Hi everyone! The AP scores finally came out, and I was pretty pleased with my performance on the AP U.S. History exam. Thus, I am going to format a guide with how I studied throughout this course. I hope that these tips bring you good luck and good scores on your AP U.S. History exam as they did for me.
How to Ace the Class
Taking Notes
Our teacher gave us outlined notes with the main topic of each paragraph. This helped me see the importance of the paragraph, and I was able to fill in the boxes with details.
DO NOT write down every single detail provided in the paragraph. This wastes your time and clutters your notes. ONLY write down details that you feel are important to the main idea of the paragraph.
Store your notes in a safe place, such as a binder. You do not want to waste time looking for missing notes the weekend before a test.
Homework Time
My block schedule (8 classes, split into 2 days), allowed me to manage my time pretty well. I would do the assigned reading from textbook and take notes the day I got the assignment.
I used the pomodro timer to break up my assignment into more doable bites.
I would review my notes the night before class. In the morning, I would usually skim over the textbook passage as preparation for the in-class quiz.
If you don’t have time for notes, make sure you at least read the chapter. This will give you a context of what happened so that you aren’t completely clueless in class.
If you know you have a busy week, try and get ahead on readings over the weekend. This way, you won’t crash and burn with the upcoming workload.
Be an Active Reader
Pay attention to the overall concept of the chapter, which is usually summarized at the beginning. AP textbooks will have the learning objectives labeled, such as Politics and Power (POL), Culture and Society (CUL), Migration and Settlement (MIG), etc.
Pay attention to the main idea of EACH paragraph. Try to link the info in the paragraphs together.
In-Class Grades
We had a quiz every block, and I usually prepared by studying my notes the night before, as well as skimming the assigned reading in the mornings. This kept the material fresh in my memory.
Multiple Choice Tests
One to two weeks before the test, skim over the chapters that will be on the test.
The weekend before the test, review your notes. Place emphasis on the main ideas and key concepts of each chapter.
If your teacher provides you with test reviews, DO THEM!! I can’t tell you the amount of people who failed just because they didn’t do the reviews.
Be able to give a mental/verbal summary of the developments of the period and all material you are being tested on. My friends and I would summarize to each other. Sometimes we would catch mistakes and correct ourselves before the test.
DO NOT memorize vocabulary. You should be able to recall important terms if you have studied the concepts and developments correctly.
Short Answer Questions
Keep these short and sweet. Three to four sentences per prompt will suffice. Vocabulary connections will come to good use here.
Long Essay Questions
This is where studying chapter concepts will come handy. Link the learning objectives from the chapters and show how they are connected.
Give adequate analysis and explanation from evidence. Make sure you explain the causes and effects of the period.
For the synthesis point, I recommend looking back at notes from previous periods/chapters before the test. A quick skim will help refresh your memory.
Document Based Question
Similar to a LEQ, but now the evidence is provided for you. Avoid repetition and re-summarizing the documents. Make sure you provide your own analysis on the issue.
As always make sure you double check and triple check the rubrics. You want the maximum points possible, don’t add extra info that does not contribute to your score.
AP Test Preparation
One Month Prior to the Exam
Start doing period reviews with the learning objectives. Give an example of each learning objective for each period. Write a sample essay paragraph. These reviews were the best preparation for me.
I bought The Princeton Review AP U.S. History book as a backup to help study. I looked through it around a week or two before the exam.
I really enjoyed APUSH at my school and it was a super fun course. Although times were hard sometimes during the school year, the fruits of my labor are quite delicious. I hope this post helps you in your endeavors. The goal is to find what method of studying works best for you, and I hope my tips contributed to it. Happy studying!