I got a 4 on the exam, but I’ve taken Spanish for 5 years at a high school level and I’m dual-enrolled in a college class, so hopefully I can help you out a little bit. (i know this test was last week but lol i forgot to post this so whatever. they’ll still be giving it next year)

1. You NEED to expose yourself to Spanish outside of class

This was legitimately the difference between a 4 and 5 in my case. This test is hard, there’s no other way to put it and it requires you to be able to use the language in all it’s forms: listening and speaking as well as reading or writing.

Some suggestions of how you can do that:

Listen to Spanish music while you study

here’s all the Latino spotify playlists to start

There’s a bunch of Spanish language movies and TV shows on Netflix. But if that’s not your jam, most Netflix-produced tv shows have the option to change the language to Spanish. See how much you can pick up (without subtitles) on your rewatch of Stranger Things or A Series of Unfortunate Events.

if you’re not at that level yet, turn on the English subtitles and see if you can tell how accurate they are.

change your phone’s language to Spanish. You’ll be forced to interact with it every day.

Talk to your friends who are also taking that class in Spanish once or twice a week and text them in Spanish as well. It’ll help you both practice.

Hopefully, your class is taught entirely in Spanish. If not, still try to take notes in the language and answer questions in it as well. 

If you know someone in your family or have a friend who is a native speaker, use that resource. Call and talk to them or start emailing them or writing letters.

If all else fails, there a bunch of websites and apps that can connect you to native speakers. Look at the langblr community on tumblr or apps like Hellotalk, which connect you with native speakers. 

2. Don’t try to translate what you’re listening to while you listen to it

This might seem like the exact opposite of what you need to do but trust me. The people in the listening sections of the tests are native speakers and your brain simply isn’t going to be able to go from Spanish to English fast enough to keep up.

Instead, don’t try to translate and write down notes of what you’re hearing in Spanish to go back to later. Otherwise, you’ll just get frustrated or behind and shut down for the rest of the selection. (I speak from experience.)

3. Know your complex tenses!

If you continue to study Spanish, you’re going to need to know them anyway, so you might as well know them now. 

Demonstrating you know the difference between preterite and the imperfect or what triggers the subjunctive shows you have a grasp of the language that goes above and beyond basic present tense conjugations.

What I suggest you should definitely know:

preterite and imperfect

subjuntive (at least the present tense)

commands

future

conditional

participles

progressive (-ing words)

4. Know the right vocab.

This shouldn’t be the only vocab you should know, but there are some themes that tend to come up on the test pretty often.

The ones my teacher highlighted included:

technology

the environment

politics (developing countries)

the arts (usually there’s some reading/listening passages about authors, painters, etc.)

your future/travel (college scholarships, studying abroad and volunteering, etc.)

Also know your idiomatic and transition phrases. If you can make your essays flow more smoothly, you’ll score higher and sound more like a native speaker.

5. Tips, tricks, and other things you need to remember

One of the writing exercises is usually an email or a letter. The recipient will vary so know how to format both formal and informal letters: greetings, farewells, when to use tú or Usted, etc.

Like I said above, idiomatic and transition phrases, as well as complex tenses are your friends. 

Circumlocution: a fancy word that basically means if you don’t know the word you want to say, use different ones to make the same point or talk around it. It might sound more awkward but it won’t completely paralyze you while writing your essay.

One of the speaking exercises will require you to compare your community with one in a Spanish speaking country. If you don’t have one you’re super familiar with already, pick one and study up a bit on the culture.

Take notes! Especially during the listening sections, jot some things down (in Spanish), especially for the longer ones or those they only play once. 

6. Practice, Practice, PRACTICE

The exercises are timed. You want to get used to how long writing for 15 minutes are. You want to know how long speaking for 20 seconds feels (it’s a hell of a lot longer than you think it is sometimes). 

Same goes for word counts. Figure out about how many words you write on a line so that way you don’t have to be counting word by word. Also, figure out how to hit that word count by using idiomatic expressions and transition phrases.

Getting familiar with how the exercises are set up and the format of the test is the most helpful thing you can do before you start. College Board posts past tests you can use to do this. They go from what is easiest for most people (reading) to hardest (speaking) so that definitely helps. (I found the listening section hardest though.)

7. You don’t have to be perfect.

Again, the test leaves room for you to make some mistakes. They know that, if you’ve been studying for three or four or five years and are not a native speaker, that you might forget an accent or leave out an “a” or forget to change “o” to “u” where you need to. As long as you’re making yourself understood, you’re on the right track.

APUSH is a class from hell but I managed to get 100% and get a 5 on the AP test even though my teacher was basically garbage. Here’s how I did it:

1. READ YOUR TEXTBOOK

Seriously, it seems like the the simplest thing in the world but I swear, over half the time when people would complain to me about failing or not being ready for the tests/quizzes, they hadn’t picked up their textbooks. I know it sucks; just do it.

and no, that doesn’t mean you can just read a chapter outline.

seriously, I wrecked so many curves using this alone. Please, do it for me.

