The AP test (History)

[tiro-cantus]

So I'm a sophomore and planning to take the AP test for history at the end of the school year and I'm a little troubled. are there any things that i should study in depth over, or should i just generalize myself to knowing as much about everything as is possible. also, anyone got some tips that would be useful?

[jmorgan3]

So I'm a sophomore and planning to take the AP test for history at the end of the school year and I'm a little troubled. are there any things that i should study in depth over, or should i just generalize myself to knowing as much about everything as is possible. also, anyone got some tips that would be useful?

The best strategy depends on the class.

US history- know everything. Practice your writing. Buy a study guide and look at the rubrics. Write to those rubrics.

World History, probably Euro, too- They don't expect you to know everything, because there is simply too much material. Same writing advice as above-the rubric is everything. The essays are mostly about broad concepts rather than specific facts, so do your best to stitch together your knowledge.
Open up a word document and, without books or notes, make several timelines, one each for North America, South America, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, India, and East Asia. Note each significant time period (dynasties, empires, colonialism,etc) and write a couple of facts for each period in each timeline. If you blank on any part, make a note to go over that part of history again. Repeat until you can write a paragraph about each period from memory.
Then, find sample questions and make outlines for each option of each question. Make sure you actually write out a few essays, and have a teacher or intelligent peer mark it according to the rubric.

[katethegreat]

I took the AP US History exam junior year after taking a two year course. I was lucky because having US History split into two years allows for a lot more depth as well as a whole month(!) of review for the exam.

Last year, the DBQ was about Nixon, so don't automatically assume that you don't need to learn modern era stuff. Still, don't worry about it. If you have a general grasp of the events (Vietnam, the oil crisis, etc.) you'll be fine.

My advice to you would be to practice. Take as many practice tests as you can get your hands on. That way, you'll get used to the multiple choice questions, as well as discover what you don't know. After checking your answers, look over every question you weren't sure about. Write out the event/person/election/concept, look it up, and take a few notes about it.

Now, the most important thing you need to get a 5 on APUSH....

AMSCO. http://amscopub.com/price_list_book_information/price_list_info.html?CM=Prod&CID=19&PID=120
This book will save your life. Read through it and highlight to your heart's content. It explains everything you need to know about US History, and it's easy to read. I owe AMSCO for my acing every APUSH midyear, final, and the AP test. Reading through the book really helped me review the material and connect the events better than just looking over notes or vocab. Tell your friends, share the wonder that is AMSCO!

Good luck on the exam! An important thing to keep in mind is that you don't need to get everything right. I don't know the exact percentages, but you probably only need to get 60% of the multiple choice right and write fairly decent essays. Don't stress!