Customer Reviews

Barron's How to Prepare for the AP United States History: Advanced Placement Examiniation (Barron's AP United States History)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

this book is pretty good, and it has a nice chronology of events in the back. nevertheless, the chronology lacks some important elements, and the book contains very little review of the course (other than the chronology). There is only one practice test, and generally i prefer to have multiple tests, and there is no diagnostic test. There are numerous practice questions, which are pretty good, but I personally felt this book could really use more course review.

I disagree completely with the other reviews! This book definitely was a huge part of me securing a 5 on the AP Exam. If you are student who did what they were supposed to do throughout class and are really looking for a test prep to be used as a test prep and not as a textbook because you didn't study during the year, you'll definitely get what you are looking for in this book! It tweaks your test taking skills and gives you insight into the AP Exam that the other test preps don't (and I know because I have four AP US History Prep Guides).

This book was very disapointing. It has only 1 practice exam. But the main dissapointment for me was that there is no review of the material. It says things like "Among those items you should consider in studying these years are:" followed by a list of topics. It provides no actual review of the events at all, which is what I was really looking for. I wanted a book to sum up the text book, but this book really had no information beyond telling me what to study. The only part of this book that I found relatively useful was about 50 pages that was a "Chronological Summary of Major Events and Developments in US History." It listed names of people, with one sentence discriptions, as well as dates. It also has important topics with a 3-4 sentence explanation. But even in this section, it says things like "Some important individuals of the period are:" Followed by a three column list of about 50-75 names of people that were important to the period. Knowing they were important is completely useless without knowing WHY they were important.

Overall, this book was very dissapointing. Don't buy it!

I bought this book to review for my AP Exam, but unfortunately it didn't prepare me at all. I mean, it does a good job by explaining the different types of essay questions that may appear but that is all. There is only one Pracitice Exam and a few multiple choice sections. I really didn't like the outline either... Instead of getting this book, I would recommend the REA addition which contains 6 practice tests and a COMPREHENSIVE review of almost every event in U.S. history. After getting the REA book, I never touched this book after. Although, I haven't recieved my AP Exam grade (for some mysterious reason), I know for a fact that the REA book helped me prepare more than this one.

My mom bought this book so that I could study for the AP U.S. History test, but I was a bit disapointed. I was hoping to get a thourough review of history, but instead, the sections on historical time periods list only questions that you SHOULD know the answers too without giving you the facts. For every chapter, there is a sample student essay with teacher critiques. Reading one or two essays might be helpful, but reading student essays won't help me to understand the history. I am already a good writer. What I need is to review the facts.

My Thompson's/Peterson's SAT II Prep book has been much more helpful since it includes concise summaries of key people and events for each time period (even though I bought it to study for a different test).

This book is helpful in learning how the test works and has some useful practice questions, but if you want to review the history, this is not the book for you.

I recently purchaced this book and returned it. I attempted to study for the test by brushing up on the history. Yes history! Well, it was nonexistant in this book. It was just a big fat tip book for scoring a 5 on the AP exam.

I wouldn't highly recomend this book for students who want a quick fact review before the exam. The book would however be good for students who might have trouble writing or organizing essays. The only part of the book I found really helpful was the outline at the back of the book which goes over such things as causes of various wars and famous people. I used that to review the nigh before the exam. But be forwarned if you do buy this bok to help you with the essay it will take you a while to read!

This book was a complete disappointment. This book had no review material at all. 95% of the book was a tutorial on how to analyze and respond to the various types of essay questions. The book was divided up into sections, with about 5 possible essay questions for each of the various time periods in U.S. History. The book then gave a sample response to one of the essay question and teacher comments. This book also explained how to analyze multiple choice questions.

There was only one full practice exam included. Also included were a glossary of key terms and a chronological timeline of important dates.

Do not buy this book if you want review material or have a good understanding of how to answer essay and multiple choice questions. This "review manual" will only be useful to a person who does not feel comfortable with there ability to comprehend what an essay or multiple choice question is looking for.

This book was a big disappointment. First of all, there is only one practice test, which was upsetting because that was the main reason I bought the book. In addition, the review part is mostly just a chronological listing of events, which doesn't really help to study because it just encourages skimming. Most importantly, the book is written in condescending language that is very discouraging to a student who is already stressed-out and worried about the exam. It uses phrases like "the answer to this question is obvious because..." and "this is information that you should have already learned..." As a result, this book made me needlessly discouraged before the test. I also used the Barron's SAT II US History book, which was equally as bad. I would discourage people from buying from the Barron's brand at all in the future.

I wanted a comprehensive review before the exam. Barron's had more tedious questions rather than something to read. I made a 5, but there are better books. The Princeton Review or REA (if you read quickly) is more helpful.