Read each section more than once. Most of the time I ended up doing this when the test got pushed back and I had some extra days, but if you get the chance, I highly recommend going over chapters at least twice. The more times you read it, the more you’ll retain each time.

For those who might be self-studying, my class used American Pageant, either the 13th or 14th edition. I hated it but it was helpful and you can find it here. 

2. Use chapter outlines

This might seem like it directly contradicts my previous point but it really doesn’t. You just have to know when to use them.

Still read your book, use these for a quick review right before the test. I had APUSH first period so I would read them on the bus and in homeroom, just to jog my memory.

There are plenty of places to find them, but I used course-notes.org. It all depends on your textbook.

3. Knowing Names and Vocab is Important; Dates Aren’t As Much

From my experience, AP history courses aren’t so much about specific battles or events but about large scale changes and movements, which specific events might fit into. You don’t need to be able to name the date of every battle in the Civil War but you do need to know what caused the war and what the results were.

You still need to be able to know who did things. If you say George Washington wrote the Declaration of Independence, you’re definitely going to lose points.

The same goes for vocabulary. If you don’t remember the word “share-cropping” but you can remember what it means, it’s easier to talk around but you’ll get more points if you can use it. You’ll be better off just knowing it because the one word you don’t know is always the one that shows up on multiple choice questions.

Like I said, dates aren’t as important. By that, I mean obviously you need to know that World War II happened before Vietnam. Have a rough idea of when things happened, especially in relation to one another. This follows with that whole cause and effect idea. But if you don’t remember that WWII ended in 1945, you’ll probably be okay.

Being able to put down specific dates will definitely win you brownie points, not going to lie. If you’re not sure of a date, however, it’s better to be general than be wrong.

4. Know the Test Format

So my teacher either had no idea the test had changed recently or didn’t care. All our in-class tests were based off the five-choice set-up and he didn’t tell us to expect anything else. If I hadn’t looked up a practice test, I wouldn’t have known the question style was completely different than what I was studying.

That being said, look over some AP practice questions. Familiarize yourself with the way they’re written, especially in the case of the multiple choice questions.

The more familiar you are, the better you can determine when answers are trying to trick you or just plain wrong.

Use the stimulus they give you. Use the date provided to knock out answers outside the time period and use what’s written to logic your way into answers you might otherwise be unsure of.

For short answers, DBQs, and FRQs, get acquainted with the rubrics so you know what you’re supposed to be writing.

Also, know how much of the test will be focused on each era in history. If you struggle with pre-colonization and post-WWII stuff, you should focus on the latter because it makes up more the questions.

5. Practice!!!!

In addition to looking at these questions, actually practice them. My class didn’t write a single DBQ or FRQ all year. When it came up on the test, I had to rely on the one DBQ we wrote in tenth grade and my AP English essay writing skills. It was terrifying. Do not recommend.

Practice writing these with the rubric and the timing of each essay. The hardest part of the writing sections on the test is the time limits so acquainting yourself with them early will help you in the long-run.

Going over the multiple choice questions will help you get used to working with the stimuli they give you.

My teacher also used old test questions on his exams. I did the practice questions in the back of each chapter in my textbook and one or two always ended up being easy points.

College Board releases old test information. Use it.

Look over old tests, short answers, and long-form essays you did in class. If you did badly, ask your teacher what you missed and how you can add it next time (this is especially pertinent for writing questions).

6. Figure Out What You Have to Study on Your Own

My class barely got past WWI. We talked about the Treaty of Versailles a week before the test, so I was left to cover a little less than 100 years of US History on my own in like 5 days. Don’t be me; by the end of the first semester, you should be to figure out reasonably well how far you’re going to get. Talk to your teacher or people who have taken the class before to get a better idea.

From there, break it down so you can study a little bit of the more modern stuff alongside whatever you’re doing in class. Read over your book, watch some videos, do some googling. Just give yourself a base understanding.

If you’re like me, find some good resources to use to cram. I used:

Crash Course US History

Adam Norris’ Review Videos

there are a bunch of others

I would also suggest watching these throughout the year. John Green basically saved my life and my grade.

If you are cramming the last hundred years of US history, don’t go over what you already know. If you’re obsessed with World War II but have no idea where Vietnam even is, you probably shouldn’t be looking over stuff about Pearl Harbor.

This applies to the whole class. If you’re really understanding how the sharecropping system works, don’t focus your studying there.

7. You Don’t Have to Be Perfect to Get a 5

The tests are weighted differently each year so if you just don’t understand the War of 1812, don’t worry about it too much. If you get around half the questions right, you should be on the way to a decent score.

