How to Take Notes in APUSH—Improve Speed, Memory, and Grades

If you’re reading this, you’re probably an APUSH student who’s frustrated by the sheer amount of note-taking and memorization in the class.

When I took my first AP history class in high school, I felt the same way””entirely overwhelmed by how much material there was and completely lost about what to study and how. Some of the questions I desperately wanted answered were”¦

Quick Note: My first AP history class was AP World History, and the struggles I list below were actually struggles I faced in AP World History. The experience I gained from AP World History helped me hit the ground running for APUSH (read more about my experience in AP World History here). However, for the purposes of this article, I write from the perspective of APUSH being my first AP history class.

How to take notes in APUSH?

There were so many details in each textbook chapter that I often had trouble differentiating between what was important and what wasn’t.

How to take APUSH notes faster?

I was often frustrated by how long it took me to get through textbook reading. Note-taking for AP history cut into time I needed to spend on other classes.

Plus, I often forgot everything I’d taken notes on the next day. There was a clear imbalance between time invested and reward gained.

How to study for APUSH unit tests?

I didn’t know how to review my notes effectively in preparation for unit tests. In addition, I was always worried that my notes lacked some of the information that would be tested on the exam.

After all, there were so many different APUSH textbooks and review books out there, all containing different details. How could I ensure that I studied everything that would be tested?

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AP history was rough for me at first; I didn’t know how to take notes or study my notes effectively. This led to two things:

• Firstly, I wasted tons of time.
• Secondly, my grades dropped quickly after the first few assessments.

Eventually, I realized that I needed to shift my mindset from, “I’m just bad at history” to “I can improve in history”.

I changed the way I took and studied my APUSH notes, and that completely transformed my performance in the class. By learning how to take notes in APUSH properly, I improved my note-taking speed, understanding of history, critical analysis skills, and long-term memorization of information.

In this article, I explain the mistakes I made in APUSH note-taking and how I fixed them. By the time you finish this article, you’ll know how to take better notes for APUSH to A) improve your performance in class and B) prepare well for the final exam.

Let’s jump in!

APUSH Note-Taking Mistake #1: Getting bogged down by small details

When I took my first AP history class, I thought the best way to study was to take notes on every minute detail and hammer every detail into my brain before unit tests.

In middle school, this method worked perfectly because I was only assessed on my ability to memorize straightforward details. However, this method was not only ridiculously time-consuming but also ineffective in an AP history class.

Here’s why: AP history classes assess your ability to think like a historian. Yes, you need to know the details. But more importantly, you need to understand how those details fit into larger trends.

If you only focus on the small details, you’ll do poorly in the class and on the final exam. It’s like smelling smoke, hearing the smoke detector, and feeling intense heat but not being able to piece together the details to realize, “There’s a fire in my house!”

Wait, so are details not important?

All of this is not to say that details aren’t important””one of the major differences between AP World History and APUSH is that the latter delves more deeply into historical events. After all, APUSH only covers the history of one country.

Therefore, you’ll need to know more details like specific historical documents, pieces of legislation, and historical figures. However, you must also know how these details fit into larger trends.

But now, you’re probably thinking: How do I determine which details are important? How do I understand how they fit into larger trends?

Keep reading to find out”¦

APUSH Note-Taking Mistake #2: Not highlighting important vocab + events

If you don’t highlight important vocab and events in your APUSH notes, you’ll regret it when trying to review your notes (the keyword there is “trying”).

Highlighting will save you time because important details you need to know will jump out at you.

But how do you figure out what’s important? Here are two ways I differentiated between important details and unimportant details:

You may also like “The Ultimate Guide to Get a 5 on APUSH”

Pay Attention in Class

This one’s pretty obvious, but your APUSH teacher will likely point out key words and events during class lectures. If you’re fortunate, your APUSH teacher has probably been teaching APUSH for years and knows what’s important and what’s not.

Therefore, you should pay attention in class lectures and take note of any important terms your teacher mentions.

Get an APUSH Review Book

The problem with only using assigned APUSH textbooks is that you’ll be easily overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information. Consequently, you won’t be able to figure out what’s important and what’s not.

While you should still read your assigned textbook, you should also buy a review book that summarizes the main points in each unit.

If you’re wondering which review book to get, I recommend the Princeton Review book. I used this book and found that it was easy to understand and comprehensive.

