Congratulations for being ambitious enough to go beyond taking extra AP classes as a GPA boost, and decide to take the SAT US History Subject Test! Most Ivy League universities require that the applicant take at least 2 SAT Subject Tests, and all colleges appreciate test results as an indicator of the student's interest and proficiency in a particular subject of their choice. Thus, Subject Test scores are especially scrutinized by admissions boards, and it's best to obtain the highest score possible. A perfect score in US History would definitely increase your level of confidence in college or scholarship applications, especially if you're inclined towards the liberal arts like me. I was one who did get the 800 for perfect score, as well as a 5 from the AP US History exam (the highest possible score), so I would like to give some practical advice and personal experience.
Here are the scoring basics. The test is all multiple choice. There are 90 questions, with 60 minutes to complete them, meaning around 45 seconds for each question. A quarter of a point is subtracted for wrong answers, and no points are gained for answers left blank. The SAT Subject Test general score chart can be found here. Usually, a raw score of around 80 out of 90 would mean a scaled score of perfect 800, meaning getting 80 questions right and skipping 10; or getting 8 questions wrong, 82 questions right; or getting 4 questions wrong, 81 questions right, skipping 5 questions; or any combination thereof according to the rule that wrong answers have a -0.25-point penalty.
First and foremost: Take an AP US History course. It really matters whether it's honors, regular, or AP. The classmates who surround you and the level of work required from you will not be the same, and will affect your score. In regard to my personal experience, I would say if you didn't get an A in the AP class, this article would be of no help to you-- better to find some other, more rigorous study method if you wish to score an 800. The standard AP textbook for the course is The American Pageant by Thomas A. Bailey.
Second, take the AP US History exam first. You focus on historical knowledge in a macro kind of framework-- understanding facts, broad historical questions, and opposing viewpoints in the bigger picture of continuity and change over time. The hardest parts of the test are the long essay and document-based questions, requiring you to connect the dots using argumentation. In this way, you'd have a strong foundation for your SAT study, because the impression I got from the Subject Test was that it focused on all the nitty-gritty details of knowing chronology, names, and presidential administrations. You need lots of reference materials and a solid memory.
Here's what happened on my end.
On May 8, I registered for the SAT Subject Test, so the information from my AP exam study would be fresh and I would not need to do too much review. The test would be on June 3. I had one month to prepare.
I spent the first week of that month in post-traumatic relief after the AP US History exam 3 days before.
The second week of that month, I glanced through a couple of online articles to get info on the upcoming test. The all say that the test would be much easier than the AP US History exam-- I won't say they lied, but if you're like me and you actually enjoy thinking from a larger standpoint in history, and facts just don't stick in your head, you're in for it on the SAT. But I didn't know that until much later, so heartened by the news, I just reviewed a bit of my notes from AP US History.
Third week, I continued that review. My notes were very extensive, and I had no framework of study besides slogging through summaries and fact-checking in chronological order. In hindsight, the lack of organization at this point would have deeply affected my ability to retain the information. I started my first online practice test, found at this link. There is a collection of 10 complete practice tests, not officially sanctioned by the College Board but that I found useful for beginning, low-budget purposes. I opted to ignore the short tests for each period. The online practice tests were exceedingly difficult for me, and I found that the SAT US History test really was different from the AP US History exam-- I had to completely shift my perspective of history.
I had only one and a half weeks left before the test, and they were the most desperate times I could attest to. I tried a variety of tactics to retain all the detail, including making a Quizlet-- basically an online flashcards generator-- from my notes for the Subject Test. It's a good example of what a test-taker might need to know. As a resource, my attempt can be found here. The way I got the information was going through the rest of the online practice exams, writing down the explanation of questions I got incorrect the best I could. My study method was to learn from mistakes, over and over again. I developed a healthy fear and appreciation for the amount of detail in America's 250-year history (not counting the 20,000 years of Native American history). I could not afford to fact-check, review my AP notes, or continue making my Quizlet.
My mother, who had been quietly panicking on her own, purchased the newest digital (Kindle) version of Barron's SAT Subject Test US History, 3rd edition by Kenneth R. Senter on Amazon, for $10.00. It included 4 full-length practice tests with explanations. My school librarian was also giving out old editions of prep books. Libraries have them all the time, and my librarian's eagerness at being rid of some of these was greatly shocking to me. I took two. Both made 11 more full-length practice tests that were slightly outdated, but together with the up-to-date Kindle, along with the fact that history doesn't change as time passes, I had more than enough practice tests. I didn't have enough time, and never finished all of them-- but I did complete all 4 from the Kindle version. My highest practice score was around 750, I remember, and my lowest a 610. My average must have been a 680. I had filled up around 15 pages of notes.
For me, learning from mistakes is the best and most permanent way to learn. It was important to go over all practice answers for mistakes and explanations, and to write the explanations down. In the beginning, I tried to look at the context of the explanation, and Google it, perhaps find an interesting anecdote or two to help me remember the fact. But this cut my efficiency-- so my only resource was the prep book answer explanations. I did not even look at the information presented in chronological paragraphs. I only wish that I had not wasted that first week and spent the second week reviewing my AP notes-- they were not helpful for this exam. I could have used that time to do practice tests, and work on timing. Under the circumstances, there was little else I could do.
The thing about incessant practice is, once you'd gotten a fact wrong once or twice, the next time you remember it. And my erratic practice test scores leveled out near the end to above 700. The practice tests, as is common for all practice tests, turned out to be harder than the real thing. This is deliberate, so that students would study more rigorously for it. On the test, I skipped one question. They don't tell you how many you got wrong. The issue you need to address is-- how will you remember all you need to know about factual US History in preparation for the test? My answer is a strong starting base in maintaining an A in AP US History, finishing your AP exam, all the practice tests you can find for the SAT, and one more thing...
On July 12, I received my score of 800. Allow me to conclude with this: It's difficult to tell whether something good that happens to you is a miracle or not. Was it the work of your own hand, or the work of God? I had been praying the entire previous week that whatever comes, God will direct me to the path he saw fit-- and I take the 800 in US History to be a sign to encourage me to keep going in liberal arts instead of the sciences. If it were anything less, I would be doubting my own direction. Praise the Lord! Let everything proceed according to His will.
