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So... my final exam is tomorrow, and I really can't believe it's already here.
Any tips on specific things to study? I'm feeling pretty good about the multiple choice.. I think I know random facts pretty well and am 100% confident of at least a 3 on that, feel a 4 is possible, and don't think a 5 is out of reach. If I get a 4 on that I'll be pretty satisfied. I've been taking a lot of online practice quizzes and such, and since all of those questions are taken from tests like these I'm not scared.
The DBQ is what scares me the most.. You have no choice on what you want to write about, and I'm just worried that I'll get some topic I don't know much about.
However, I'm feeling good about the FRQ's. I've really studied hard on the subject of slavery and the antebellum period and such, and I think that has to be at least one of the pre-Reconstruction choices. I'm not scared of the post-Reconstruction choices either.. but I can still touch up on stuff like that.
Any tips from people who have taken it before on here? What were some areas that were hit hard on the multiple choice / essays? Just wanted to see what others on here said, since I'm pretty sure at least some people have taken it.
 
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I got a 2... I've heard it's considered the second hardest AP test.
The hardest part was the multiple choice, they go from the 1800s to the 1970s to the 1600s back to the 1920s so you can't really get your mind set on one time period. Also know your presidents and the general economic/social/political happenings in every decade. Last year we got extremely lucky on the DBQ it was on the Vietnam Conflict which we literally just studied. Also I wouldn't worry too much about it, you get documents on it which can spark your memory for a lot of things. The free response pre-Civil War (or however they're split) were hard too simply because we studied it in class so damn long ago, so I'd put some time in pre-1900s because a lot of stuff after that time period is easier to remember, you've studied it in class not as long ago and it's closer to our time period, and you can remember a lot of the time periods easier by what happened then i.e. WW1, WW2, Vietnam, Baby Boom, Great Depression, ect.
The reason I did so bad is I blew off most of the homework and never studied, you sound like you'll do just fine. History isn't my forte, I'm pretty confident in a 5 on the Calc AB test.
Lemme know if you have any other questions.
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It doesn't really matter how hard it is since the scores are based on how well the entire test taking population does.
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10319 Posts
I got a 5 or a 4 I can't remember. The most important thing is to know the big events and the inventions of every time period. My 25 point essay questions were on rebellions in pre-colonial times (had to list 3 and explain what where why), on Jeffersonian Democrats, and my 50 point essay was on TECHNOLOGICAL/SOCIAL ADVANCEMENTS that helped prepare America for an industrial revolution. I nailed that essay but fucked up the rebellion one.
The multiple choice actually tends to go somewhat linearly from what I recall but of course it wasn't perfect. It was a safe bet that most of the questions in the end pertained to the mid-late 20th century though, for example.
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My history teacher thinks the DBQ will be on the gilded age because college board likes to make questions that relate to the issues of today ie. the money crisis so you can take that or leave that. Last year it was Vietnam (when Iraq was a hot topic) so it probably won't be post WW2. I'm not really worried, on old AP tests I've been getting 67-70/80 so I feel pretty confident. I would definately check out APnotes.net, that site is awesome and if you have an Amsco book you should go thru that. If you just have the text, I would flip thru the book and make sure you understand/provide contextual information about the pictures. On the whole, its the most popular Ap Test so you'll have plenty of scrubs to fill the lower half of the curve. Have you taken over one year or two? If two then your already at an advantage! Gl hf!
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I took it last year. The part that really screwed me was the first essay ... It was a choice between an essay on interactions between Native Americans and settlers, limited to the 1600s, and an essay on the market revolution. I had never heard of the market revolution, but neither did I know anything about interactions between Native Americans and settlers in the 1600s. I chose the second one hoping it was somewhat similar to the industrial revolution.
So in short, I wrote an essay on a revolution I had never heard of.
I ended up with a 4 ... I was hoping for a 5 but knew that wasn't gonna happen after that essay >_>
IIRC, the test is supposed to be half on pre-civil war and half on post-civil war. Considering not much happens until the 1770's, that's a pretty big focus on the pre-civil war era. Also, all obvious advice applies - sleep is invaluable. You can guess the answer to like half the mc questions even if you don't know the answer right off the bat - just think about time periods and chronology of events, etc. Common sense is your friend.
Best of luck.
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I loved my American pageant book
:D
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I got a 5 on it last year. It's an extremely easy AP, don't worry. My friend wrote one of his essays on Pocahontas(the Disney movie) and still got a 5. You'll be fine.
