Customer Reviews

Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam, 2008 Edition (College Test Preparation)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Princeton Review is usually right-on in terms of amount of detail; for example, PR is perfect for AP World History and AP Chemistry.

This APUSH version, however, simple leaves too much out. I bought it intending to use it just as a quick review (my main book, which I highly recommended, is the fantastic AMSCO book). But PR is just barely adequate as a review.

For example, it skims over the Progressive Era in 1 and a half pages, mentioning President Taft in just one sentence. The book skips right from the Progressive Era to WWI, without mentioning the Spanish-American war (and American imperialism) at all.

I attribute the 5 I got on the test to AMSCO. Princeton Review's APUSH book leaves much to be desired.

I recently took an AP US History course and bought this book on previous experience with the AP World History book (which I got a five in).

This book is really handy because it internalizes the major eras of all the periods covered by the AP Exam. I found it particularly useful for the essay questions on the AP Test. However, I would discourage anyone from using this book if they are learning things from scratch without taking a history course. It's much better to take an accompanying US History course as this book tends to be more broad than others. Also, the "important" terms are bolded and indexed, making it extremely easy to search for specific terms in a period.

EDIT: 10/9/2011
I got a 5 in the AP US History exam too.

This book is great for those of us who are too busy or can't concentrate on our textbooks. This book helped me a lot in my APUSH class because it's much easier to read and much shorter than the textbook. The questions for each section should tell you what you understand or do not understand in that section. You can use it as an indicator on what part of your textbook you need to read more carefully to get that A on your tests and 5 on the AP test.

This is one of the best review books for the AP US History test out there. First of all, it condenses all the important details, concepts, and names for you. Too many other review guides serve to go way too far into detail. This book skims the surface on every important era of US History so studying does not become overwhelming and you are not memorizing punitive, useless trivia (something I have seen way too much with other AP US review books). Although it only has two practice tests, they are very realistic depictions of what the real test looks like. The book does an excellent job covering every aspect of the test, that is, the Document Based Question, the multiple choice, and the two free-response questions. In order to best study for the test, I recommend taking notes on every section so you can review your notes later. That's exactly what I did and I got a 5 on the test (and I'm no history buff either). Princeton Review's AP US History review is truly a worthy purchase.

This is a good book to have for AP. History. The first one to get is actually AMSCO, the 2nd one is REA, this is the 3rd one. It;s still really good though. The information part is not that much, but there's practice tests really useful for AP exam prep, not that great for your AP class.

The book was well organized and planed out. It was a great study tool for me and has a nice review. I would use it to study a while before the test, not the day before. Good buy.

This was actually a fun read, compared to the textbook. Unfortunately, I feel like this book did not focus enough on the actual facts that you needed to memorize for the AP Exam. It didn't help much that they didn't give you definitions for the vocabulary review list near the end, and instead tell you to define them yourself, which may not be possible if you are short on time. I felt that the multiple choice on the AP Exam were actually somewhat easier than these, but then near number 60, gained difficulty. The FRQs and DBQs on the AP Exam were relatively easy too, but I still got a 2 on the exam. So, I don't know. But I saw most of my classmates using AMSCO's book, and I knew one girl who got a 4 with it, so it's probably better.

If you have plenty of time, then this book will be a great product for you. It's a lot bigger than i thought it would be. There is A LOT of information. Okay product, but if you don't have much time, i'd recommend REA's Crash Course.

This book was awesome. I used Princeton Review to study for 2 out of my 6 AP classes. I had this US History book and the AP Psychology book. The two exams I used Princeton Review to study for, I got 5s! In the other 4 subjects I got 4s. This book is the exact tool you need to push yourself from a 4 to a 5! It's great!

I wasn't in the AP class but I decided to take the test and this book was my most valuable study tool. Definitely buy it if your teacher isn't preparing you well for the test.