US History Scholars, Advice please!

<p>Not sure about the AMSCO book.</p>

<p>My class starts from Civil War on, so we dont learn about 33% of the US History SAT 2 in class. I read through Kaplans (the entire book, it is really a lot easier to do than you would think). Afterwards, don’t entirely remember, but I would guesstimate I took 6ish: 2 from kaplan, 1 from the official book, and 3 from Sparknotes. I got a 790 (honestly, after reviewing, I should have gotten an 800 if it weren’t for stupid mistakes.)</p>

<p>If you are taking AP you probably dont have to be AS intensive as I was, but I would recommend above all taking lots of practice tests. Each time you find a fair amount of new info that just isn’t in review books (at least in the Kaplan book).</p>

<p>Kaplan SAVED me on US History!!</p>

<p>just adding a question here
So I took regular us history this year yet my teacher was extremely good and made the course anything but regular so Im wondering just what book to get.
Would it be better to just get the Ap crash course book or a princeton review book ( or something of that nature)? Any advice as to whats the closest to the actual test?</p>

<p>^ Buy the collegeboard’s previous exams. </p>

<p>I just used AMSCO from APUSH and Sparknotes online the night before (while doing Math II). I didn’t want to waste anymore money. The only practice test I took resulted in 640-690. My actual was 740. I think I would’ve scored higher if I had read more on the '70s and '80s. I feel alright with this score considering I didn’t really study, and it was extremely hot the day I took it. Sparknotes focused a lot on trends though; I didn’t see a lot of that on the actual thing. The actual test was really random. For example, I remember it asking about the role of the president.</p>

<p>The easiest way to do well on the USH SAT II is to take the APUSH course with AMSCO as your review book. That’s really all I can credit my 800 to.</p>

<p>I read through REA Crash Course for USH a couple of times in the week before the test and got a 790 in June, which I think is pretty good considering that all the AP studying I did back in May had basically evaporated from my brain haha.</p>

<p>I used the APUSH REA book ([REA</a> Online - Making The World Smarter](<a href=“http://www.rea.com/display_prod.cfm?p=0738606243&g=0878916520]REA”>http://www.rea.com/display_prod.cfm?p=0738606243&g=0878916520)) throughout the year. I read through the book while I was reading the American Pageant and once I had finished the textbook, I read the entire REA book a second time. I purchased the version that came with a CD equipped with practice tests-that was also a great help for the AP test. Good luck in APUSH; it was one of my favorite classes this past school year!</p>

<p>I got an 800 and I second the sparknotes practice tests…they are a little harder than the real thing (I took 3 or 4 and consistently scored in the mid-700s). The great thing is they will tell you specifically which eras you need to study again, so I’d suggest using your APUSH notes for just those sections-no sense in reading all of your notes again.</p>

<p>800 with the REA’s book. Get it and read it religiously.</p>

<p>Definitely definitely take the sparknotes practice tests! I thought I could wing the USH SAT II with a bit of AMSCO review in May and got a 690. </p>

<p>Two days before I retook it in June, I crammed and did five sparknotes practice tests online. I went over everything I got wrong, and ended up getting an 800 on my second try.</p>

<p>Edit: It’s important to pay attention in class and make sure you keep up throughout the year. The course material is so specific that that if you don’t keep up in class it will be hard to cram for the AP exam and the SAT II.</p>

<p>^Disagree. I am awful at history, just awful. I don’t retain much of anything after a week or two. However, I read Crash Course 2 days before the exam and got 730. Sure, if I retained more, I probably would have done a lot better, but 730 for cramming seemed pretty good to me.</p>