My Exam Score: 5
Let me preface all of this by saying that my perspective on this course is coming from someone who is very much a humanities person and who had already taken an AP History (World) before taking this course. That said, let’s begin.
So, unlike AP World, APUSH requires you to know a lot of very specific details about history; among the things that you might need to know, for example, are the year the cotton gin was invented, and by whom, (1791; Eli Whitney), what president and party passed the Alien & Sedition Acts (Adams; Federalist), what caused a split between suffragettes and abolitionists (the 15th Amendment), so on and so forth. This was definitely the part of this course that was the hardest for me. I already had experience with the historical thinking skills thanks to World and I feel I’m pretty good at thinking in the big picture of the themes of APUSH (again, similar to World, though APUSH has many more themes than World did), but learning all of the very specific details was difficult.
All of that said, my biggest tip for anyone in APUSH is, as my teacher would lovingly yell at us during class, know your content. If you don’t take the time to learn the facts of history (like those mentioned previously), you will struggle through connecting historical periods or historical themes, and that is truly the crux of APUSH (and AP history in general).
Aside from just memorizing facts, though, the best thing you can do to prepare yourself for the exam is to practice reading and analyzing historical sources (for APUSH these won’t be any older than the 15th century, but a bulk of what you see will be post-revolution). Understanding historical documents is necessary for the multiple choice, the short answer questions, and the DBQ (especially the DBQ). The best way to practice would be to either find a quizlet or something with a list of documents and their meanings or through the official College Board scoring guidelines for the exams--every year there is a detailed breakdown of every document from the year’s DBQ, thought I don’t think this will hold true for the 2020 exams.
Further, I will always preach that reading the Chief Reader Reports from exams will do wonders for your score; in the report there is a breakdown of knowledge gaps for nearly every period featured on the exam. With this, I recommend reading the breakdown of each FRQ and the example FRQs given. All of this can be found on the AP Central website.
I would also recommend using Fiveable, a platform made for AP studying; Quizlet (just search for APUSH and a multitude of options for studying will come up); Khan Academy; and Albert.io, which is a paid program that I used for World (Not, APUSH) that is definitely worth it if you can afford it (or maybe ask your teacher/school about getting it for the school--that’s how I used it for World!).
Really, APUSH comes down to your memory, your ability to connect ideas together, and your ability to articulate both of those skills in writing. A good practice would be to take major events/people/ideas from the course and sort them into the various themes that are presented in APUSH, and maybe even try to connect them using historical thinking skills as well.
That’s all I have to say! If you have any questions about APUSH/AP History/AP Classes & Exams in general feel free to ask me!
(Though I will be making similar posts for English Language & Composition and Biology so)
Much love & Good Luck in APUSH!
Colby <3
Resources:
APUSH AP Central Page
APUSH Course & Exam Description
APUSH 2019 Scoring Guidelines
APUSH 2019 Chief Reader Report
Heimler’s History DBQ Guide
Jocz Productions (Really Good APUSH Review Videos!)
Fiveable
Albert
Quizlet