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I'm not really concerned about tomorrow. I hope the essays don't fuck me over though.
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i remember I got a 4 but it was mostly because my teacher printed out a baller study guide that pretty much covered everything we learned. There are a lot of these guides available online. Also don't stress about the essay question, you won't know what they are until you take the test. Just go over everything you've learned in that class and wing it. 3/4/5 makes no difference imo.
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I got a 5 on it last year, make sure, first of all, that you do well on the multiple choice. Graders won't even read your essays if you bomb the multiple choice. For the essays, basicly spew out coherant information, but you must he able to connect it with the topic. For the DBQs, u needn't mention every one, attempt to connect them with your thesis, and don't forget to cite outside info. From what I've read, they want 50% of your info off the documents and the other 50% to be outside info.
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On May 08 2009 08:39 HeavOnEarth wrote:
I loved my American pageant book
:D
Lol, the ridiculous analogies are gold
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oh my god, I took this exam in 2006 and I'm a history major and it was my strongest subject. but the DBQ was some women's shit in the 1700's, I ended up with a 4 some how though. AP tests never really seemed hard for some reason. Although, BC calc was a real bitch cause my AB teacher was awesome and my BC teacher blew(AB subscore:5, BC subscore:1 = 2, gg).
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Don't worry about the DBQ. In my opinion, the best way to approach it is to think of it as a free response question.
Read the question (and only the question), formulate a topic/stance/argument and flesh out your ideas/evidence, then read through the documents to remind you of stuff you may have forgotten and clarify your argument.
And IMO the DBQ is the easiest of the essays, mostly because it's just a regular Free Response but with primary documents all laid out in front of you to guide and help you.
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On May 08 2009 08:23 Bosu wrote:
It doesn't really matter how hard it is since the scores are based on how well the entire test taking population does.
Can someone tell me if this is actually true? From my understanding you were given your score based on how well YOU did just like a regular percentage, but since a 5 is still like 60% they give it to you in another form.
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On May 08 2009 09:28 LeperKahn wrote:Show nested quote +On May 08 2009 08:23 Bosu wrote:
It doesn't really matter how hard it is since the scores are based on how well the entire test taking population does. Can someone tell me if this is actually true? From my understanding you were given your score based on how well YOU did just like a regular percentage, but since a 5 is still like 60% they give it to you in another form.
Depending on the national average, the College board will curve scores up or something to raise more people to a 3 or something.
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On May 08 2009 09:28 LeperKahn wrote:Show nested quote +On May 08 2009 08:23 Bosu wrote:
It doesn't really matter how hard it is since the scores are based on how well the entire test taking population does. Can someone tell me if this is actually true? From my understanding you were given your score based on how well YOU did just like a regular percentage, but since a 5 is still like 60% they give it to you in number form.
They do the grading based on a normal model, in theory you could get one question right on the whole test and still get a 5 as long as everyone else got 0. On average, 60-70% correct will get you a 5 based on the previous AP test outcomes but by itself, your score is meaningless, only in the context of the population does it matter.
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wtf multiple choice history exam? Lucky, I have to write 100% essays :[
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I got a 4, 5 years ago. Yeah the DBQ is totally random, I am pretty sure I rocked the multiple choice and the stupid DBQ screwed me.
On May 08 2009 08:20 DeathByMonkeys wrote:
I got a 2... I've heard it's considered the second hardest AP test.
Just out of curiosity what was the most hard...?
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On May 08 2009 09:33 ThE_OsToJiY wrote:
wtf multiple choice history exam? Lucky, I have to write 100% essays :[
Trust me man, the AP history exam is freaking difficult as all hell. You'll be hard pressed to find even a teacher that can score a five on that POS. The DBQ alone is nearly guaranteed to drop you down a whole number point unless you're really good at them.
As for most difficult AP exam? I found chemistry to be extraordinarily difficult and I don't suck at chemistry. I got a 5 on it but it nearly burned my brain out in the process.
Calculus BC(The class) was also extremely difficult. Getting a 5 on that required you only get about 40% correct. I didn't find the test so bad but other people do.
So general consensus is roughly
1-tie -> BC Calculus/Chemistry
3-tie -> Physics C/Any History
5-tie -> foreign languages.
It also depends HIGHLY on the teacher you get in high school. I was lucky enough to have freaking insane geniuses for US history and BC calculus so I was able to get a 5 on both of those because the teacher was so awesome.
I had to study my ASS off for chemistry though because the teacher was awful.
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EPT
