Ways to Prepare for AP History Exams over Winter Break
AP history exams will be starting before you know it. Looking for some productive (and fun!) ways to start preparing for the exams over winter break? Check out some tips below!
Educational Breaks
Watch a Historical Film or TV Show
There are so many great films and tv shows that are thrilling to watch and that also can help familiarize you with famous figures and events on the AP exams. These films can also give you a wider sense of what it was like to live in specific historical times.
Read a Great History Book
History books don’t have to be dull—there are many great non-fiction books that bring fascinating past events to life. You can read to learn more content that you need to know for the exam. Or you can read to see how historians use sources, connect evidence, and make arguments—all of which you need to know to succeed on the AP tests.
Check our our reading guides for APUSH, AP World, and AP Euro! We also have reading lists of new books that come out: see our reading guides here.
Take a Virtual Tour of a Museum
Many museums have made their collections available to the public—completely online! Take a tour of a museum related to your AP history exam. You will learn more about the past, have a greater appreciation for the objects that historical figures interacted with, and see how museums analyze artifacts—a challenge that you might be asked to do on the AP test. Start by checking out our guide to online museums!
Get Ahead in Your Studies
Make a Timeline
As you study AP history each day, it can be easy to focus on the details, as opposed to the wider picture of changes over time. Taking a step back and making a timeline can help you put events in order and also see potential lines of change or cause and effect.
Make Flashcards
A break is a great time to catch up on making flashcards. If you use the break to make flashcards for the information that you have learned so far, you will have the chance to review all of the information that you have covered. Moreover, your study tools will be ready and waiting for you when you start reviewing more intensively in the spring.
Do AP Test Practice
Practice Essay Writing
One of the hardest parts of the test to get used to is the free-response section. There are 3 types of essays, each of which has very specific requirements to achieve top points. It takes some time to learn the expectation for each essay. Moreover, it can be difficult to quickly get all of your thoughts down in a way that is clear to read and logically supports an argument, so it is also important to do timed practice. Use the break to take some time to write some practice essays—you can compare your answers to the sample essays provided by the College Board. And check out our tips on how to write the DBQ, the short answers, and the entire free-response section.
Take a Practice Test
Lastly, you can use the break to take a full practice test! This will give you a great foundation: you will see the types of questions that you will encounter on exam day and you will get a sense for the timing of the exam. There will likely be many questions on material that you haven’t studied yet—don’t worry! There is time in the second semester to learn this material. For now, focus on the questions about the time periods you have covered. Take stock of how you did on these questions and create a new study plan for the future, if needed. Also, pay close attention to the types of questions that you encounter—this is great practice for seeing how you will be tested on the material on the actual AP test.
Work with Circa for Your AP History Test Prep
Circa works with high school students to teach them the critical thinking skills and content knowledge they need for all three AP history exams.