Right now, you may be thinking, “I already have to read a textbook””I don’t have time to read a review book on top of that!” The good news is that I don’t recommend that you read a review book on top of a textbook in preparation for class assessments.

I just recommend that you quickly scan over any bolded or otherwise emphasized terms. This will help you figure out which details are important and if your notes are lacking anything.

APUSH Note-Taking Mistake #3: Not summarizing information in your own words

To take notes for APUSH that are actually useful, you can’t just copy parts of your textbook word-for-word. If you do so, you’ll be terribly overwhelmed when reviewing your notes.

Instead, when taking APUSH notes, you should summarize the main points in each textbook section in your own words.

Here’s why paraphrasing is crucial to your success in the class and on the final exam:

Firstly, It Assesses Your Understanding

If you can paraphrase what you’ve read, you understand the content well enough to put it in your own words. If you can’t paraphrase in layman’s terms, you have gaps in your understanding.

For example, if I found that I couldn’t put a phrase like “buying stock on margin” or “irresponsible overspeculation” in my own words, I would be prompted to look up the definition. Then, I would reword the definition in a way that I could understand.

When reviewing my notes, I would thank myself for the extra effort I put in because my notes were so easy to understand.

Secondly, It Enhances Memorization

If you paraphrase content, you’re actively thinking about the meaning of the words. You’re not just copying down information on autopilot.

This deeper processing of information will assist you with memory and long-term retention. In a class like APUSH, where there is so much content, you should use any method you can to assist memorization.

Thirdly, It Prevents You From Getting Bogged Down By Small Details

Remember APUSH Note-Taking Mistake #1? Yep, it was “getting bogged down by small details”. Fortunately, summarizing information in your own words can help you avoid this dangerous pitfall.

In my first AP history class, I would jot down a couple of notes after every few sentences. This was a big mistake. I didn’t even know what was going on before I started taking notes. Consequently, I couldn’t process the information in a meaningful way or paraphrase it in my own words.

When I took notes for APUSH, I would read everything under a subheading in my textbook before setting pencil to paper (or fingers to keyboard””whatever you prefer). Then, I would write down only the main ideas in the section I’d read.

Sometimes, I would even go beyond one section and read 2-3 pages before starting note-taking. Doing so helped me get situated in the historical context. As a result, I could better understand what was going on and summarize the information more easily.

You may also like “DBQ Thesis Formula (With AP World & APUSH Thesis Examples!)”

APUSH Note-Taking Mistake #4: Not relating events together

When I took my first AP history class, I made the mistake of studying events in isolation. Here’s how my thought process worked:

___, ___, and ___ happened during World War I.

Then, ___, ___, and ___ happened during World War II.

Or something like:

This piece of legislation was passed in ___ and did ___.

This other piece of legislation was passed in ___ and did ___.

There’s a glaring mistake with this thought process: I never thought about the relationships between historical events. As a result, history felt like a collection of disparate events, not a dynamic, continuous storyline.

Why is relating events together important?

The APUSH exam assesses you on 7 essential historical reasoning skills, which I explain more in my step-by-step guide to getting a 5 on APUSH. The skills are: causation and effect, continuity and change, periodization, comparison, contextualization, argumentation, and use of historical evidence.

All 7 of these skills require you to understand how historical events relate to each other.

Therefore, if you practice thinking about the relationships between events, you’ll A) do better on APUSH MC and FRQs and B) potentially earn the rarely-awarded sophistication point in your DBQ and LEQ essays (you can earn the point for drawing connections across different time periods).

So what does it mean to relate events together?

All events in history have causes and effects. When taking notes on important events, make sure to understand the causes of the event and the significance of the event.

Here’s an example:

Also, think about the differences and similarities between historical events, like wars, pieces of legislation, presidential administrations, and cultural movements.

Here’s an example:

Everything in history is connected somehow. You should actively push yourself to draw connections between events within a time period or even across time periods.

Then, you should jot down those connections in your notes (perhaps in the margins). Doing so will strengthen your historical reasoning skills even while note-taking.

Additionally, relating events together is a form of deep processing. I won’t get into the nitty-gritty details of the psychology behind it, but deep processing improves long-term retention of information.

So learning to relate events together is truly transformative:

• You’ll understand history on a more complex level
• You’ll get way better at critical analysis, which is essential for APUSH MC and FRQs
• And you’ll remember information better!

