how to write an essay in apush

4 Steps to Writing a Good APUSH Long Essay

• Patterns of connectivity (argue whether history changed or remained the same)
• Compare and contrast
• Periodization

No matter which type of essay you face, here are 4 steps to help you write a good APUSH long essay.

Focus on Writing a Solid Thesis

Your thesis is the most important part. It’s going to set up the entire essay. It’s also the first thing that the grader is going to see, so start with a strong thesis!

Your introductory paragraph should be about 2-5 sentences in length. Start with a hook before including your thesis . Your thesis should be original. Don’t just copy the question prompt!

Make sure that your thesis contains the following three things:

• Your stance (or answer) to the prompt
• A counterargument to address
• The 3 strongest supporting points for your thesis

Describe and Explain Your Supporting Points

To support your thesis, you need three specific examples. If you’re having a hard time coming up with examples, think about PERSIA : political, economic, religious, social, intellectual, and artistic.

Describe each example as much as possible. Then, don’t forget to reflect back to the thesis. This is the most important part, so spend plenty of time circling back to the thesis for each point.

Make Connections

When writing the body paragraphs, try to connect to events from different time periods, geographical areas, and themes whenever possible. Making connections is especially important when it comes to the rebuttal for your argument.

Synthesis across history is important to show that you have a deep understanding of U.S. history and that you’ve developed the historical thinking skills you need.

Don’t Forget the Conclusion

Some people skip over the conclusion . With only 35 minutes to write a polished essay, they would rather spend time developing the introductory and body paragraphs.

However, if you’ve practiced your timing for the APUSH long essay, you should have a few extra minutes for a conclusion. The conclusion should restate your thesis and strongest points in different words.

You’ve spent the entire school year preparing for your APUSH long essay. You’ve studied the concepts and themes. You have the information that you need to write a 6-worthy essay. Follow these tips as you practice writing APUSH long essays, so you can practice crafting these essays within the 35-minute time period. The more you practice, the better prepared you’ll be to write your essay on exam day.

Jamie graduated from Brigham Young University- Idaho with a degree in English Education. She spent several years teaching and tutoring students at the elementary, high school, and college level. She currently works as a contract writer and curriculum developer for online education courses. In her free time, she enjoys running and spending time with her boys!

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AP United States History

Review the free-response questions from the 2024 ap exam., exam overview.

Exam questions assess the course concepts and skills outlined in the course framework. For more information, download the  AP U.S. History Course and Exam Description  (CED).

Scoring rubrics – general scoring criteria for the document-based and long essay questions, regardless of specific question prompt – are available in the course and exam description (CED).

Encourage your students to visit the  AP U.S. History student page  for exam information.

Rubrics Updated for 2023-24

We’ve updated the AP U.S. History document-based question (DBQ) and long essay question (LEQ) rubrics for the 2023-24 school year. 

This change only affects the DBQ and LEQ scoring, with no change to the course or the exam: the exam format, course framework, and skills assessed on the exam all remain unchanged.

The course and exam description (CED) has been updated to include: 

• Revised rubrics (general scoring criteria) for the DBQ and LEQ.
• Revised scoring guidelines for the sample DBQ and LEQ within the CED.

Fri, May 10, 2024

AP U.S. History Exam

Exam format.

The AP U.S. History Exam has consistent question types, weighting, and scoring guidelines, so you and your students know what to expect on exam day.

Section I, Part A: Multiple Choice

55 Questions | 55 Minutes | 40% of Exam Score

• Questions usually appear in sets of 3–4 questions.
• Students analyze historical texts, interpretations, and evidence.
• Primary and secondary sources, images, graphs, and maps are included.

Section I, Part B: Short Answer

3 Questions | 40 Minutes | 20% of Exam Score

• Students analyze historians’ interpretations, historical sources, and propositions about history.
• Questions provide opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know best.
• Some questions include texts, images, graphs, or maps.
• Question 1 is required, includes 1–2 secondary sources, and focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1754 and 1980.
• Question 2 is required, includes 1 primary source, and focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1754 and 1980.
• Students choose between Question 3 (which focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1491 and 1877) and Question 4 (which focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1865 and 2001) for the last question. No sources are included for either Question 3 or Question 4.

