For those who took the AP US History exam and scored well, what was your plan?

Question

Like...
How much time did you allow for studying?
How did you go about studying?
Things you did to help with recall?
How did you fit time into your schedule to study?
How did you keep yourself focus on the task at hand?
Etc.?

I hope you will help me. If I can get college credit...

The test is on May 11. It will be here before I know it.

Answer 1

Hi! I took the AP US History exam last year and got a 5, so I hope I can be of some help.

I honestly didn't spend too much time studying, but I was in a VERY intensive class (I got a C, despite the 5) so I was well prepared in advance. It really depends on how much you already know. With hope, you've been following along throughout the year - if you've taken notes, that's even better. From now until maybe mid-March, just keep studying from that. Afterwards, I recommend getting a good prep book (I've heard the REA and Princeton Review work well), and going through a few chapters a week up until maybe a week before the AP. At that point in time, just review everything again.

You're definitely going to want to take practice tests. The objective tests you can find in any prep book (make sure you read the explanations for answers). Also make sure you're familiar with the scoring system for the essays, and try writing a few under the time limit. If you can get your teacher to look over them and give you some feedback, it will be very helpful.

As to how you study, it's very personal, and depends on what works for you. Do you learn visually? Orally? Kinetically? Figure it out, and work from there. I can tell you what I did, however. First of all, I memorized the Presidents in order, which is incredibly helpful in creating a timeline when an essay or question asks you about a certain period. I did this with the help of a fun book called "Yo, Millard Fillmore!" (I've included a link to it in the sources) that uses mnemonics and an amusing story to help you learn. I also listened to a lot of music with facts about history, including Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire", the Animaniacs song about the presidents, and a couple They Might Be Giants historical songs. (If you're interested, let me know and I'll give you the full list.)

I wasn't too great at fitting my studying in, or staying focused, so I can't give you many tips there - I crammed. Just start early and break it up, and you should be fine.

Best of luck! The exam really isn't that difficult.