<p>I am currently a 10th-grader in HS and here is my schedule for next year ( Junior, or 11th-grade, year): Honors English, Honors Pre-calculus ( I love mathematics), AP US History, Honors Chemistry ( I want to study this this summer), and AVID. My question is: Why is APUSH said to be difficult? I understand it is an AP course, however, I assume it comes down to managing your time, learning for the sake of learning, i.e. not learning for the sake of memorization, and lastly, being motivated on the subject. Thus, I was hoping if any of you guys/girls have taken APUSH before could tell me all about the course. Many thanks.
-ZSF</p>
<p>I thought it was hard at first, but now it’s actually pretty easy. I don’t spend much time on it and I only need ~1hr of studying to get an A on the tests.</p>
<p>Well, it really depends on the school, so talk to kids at your school who are currently in APUSH to get their take on it.</p>
<p>I love American history, and love APUSH. This is partly due to me liking history, but most of it is because my teacher is awesome and the class is just really great. Yeah, it basically comes down to managing time. Most kids don’t read the textbook in my class, and the average grade is a B with there being a few C’s and some A’s. </p>
<p>I honestly don’t think it’s difficult so long as you pay attention in class (assuming your teacher is pretty good with notes and such) and read the textbook or a good review book like AMSCO. To me at least, some of the stuff is somewhat common sense, and some stuff you’ve probably seen before in prior US history classes (my other US history class was back in 7th grade and I remembered a lot of the stuff. APUSH is basically more in depth). </p>
<p>It’s only really difficult if your teacher gives you a lot of hard work, or if you really can’t remember anything. Your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>APUSH is really not that difficult. If you memorize all the events and significant documents and people, you will breeze through the course. I had the most homework in APUSH because I had to take notes from the book several pages a day, but hard work paid off with a 5.</p>
<p>So let be pose a question to the three on you ( I know answers shall vary): What was the avg. workload per night for apush? Moreover, in HS, is it important to join clubs ( as of right now, I am enrolled in one-- a scientific-paper writing club ( I will submit my essay sometime in 2015)? Because so many kids in HS that get the stellar GPA or are in a lot of clubs aren’t actually passionate in what they’re doing; that is, they do not value their experiences in Hs (e.g., their courses, their clubs’ premises, etc.). I really want to excel in school next year as I have done so the previous two; moreover, I cannot wait to start working because I am so very driven by more motivation to do good in life.
-ZSF</p>
<p>Eh, I really don’t have any nightly homework I HAVE to get done. It’s more like we should read the textbook every night to keep up with what we talk about in class (because my teacher doesn’t go over every detail we need to know that is in the textbook). We pretty much always have some sort of long-term paper or project to work on though, so there’s that. That’s when time management comes in.</p>
<p>
ECs are fairly important, whether it be clubs, sports, or outside of school ECs. Just join things you enjoy and don’t overextend yourself.</p>
<p>Okay, so what I’ve gathered from your comment is this: You don’t have a lot of homework that HAS to be done by the next class period, but you have many long-term papers/projs. to work on. How long would you say it takes you to study the textbook per night? Because, I’m the type of guy who has to re-read the section of few times over, all the while taking notes. Much thanks.
-ZSF</p>
<p>Yep, but we only have one project at at time. Also, my teachers gives us mini essays to write fairly often (~3 per unit), but I think that’s something she just does and haven’t heard of many other classes doing the same thing.</p>
<p>It takes a while to get through the textbook; it can take me a good hour to read through a chapter at a steady pace. What I normally do is skim the textbook, then read AMSCO and outlines for the chapter (much more concise and helpful). </p>
<p>Thanks for the input. I’m taken Adv. Bio. this year ( not AP nor Honors, unfortunately) and to read 5 pgs. or so, it takes me apprx. 1.5 hrs to intuitively understand the material; that is, to actually know it, not to know if for the sake of knowing it for the upcoming test. Moreover, whenever I’m doing homework, I just want to do Physics ( I wish to become a physicist or a nuclear engineer; however, electrical seems more pragmatic). Thus I was wondering how to study more Effieciently ( how do you study?). Much thanks.</p>
<p>History comes pretty easily to me, so I almost always know basic facts already, and then I make flashcards or read through a section and try and memorize people, places, events. Remembering some of the laws and legislation is what gets me.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. I’m going to head-off now. I will take your complement of inputry and apply to apush next yr. </p>
<p>Yeah, history is my favorite! I read along like it’s one big story and the people are just characters (which is technically true, haha). MC exams will basically test you on reading comprehension or analyzing cause and effect, and free response questions generally have you talk about the impact of a trend on the US as a whole or something like that. </p>
<p>If you already have a general idea of what’s going on then you should be set. You can always take practice tests for your chapter online–most textbooks have sites dedicated to this. APUSH was one of my favorite classes in high school, so don’t let its reputation stop you from taking it! </p>
<p>It’s reputation as a hard and therefore rigorous class? I do not fret over scholastic-based things: It’s all about self-determination and willingness to succeed and you’ll do however could you’ve set yourself up to do; that’s it; that’s HS right there.</p>
<p>It can get hard if you have a lot of other APs and can’t dedicate enough time to it. I’m taking AP Bio, Calc BC, and 2 other APs so I really wouldn’t have enough time to keep up on a daily basis (assuming I want to get any sleep).</p>