Section II: Document-Based Question and Long Essay

2 questions | 1 Hour, 40 minutes | 40% of Exam Score

Document-Based Question (DBQ)

Recommended Time: 1 Hour (includes 15-minute reading period) | 25% of Exam Score

• Students are presented with 7 documents offering various perspectives on a historical development or process.
• Students assess these written, quantitative, or visual materials as historical evidence.
• Students develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence.
• The document-based question focuses on topics from 1754 to 1980.

Recommended time: 40 Minutes | 15% of Exam Score

• Students explain and analyze significant issues in U.S. history.
• The question choices focus on the same skills and the same reasoning process (e.g., comparison, causation, or continuity and change), but students choose from 3 options, each focusing on historical developments and processes from a different range of time periods—either 1491–1800 (option 1), 1800–1898 (option 2), or 1890–2001 (option 3).

Exam Questions and Scoring Information

Ap united states history exam questions and scoring information.

View free-response questions and scoring information from this year's exam and past exams.

Score Reporting

Ap score reports for educators.

Access your score reports.

AP United States History Exam Tips

The following strategies for answering the free-response questions were developed by faculty consultants to help you on exam day.

• Answering essay questions generally requires a good deal of training and practice. Students too often begin to write immediately, creating a string of disconnected, poorly planned thoughts. You need to learn to attack questions methodically and to plan your answers before putting pencil to paper.
• Carefully analyze the question, thinking through what is being asked, and identify the elements that must be addressed in the response. Each AP Exam asks different types of questions about each subject. For example, some questions may require you to consider the similarities between people or events, and then to think of the ways they are different. Others may ask you to develop an argument with examples in support of or opposing a particular movement or policy. You may even be asked to construct a graph or visual representation explaining relationships in a given scenario. Be sure to carefully craft your answer in response to what is actually being asked in the question prompt.
• After you have determined what is involved in answering the question, consider what evidence you can incorporate into your response. Review the evidence you learned during the year that relates to the question and then decide how it fits into the analysis. Does it demonstrate a similarity or a difference? Does it argue for or against a generalization that is being addressed?
• Whenever you offer evidence to illustrate contrast or similarity, clearly state your intent. Then, with additional information or analysis, elaborate on the ways in which these pieces of evidence are similar or different. If there is evidence that refutes a statement, explain why it argues against the statement. Your answer should reflect an understanding of the subtleties of the questions.
• Begin writing only after you have thought through the evidence you plan to use, and have determined what your thesis statement will be. Once you have done this, you will be in a position to answer the question analytically instead of in a rambling narrative.
• Learn how to present your thesis statement: make your overarching statement or argument and then position your supporting evidence so that it is obviously directed to answering the question, as opposed to being a string of abstract generalizations. State your points as clearly as possible and explicitly connect them to the larger thesis. Do not leave it to the reader to infer what is meant or how something illustrates a point.
• If you have done the analytical work required prior to writing, you should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the complexity of the question. You should state your thesis, introduce the elements that support the thesis, and demonstrate the logic that led you to link the elements in support of the thesis. By applying these ideas you will construct an excellent essay.
• While essay writing in general is a valuable exercise, you may wish to work specifically on free-response questions from previous AP Examinations. This will allow you to compare your own responses with those that have already been scored and evaluated. Free-response questions are available through the Advanced Placement Program ® in numerous formats. One of the easiest ways to find sample essays is to go to the Exam Preparation section of the U.S. History About the Exam page.

Pay close attention to the task verbs used in the free-response questions. Each one directs you to complete a specific type of response. Here are the task verbs you'll see on the exam:

• Compare: Provide a description or explanation of similarities and/or differences.
• Describe: Provide the relevant characteristics of a specified topic.
• Evaluate: Judge or determine the significance or importance of information, or the quality or accuracy of a claim.
• Explain: Provide information about how or why a relationship, process, pattern, position, situation, or outcome occurs, using evidence and/or reasoning. Explain "how" typically requires analyzing the relationship, process, pattern, position, situation, or outcome; whereas, explain "why" typically requires analysis of motivations or reasons for the relationship, process, pattern, position, situation, or outcome.
• Identify: Indicate or provide information about a specified topic, without elaboration or explanation.
• Support an argument: Provide specific examples and explain how they support a claim.