I did my very first AP exam on May 12, 2016. It was terrifying, but I am really glad I completed the course. I would really recommend anyone to take the course. Why? History is a fun course. You learn about people, how things change over time, and what caused it. This is different than your average world history class. You are not expected to memorize every single detail, like dates, names, but you are asked to understand patterns. For example since this is a world history class, you are not looking at one region specifically. How does an event in a particular place affect the way the people live in other places? This might be hard to answer, but as you are finishing the course, it is something that you should be able to understand. Plus, it is known as a pretty easy AP class compared to other AP classes. If you do decide to take the course, I recommend you to take it during your sophomore year so you can understand the basics of the AP, which can help you make your decision about future AP classes. 

As stated before, I did my exam in 2016. However, CollegeBoard have started making changes to the exam, meaning first examination in 2017 will be slightly different with past examinations. So what’s different? The content that you are learning is still the same, but the way the exam is presented is a little bit different. For example, the exam in 2016 is divided into two sections weighted equally: multiple choice and free-response questions aka FRQ, each weighted as 50%. However, there is a new addition to the new 2017 examination, impacting the way the section are weighted. As a result, the multiple choice is now weighted 40% and the free-response questions are weighted 60%. This may or may not help you, but all you have to learn is the content. Do not try to memorize the content, but understand the content. The exam writers want to “trick” you, meaning they will write the questions in ways not relying on how much detail you know, but in what you know apply to different situations.

So what do you need in order to help you succeed in class?

- a willingness to learn

There are times where I felt like dying. Different schools taught AP World History differently. In my school, we have to read one whole textbook (it’s pretty big, like it’s over 1000 pages long) in one year. Most of the time, it was really self-study. I had moments where I just don’t want to read, and did not care about the exam as long as I am passing the class. But at the end, it was really worth it. I was happy with the grade I got in class and my exam score. In order to be able to succeed you have to be willing to learn, meaning there will be a significant amount of effort you have to put in order to succeed. Easier said than done right? I can’t tell you enough how much effort I put in the class. But it is also because I love the material that we are learning, how much the world have changed over 10,000 years.

5 Steps to a 5 AP Chemistry (not mine, just found the link)

Master AP Chemistry Book (not mine, just found the link)

Chemistry Textbook (not mine, just found the link)

AP Chemistry for Dummies (not mine, just found the link)

Barron’s Practice Test

McGraw-Hill Practice Test

College Board Exam Questions (found towards the end)

College Board Free Response

Hey everyone! I’m back with more AP resources - this time for world history! I’m also going to be making a masterpost with almost every subject later in the year, so keep an eye out! 

When it comes to world history, make sure you’re studying what you don’t know. Also, concepts are more important than individual facts like dates. Study a little every day, DO NOT CRAM. Unless, ya know, ya waited until the night before. DBQs may be scary, but practice them. Get a few of the points down pat - like which voice was not represented and why it should’ve been. (Minorities and women almost always work for this) or a type of document that should’ve been included. DBQs give you almost all of the necessary information, which means they’re actually easier to answer. 

Chapter 1 of an AP World Textbook

5 Steps to a 5 AP World History PDF (not mine, just found the link) - I love this guide! It won’t teach you everything, but if you know it inside and out you’ll be fairly well prepared for the test. 

Crash Course World History Prep Book PDF (not mine, just found the link)

Chapter Quizzes - If you use the dropdown menu at the top to select a chapter and then choose “Tutorial quiz” from the left, you’ve got some chapter quizzes! Corresponds to the textbook I found below.

World History Game

McGraw-Hill Practice Test

Crash Course World History 1  - These Videos are so cool! Everyone loves them, and you can learn a lot. If you don’t have time to watch all of them, start with the ones focusing on material you don’t know as well.

Crash Course World History 2

Full-length World History Test

Barron’s Practice Test

College Board’s Practice Multiple Choice and Free Response Questions (scroll to the end to find all of this)

College Board’s Free Response Questions

The Earth and Its Peoples 5th Edition (AP Version)

Chapters 1-15

Chapter 16 Transformations in Europe

Chapter 17 The Diversity of Colonial American Societies

Chapter 18 The Atlantic System and Africa

Chapter 19 Southwest Asia and the Indian Ocean

Chapter 20 Northern Eurasia

Chapter 21 Revolutionary Changes in The Atlantic World

Chapter 22 The Early Industrial Revolution

Chapter 23 Nation Building and Economic Transformation in the Americas

Chapter 24 Land Empires in the Age of Imperialism

Chapter 25 Africa, India, and the New British Empire

Chapter 26 The New Power Balance

Chapter 27 The New Imperialism

Chapter 28 The Crisis of the Imperial Order

Chapter 29 The Collapse of the Old Order

Chapter 30 Striving For Independence: India, Africa and Latin America (none of these are mine, I just found the links)