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AP US History is kicking my butt.
badly.
i've-got-an-ice-pack-on-it-right-now badly.
73 (that's a D) badly.
if anyone has taken this course before and has any tips or help for me, i'll love you forever.

I am actually enrolled in that class currently. Your grading scale seems to be steeper than ours, though.

I may be able to help you, depending on why you are not doing well. The biggest roadblock that people seem to encounter at my school with that class is the quirkyness of the teacher. Due to his droning voice and odd mannerisms, most people find him boring. If they can get past his quirks they will find that he actually does have interesting, insightful things to say.

I hope that helps.

1. First of all, read the book. If you haven't taken challenging courses before, then this concept is foreign to you, but now you actually have to do it.

2. Review everything you've learned over and over again. It's a boatload of information, so it's important that you review.

It would also help knowing what specific problems you have.

I took this course and did well enough on the exam, so I may be able to provide moral support, if not advice.

Actually, the first suggestion I have is to be as present in class as possible. By that I mean don't have anything distracting you. Don't doodle, write things, do other homework, or any activities other than absorbing the material. Cut down on daydreaming with discipline or whatever works for you. For me, at least, this is the majority of what I need to do in difficult courses.

Other than that, I'm not sure. What specific aspects are you having trouble with? Is there paperwork or is it all exams? Also, are you more concerned about your class grade or getting a score that will earn you credit?

I took the course last year and did really well on the exam, but most of the general advice I would give you has already been mentioned...but here I go...

1. As Pungi said, read the book and take notes or at the very least skim it and take notes. From what you have said...I would recommend actually reading through the book.

2. If your teacher is a lecturer...then listen to what he/she says and take notes on the most important things he/she says. If it's not interesting, then make it interesting, though UC is right about not doing things that take your attention off of the class, you can indeed doodle if it helps you remember certain things...just make sure those doodles are APush related.

3. Study as much as you feel you need to but make sure you know the material by yourself.

4. Get together with some of your friends and form a study group. Make sure you get people who are not only having trouble with the class but people who are doing really well in the class. I didn't do this in AP US but I am currently doing it (sort of) in AP Bio and it does help.

4. Don't get discouraged, especially if your grade is mostly composed of essays and exams. A "C" or a high "D" on an exam is not bad, that's a 3 on the AP. Also, if you are having trouble writing essays and DBQs...don't worry about it...it's early in the year and your writing should improve.

5. Once you find your stride don't slack off. Do what you have to do to get the grades you want, in the end it will be worth it.

Anyway, that is all the advice I can give you now. If you need any other help I'll be glad to help you in any way I can. I can probably even explain any concept or event that you need cleared up. I still have all of my AP US notes from last year so...yeah...

Starfire1 wrote:AP US History is kicking my butt.
badly.
i've-got-an-ice-pack-on-it-right-now badly.
73 (that's a D) badly.
if anyone has taken this course before and has any tips or help for me, i'll love you forever.

That's funny.. we have to get at least a 75 to get a D...

(that's D as in Distinction)

Heh.. ok, sorry... I'm not really helping.

I only just got the thread title then....

Yea, I took AP US History my junior year. I definitely recommend reading the text, and if it's "The American Pagaent", at least the book isn't completely dull, the authors like to add in quotes and historical anecdotes that are pretty funny. I also recommend not trying to save the reading to a day or two before the test...the chapters are long.

The AP US History test, and most likely your class, will focus mostly and the culture and economy of the past. Very little will be said about wars, except when it comes to their influence on culture and soceity. So don't worry about knowing every battle and who was the general, and such. I only remember 1 question about battles on the AP test.

I think the key to doing well in APUSH is realizing that the class is not about knowing facts. Facts are important, but the tests dont usually ask about who won the election in 1876 (Rutherford B. Hayes). The class emphasizes the reasons WHY something occured. In the case of the election of 1876, Hayes, a Republican was allowed to win despite confusion over the electoral college votes, because the Democrats and the Republicans compromised, that If the republicans quit the Reconstruction of the south after the civil war, then they would not object to a Republican president (At that time the south was primarily democrat). So When you're reading, I don't recommend skimming. Try to understand the reasoning behind things.

When It comes time to take the AP test or even a final, I recommend the Princeton Review for APUSH. They sum everything up in a more readable way than the textbook.

My class also had the really steep grading scale (which everyone thought was totally unfair, being in a super hard class AND having a tougher grading scale...but I digress)

I also agree with what everyone else said, about reading, taking notes, and studying with others.

I'm in there now, myself. Yes, it is hard, but nothing that can't be overcome. What I like to do is go to the book's website and take quizzes. Sometimes my teacher uses those quizzes, so that comes in handy. Another good thing is to be really organized, so have a section for essays, notes, homework, etc. That way you can find anything really fast and be able to study everything of a particular topic together. If your teacher offers any help, take it. So basically, just work your butt off to get that grade!

Grading must be tougher than when I was in school.When I was in school a 75 would have been around a C or C+ .

Shouldn't 73 be a C?

Grading scales differ among schools, especially with private schools.

That's correct. The traditional grading scale has 10 percentage points assigned to each letter grade, but there are many variations between schools and especially between countries. It can be highly unfortunate depending upon how GPA is calculated, but that is another issue altogether.

I'm posting to ask we return to the central issue of the AP course in question. Provide help or encouragement as you can.

What does AP stand for?

Advanced Placement

Oh,in other words another name for Honors?

mitsuki lover wrote:Oh,in other words another name for Honors?

Not exactly. Honors classes are more intensive and frequently result in a higher values regarding the calculation of GPA, for example, an A is a 5.0 rather than a 4.0. Advanced placement classes, at least where I come from, are designed to be equivalent to college classes so you can take the AP exams and test out of the corresponding college course.

Doubleshadow wrote:Not exactly. Honors classes are more intensive and frequently result in a higher values regarding the calculation of GPA, for example, an A is a 5.0 rather than a 4.0. Advanced placement classes, at least where I come from, are designed to be equivalent to college classes so you can take the AP exams and test out of the corresponding college course.

A's in AP classes over here are actually a 4.5. Again, different grading scale. :]