Postby TallasLint » Mon Nov 06, 2006 8:14 am
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.
Lint.