What is so hard about AP US History?

<p>I am just curious why people consider that class so hard, I hear more people complain about that class on CC than any other AP Class, including AP Physics C, AP Calculus and AP Chemistry which I would think would be clearly harder.</p>

<p>Anyways I'm a sophomore in AP Euro right now, it can be tedious at times but I wouldn't call it hard, but I'm curious why people at my school and people on here like to call it the "Hardest AP Class" It's just a introductory college course on our nations history, how hard could it really be? So can anybody explain to me what makes the class so hard.</p>

<p>Its not hard at all, especially not any harder than euro.
its just much more boring than euro (i took euro last year) and is more mundane.
it repeats the same stuff you’ve been learning in bits for years</p>

<p>Varies per person and per school/teacher, of course. Personally, I don’t find APUSH hard, so much as just time-consuming. It’s a lot of facts, and was a bit of a change from last year, when I took AP World (which is more of themes than hard facts.) Since there are a lot of facts to learn, studying is generally a must. “Just an introductory college course on our nation’s history,” sure, but remember that America has hundreds of years of history and it’s an in-depth class, not just “Who was the 16th president?” and “What happened on September 11, 2001?”</p>

<p>APUSH is also a writing intensive class, and my teacher’s mantra is, “if there’s one thing you’ll do before you get out of here, it’s write well.” A few kids took the class solely because they want to be able to write really well (not claiming every school is the same way though…some teachers might be terrible.) </p>

<p>Like I said, it’s a personal thing too. I find APUSH pretty easy, just time-consuming, but others in my class have to work a little harder and they said APUSH is their hardest class. (And they’re taking AP Chem. At my school AP Chem = major inflation.)</p>

<p>Most students at my school consider APUSH to be the “hardest AP” and “impossible” too. </p>

<p>But I’ve noticed that the type of people that take APUSH and say that it’s impossible, at least in my school, are the type that wouldn’t touch AP math or AP science with a 10 ft pole. APUSH is impossible to them because it’s the hardest they take. The people at my school that take APUSH and something else like AP Chem generally think the other APs are harder than APUSH. </p>

<p>I understand that it’s a lot of information to remember, but for the most part the people in APUSH have lived in America the majority of their life, if not their entire life. If they pay any attention at all, a lot of it should be stuff you already know. I don’t see why it’s considered difficult either. Time consuming - absolutely. Difficult - not so sure.
That’s how it is at my school anyway.</p>

<p>Physics B/C is objectively harder than APUSH.</p>

<p>It was very dense with content and test multiple choices were very specific. Overall, I handled the content well, but it was very time-consuming (reading 10 large pages a night and taking notes). I thought what made it hard was my teacher who graded essays crazy hard, so it always brought down my grade. Overall, it wasn’t too bad, but definitely a lot of work and you have to be on top of things.</p>

<p>*also keep in mind, I’m pretty sure they’re changing the style of APUSH for 2014 and on to a more analysis and analytical class than dense information memorizing. Kind of like the AP Bio change. So not sure if that will make it more hard/easier, personally I think it would be harder but less rich in content.</p>

<p>The thing is that there are courses that require little work but lots of aptitude, and courses that require more work and less aptitude. History courses and humanities in general will be more about studying for the exam than subjects like Chemistry, Physics and Calc. Some students excel in one type of course, some in others. I think a lot of people are lazy and would rather take a course that doesnt require them to read 1-2 chapters a week, take notes, complete study guides, fill out vocabulary etc. APUSH is time consuming but the content is easy. AP Calc is not time consuming but the content is harder, imo.</p>

<p>@thesoxpride10
AP Calc AB is pretty bush league. I think pre-calc was actually harder.
I have yet to take BC, though.</p>

<p>Well, I don’t really study for AP Euro outside of just reading chapter outlines and going through my flash cards a couple of times and I usually ace the test. It’s just a lot of busy work like writing an essay and doing 50+ flash cards every week and doing a lot of DBQ’s and FRQ’s. </p>

<p>But that could be a new discussion, how will AP US History be next year, since that’s when I’m planning on taking it anyways.</p>

<p>@RHSclassof16
The teaching style and difficulty can really differ form teacher to teacher.
I’d suggest asking kids in your school.</p>