Changes

The AP, or Advanced Placement exam, is given only once a year in May at local high schools, and is more expensive.  It includes both multiple-choice and essay questions, and is used by more colleges to give credit for courses.  In 2009, the AP exam for U.S. History is scheduled for Friday, May 9.  The student must sign up for it long in advance, and make arrangements with a public high school.

The AP, or Advanced Placement exam, is given only once a year in May at local high schools, and is more expensive.  It includes both multiple-choice and essay questions, and is used by more colleges to give credit for courses.  In 2009, the AP exam for U.S. History is scheduled for Friday, May 9.  The student must sign up for it long in advance, and make arrangements with a public high school.

The SAT II in American History is an inexpensive multiple-choice exam that takes only an hour and is given at high schools on Saturdays once a month, October through June, with registration available online at www.collegeboard.com .  No college credit is given for it, but it is used for college applications to recognize achievement.  The SAT II is the cheapest and most biased of the three exams, and is known for emphasizing liberal culture.  Also, what counts as "economic history" is not what you might expect.  There are almost no questions about the [[conservative]] gold standard, for example, even though that issue the political scene throughout history (and was even an issue in [[Ron Paul]]'s campaign for presidency in 2008).  Instead, questions about economic history on the SAT II are likely to be about unions, the treatment of workers, alleged corruption of big business, and discrimination.

The SAT II in American History is an inexpensive multiple-choice exam that takes only an hour and is given at high schools on Saturdays once a month, October through June, with registration available online at www.collegeboard.com .  No college credit is given for it, but it is used for college applications to recognize achievement.  The SAT II is the cheapest and most biased of the three exams, and is known for emphasizing liberal culture.  Also, what counts as "economic history" is not what you might expect.  There are almost no questions about the [[conservative]] gold standard, for example, even though that issue has been important throughout history (and was even an issue in [[Ron Paul]]'s campaign for presidency in 2008).  Instead, questions about economic history on the SAT II are likely to be about unions, the treatment of workers, alleged corruption of big business, discrimination, and gender issues.

Notice what is missing on the College Board exams:  military history.  Unfortunately, many educators in the [[United States]] dislike the military, and that bias shows up on the exams.  No questions are there about battles or key military strategies and decisions.  The only time the military shows up on these exams is when they have a political impact, and then they qualify as political history.

Notice what is missing on the College Board exams:  military history.  Unfortunately, many educators in the [[United States]] dislike the military, and that bias shows up on the exams.  No questions are there about battles or key military strategies and decisions.  The only time the military shows up on these exams is when they have a political impact.

Each of these College Board exams can be taken as often as one likes, though it is difficult to take the AP exam more than once because it is offered only once a year, and it is expensive to retake the CLEP exam.  The SAT II, which is cheaper, is the easiest to take more than once and colleges only look at the highest score.

Each of these College Board exams can be taken as often as one likes, though it is difficult to take the AP exam more than once because it is offered only once a year, and it is expensive to retake the CLEP exam.  The SAT II, which is cheaper, is the easiest to take more than once and colleges look only at the highest score.

There is absolutely no requirement to take any of these College Board exams as part of this course, and references to the exams are used more as a way of helping you see the "big picture," as in how much time should be spent on a particular period or historical topic.  Our class has only two required, multiple-choice exams:  a midterm and a final.  This course will help students improve their test-taking skills on multiple-choice exams.  We will have weekly homework assignments consisting of short-answer questions.

There is absolutely no requirement to take any of these College Board exams as part of this course, and references to the exams are used more as a way of helping you see the "big picture," as in how much time should be spent on a particular period or historical topic.  Our class has only two required, multiple-choice exams:  a midterm and a final.  This course will help students improve their test-taking skills on multiple-choice exams.  We will have weekly homework assignments consisting of short-answer questions.