<p>I heard it was REA, but now I hear some people saying that REA sucks. For those of us who need 5's on the AP U.S. exam this year...what is really the best review book out there?</p>
<p>I used the Spark SATII book for the AP, and honestly, it was great. I didn't read a textbook or pay attention in class...so basically it was my only source of information and I got an EASY 5.</p>
<p>lol how do you know you got "an easy 5", it could have been a "low 5"</p>
<p>Is SATII History better than REA? I just want to know because I wanna know which one to study.</p>
<p>^Nope...I could tell while I why taking the test. There was not 1 multiple choice question I had trouble on, and 2 of my 3 essays were great...1 was just okay.
But still, the average 5 on APUSH gets 15-16 MC wrong, and I doubt I got more than 1 or 2 wrong, and the average essay grade is between a 6 and 7, and there's no way two of my essays got less than 8's, although my 3rd might have gotten a 6.</p>
<p>I HATE AP US!!!! I have so much hw to do for that stupid class today, I don't even normally mind homework but I just can't stand the subject. It bores me to death with all the memorization and reading, aaaaaahhh! I think I might drop it. </p>
<p>Actually, sorry to hijack your thread. I heard that the Amsco US History Book was really good and I think I might get Sparknotes.</p>
<p>Sorry, my last post was in response to ryan. </p>
<p>REA is a book of useless details IMO, and not what you need for the AP at all.</p>
<p>Amsco. A friend had sparknotes and I thought a lot of it was really irrelevant...our school gets us Amsco.</p>
<p>I get AMSCO from my school but I also have the sparknotes SAT II i suppose ill use both a bit, though it isnt that hard of a testr</p>
<p>In my opinion you should actually get your hands on the Princeton Review Book. It has all the detail of the REA book, only the details are presented more logically and in a way that is easier to memorize. There's a lot of emphasis on the essay portions, especially on the DBQ where you use a process of "data-dumping" where before reading the documents you basically unload every piece of information that is remotely relevant to the topic, then tie your own historical background info to the docs. I used this process and got an EASY 5. I say it was easy because I did very well on the DBQ and multiple choice yet didn't even finish one of my FRQs (the other was total crap). But really, the Prinecton Review method is by far the best. good luck you guys.</p>
<p>I've never used REA, AMSCO, Princeton Review, or Sparknotes, but I did use Kaplan (and some Petersons) and they worked great. Also, although I didn't use the Sparknotes book, I did use their study cards- very helpful if you have trouble with memorization. I got a 5.</p>
<p>I used REA and got a 5</p>
<p>REA rocks, even for SAT II</p>