Right after the APUSH Exam!

How was it?

WELL.

I can't discuss anything, just like the SAT Subject Test.

BUT I must say that the multiple choice is EASY. (Then again, I took a LOT of practice exams and even for those that I thought were "easy" ... well, those I got 19 wrong. Unfortunately, that translates to a 55... which isn't so good).

Point is, if you can get 65 on the multiple choice, an "average" on the essays, that is, a 5 on all of them (they are all out of 9)... then you're on a way to the 5.

So what practice exams are good?

Well I've had my separate reviews for each.

Basically, the practice exams are the same as the ones I used for the SAT Subject Test:

1 Practice Exam from AMSCO and the Quizzes after each chapter
These have their own unique "style" in the way that there is a LOT of emphasis on identification of who, what, when, in my opinion-- however, some of the concept questions are useful. There are some things that you shouldn't bother wanting to learn about, some people that you would "never" have to know for US history. I give this a 5/10 -- however, their final practice exam at the book was very accurate. Perhaps that boosts the score to a 6.5/10.

There is an answer key that can be purchased from them -- fortunately, my AP teacher gave the entire class the answer key so this proved especially useful.

4 Practice Exams from Kaplan for SAT II
These were ... relatively easy. Easier to just the level of the SAT II, but leaning on the way of easy. However, my scores were still averaging at about 19 wrong per 90, in this case. With the SAT II, you should know that there are a lot of questions dealing w/ graph, chart, and cartoon analysis, and this doesn't appear to be stressed in the practice exams above. Given that, its usually the graph, chart, cartoon analysis that empowers you to answer it because the answer is staring at you right in the face.

Even with it being relatively easy, the concepts that it emphasizes here is quite useful. 6/10.

8 Practice Exams from Barron's for SAT II
Barron's is well known for its... difficulty. And there are definitely MANY questions that you can almost expect to not appear on the SAT II. I mean, things with "where do impeachment charges begin in Congress"? Well, the House. But we don't need to know that.

Having said that, Barron's takes a ... well, unique approach as well as a more difficult approach that "hits" on the style and difficulty of SAT II all the other times -- meaning that it IS a good balance to the "easiness" of all the other practice exams.

If you have time, definitely get the practice and experience you'll learn from the 8 practice exams.

1 Practice Test from the "official source" CB
Unfortunately I only got hold of one of these... and I took this. AAAND I got a higher score on this than on any of the other tests! This may be a good sign...

It should be noted that I did take this "last" as a "final measure" of how I did. The packet also provides a "raw score to scale conversion", and it seems like anything below a raw score of 79 (which is about 8 wrong if you answer all) starts getting deducted from 800.

Well. Scratch that. I took a bit more after the SAT Subject Test for APUSH

3 Practice Tests from Peterson's

Amazingly, I did not feel that these were hard -- BUT I got one of the lowest scores on these quizzes. It turns out that some of the answers on the answer key I actually disagree with because the some of the questions and options for answers are very vaguely worded! This doesn't apply to a majority of the questions -- however, I still learned a lot from these :). Practice makes perfect, even if that practice is a bit flawed. Of course, these aren't first options.

2 Practice Tests from AP Barron's

I heard a lot of people say that "Barron's is hard". But amazingly it's not true for AP US History. Or maybe because AP US History multiple choice is easier than SAT US History, and because of that I assumed that Barron's AP US History would be the same difficulty as the Barron's for SAT US History. Either way:

Easier than I expected. Relatively easy, and "up to level". Perhaps just the right level. I got relatively high scores on these, perhaps one of the highest scores I got on any other practice tests. Anyways, these were a good ego boost... these were the last I took going into the test and I felt that while the style on the actual APUSH multiple choice was different, the difficulty and areas of concern are the same. Worth doing -- unfortunately there's only 2 practice exams from AP Barron's! Aww, they are known for more practice exams, c'mon AP Barron's for US History!

Well that concludes it.

I can't believe a year of my first AP ever is over. I can't believe it. I'll be getting that ... X 4 or X 5 next year. I don't know yet.

Again, important -- ONLY TAKE APUSH if you really like US history. That's why I'm not taking AP Euro :). Sorry monarchs, I don't care.