hard it is. I know that good essay writing is a huge advantage if you know what you are talking about in the essay.</p>
<p>depends on your teacher. for reignoerme the class is easy. for me it’s the one of the worst things I’ve ever taken</p>
<p>It also depends on how much you enjoy the subject. If history fascinates you, then it will no doubt be easier to learn. If you’d rather get your teeth pulled out, I’d stick to regular/honors.</p>
<p>It is typically a reading-intensive class and, depending on the rest of your schedule and how well you manage your time, may or may not be stressful.</p>
<p>Either way, APUSH is very rewarding. As with most social sciences, you come out of the class feeling a bit more literate about the world.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input 
@reignoerme, good luck on the test!
I was also wondering, since there’s a lot of outlining, how many hours do you put in for that? And are you expected to remember a lot of specific dates/names, or more detailed info on why things happened, what the effect of those were, etc? Because it’s the numbers and dates that I don’t like about history. Essays are my strength.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>You do need to know the specifics a lot more than you would in a class like world history. Have you taken AP world?</p>
<p>Some essay prompts have very specific time frames (e.g. “characterize the era of imperialism from the late 19th century to 1914” - in which you’d have to recognize that 1914 was the US entry into WWI, citing “freedom of the seas” as reason for declaration of war)</p>
<p>The names tend to come naturally, after reading about them for so long!</p>
<p>If you are looking to understand more about the fabric of American culture, I have no doubt that APUSH will be a rewarding class. (This may, however, vary on the quality of your teacher.)</p>
<p>I just took the exam Friday, and I thought it wasn’t bad. If you manage to retain what you learn in class and study a little on your own the week before the test, I think you will be able to do pretty well. I definitely recommend taking the class and the exam.</p>
<p>What about people who easily understand the big picture, but don’t remember (or care for, tbh) the small details?</p>
<p>Just read whatever parts of the textbook the teacher assigns you and start studying out of a prepbook about a month in advance of the test and you’ll be fine. If you can afford to go for multiple prepbooks, I’d recommend pairing AMSCO with Crash Course.</p>
<p>um students in my school who takes APUSH works their butt off (i know, I see them doing hw in math) and no one has yet gotten a 5 in my school’s history.</p>
<p>but heck, my school sucks in general</p>
<p>It is obviously allot of homework, probably more than most AP classes since well the way to learn history is just to read, and read, and read, and read. Though in general, the actual class to me at first seemed daunting since it was my frist AP class…but then as it went on I found it was just really easy but a ton of work.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks to you guys, I’m starting to get an idea of the class. It’ll be my first writing-intensive AP so I’m a bit nervous about it. @reignoerme, I haven’t taken World, but if it is more about “the big picture” as DownToTheSea said, I might in junior year. Both sound interesting to me. @GrammerNazi, thanks for the suggestions…if I end up taking APUSH I’m going to prep, prep, prep for the test lol.</p>