You may also like “Most Impressive AP Classes (+ Useful Tips to Succeed in Them)”

APUSH Note-Taking Mistake #5: Not reviewing key concepts

The APUSH course and exam description contains key concepts for each unit that you should be familiar with. If you’re not sure what key concepts are, they’re general trends from each time period.

To be clear, just knowing the key concepts is not enough to prepare for APUSH unit tests or the final exam. However, reviewing the key concepts is helpful for identifying the main ideas in each unit.

To make sure you didn’t miss anything in your notes, you should quickly scan the key concepts. For each concept, come up with details, like specific historical events, that corroborate it. If you realize that you can’t think of anything specific, then you have some studying to do.

In short, reviewing the key concepts is a good way to uncover holes in your learning.

APUSH Note-Taking Mistake #6: Not doing active recall or spaced learning

This mistake doesn’t relate to note-taking itself, per say, but it relates to the way you study your notes. I delve more into active recall and spaced learning in my secret study tips post, but essentially, these two methods are absolutely crucial for effective studying.

Do you often feel like there’s so much information in APUSH that you can’t remember it all? Fortunately, you can fix that using active recall and spaced learning.

Active Recall

Many students (including myself) have made the mistake of thinking rereading notes = effective studying. However, rereading notes does not help you remember or understand information!

Instead of just rereading your notes, you must independently recall information from your memory. This is what active recall is.

Flashcards are a great tool for active recall. You can use them to test your knowledge on important events and terms, key concepts, and connections between events and across time periods.

Practice questions are another great tool for active recall. To prepare for APUSH unit tests, I also recommend doing practice questions from a review book. Again, I recommend using the Princeton Review book“”the premium version contains MC questions for each unit and 6 practice tests!

Or, if your teacher assigns College Board practice (like my teacher did), make sure to do the practice attentively.

Spaced Learning

Do you ever learn something, then forget it the next day? If so, no, you don’t have short-term memory loss.

This is actually a common phenomenon modeled by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus’ forgetting curve. We forget on average 90% of new concepts we learn after being exposed to them once.

So how can you combat this? By using spaced learning.

Exactly like it sounds, spaced learning involves reviewing a topic multiple times. Here’s how you can use spaced learning to encode information into your long-term memory:

1. Start studying early. Seriously, you’ll regret procrastinating studying, especially in a class like APUSH. Not only will procrastination make you super stressed, but it will also make you susceptible to forgetting information.
2. Create a study schedule to space out studying. List out exactly what you’ll be studying on which day. (Don’t just write down something like, “Study for APUSH Unit 5 test every day of the week”. Write down exactly which topics you intend to review each day.) Try to study every topic at least two times, and make sure to leave time for active recall practice!

Summary of How to Take Notes in APUSH (and Study Notes) Effectively

Right now, you may be thinking, “How in the world am I supposed to keep all these tips in mind to take notes in APUSH?” So here’s a quick breakdown of actionable steps you can take to improve how you take notes notes in APUSH immediately:

1. Read your textbook and take notes on it (preferably before the topics are discussed in class).
   • Don’t jot down notes every few sentences. Instead, summarize the main points of each section in your own words.
2. Use your teacher’s lectures to identify important vocabulary and events. If you have time, scan the bolded terms in a review book.
   • If you’ve taken notes from the textbook prior to a lecture, highlight the important terms. If a term is missing from your notes, jot down a quick note to add it.
3. Create a study schedule based on the concept of spaced learning.
4. When reviewing your notes, think about connections between different events and how they fit into larger trends. Jot these connections down in the margins.
5. Do active recall. Read the key concepts and see if you can explain them using specific historical details from memory. Also, use flashcards and practice questions to study.
   • I recommend using Princeton Review for practice, if your teacher doesn’t assign College Board questions.

I hope this article helped you understand how to take notes in APUSH that will actually improve your performance in class and on the final exam! In the comments, let me know any questions you have about studying for APUSH, and I will do my best to answer!

For more advice on AP exams, check out these posts:

• Most Impressive AP Classes (+Useful Tips to Succeed in Them)“”math and science

• Most Impressive AP Classes (+Useful Tips to Succeed in Them)“”humanities and social sciences

• The Ultimate Guide to Get a 5 on AP Spanish Language and Culture
• The Ultimate Guide to Get a 5 on APUSH
• DBQ Thesis Formula (With AP World & APUSH Thesis Examples!)