AP Short-Answer Response Booklets

Important reminders for completing short-answer responses.

Write each response only on the page designated for that question.

• 1 lined page is provided for each short-answer question.
• The question number is printed as a large watermark on each page, and also appears at the top and bottom of the response area.

Keep responses brief–don't write essays.

• The booklet is designed to provide sufficient space for each response.
• Longer responses will not necessarily receive higher scores than shorter ones that accomplish all the tasks set by the question.

See a diagram that shows you where to find the question number on pages in the response booklet.

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AP U.S. History Long Essay Example

The second part of Section II of the AP exam contains three long essay questions—you must respond to one. The AP U.S. History long essay question assesses your ability to apply knowledge of history in a complex, analytical manner. In other words, you are expected to treat history and historical questions as a historian would.

This process is called historiography—the skills and strategies historians use to analyze and interpret historical evidence to reach a conclusion. Thus, when writing an effective essay, you must be able to write a strong, clearly developed thesis and supply a substantial amount of relevant evidence to support your thesis and develop a complex argument.

The College Board’s characteristics of a high-scoring long essay question response are listed below. Note that the requirements are very similar to those of the DBQ; the primary difference is that any requirements related to use of the documents are removed from the scoring requirements for the long essay question.

[ RELATED: Reading Strategies for AP US History Exam ]

Long Answer Sample Question

Evaluate the extent to which the migration of European colonists and the resulting encounters with American Indians affected social patterns in the period from 1495 to 1650.

Step 1: Analyze the Prompt

As you choose which question you will answer, begin thinking about what your thesis will entail and how your essay will demonstrate a complex understanding. The notes of a sample high-scoring writer are below.

Thesis (with complex understanding): Spanish, French, and British each used territory differently; result: distinct social patterns

This writer claims that three different countries’ approaches to settling territories resulted in different types of social development, but other types of thesis claims are possible. For instance, the thesis could make a single claim about overall social patterns (such as “Europeans’ economic goals in the New World and their attitudes of superiority over American Indians resulted in exploitative and hierarchical social structures”) or focus on only one or two European nations.

Step 2: Plan Your Response

• Context : motives for European exploration: new technology, navigation techniques, and trade routes
• Thesis   (with complex understanding ):  Spanish, French, and British each used territory differently; result: distinct social patterns
• goals: wealth and spread Catholicism
• methods: mining, large-scale agriculture, encomienda, disease/weapons, missions
• results: forced assimilation, social structure
• goal: fur trade
• method: mutually profitable trade relationships
• result: alliances
• goals: permanent settlements, Jamestown, religious freedom (New England)
• methods: occupying more land for farming, smallpox, Metacom’s War
• results: deaths of indigenous populations
• ¶ conclusion: where Europeans sought permanent settlements or forced labor, resulted in American Indian population decline, upheaval, and threats to tradition

Step 3: Action! Write Your Response & Step 4: Proofread

See the following high-scoring response, and be sure to read the rubric to help you identify what makes this response effective. Think about what features you can incorporate into your own free- response answers.

Sample High-Scoring Response

The Spanish had two major goals: to gain wealth and to spread Catholicism to the native populations. Realizing the potential to mine precious metals and profit from large-scale agriculture, the Spanish forced American Indians into labor, such as through the encomienda system. Violence and deception were often used to subdue the indigenous populations, aided by the technological superiority of European weapons and the spread of devastating diseases. Although some Spanish came as missionaries with the goal of converting American Indians to Christianity and often protested the abusive treatment of the American Indians, even missions sometimes essentially forced labor and coerced assimilation to Spanish culture. In the long term, a hierarchical social structure developed in the Spanish colonies in which the Spanish-born and their descendants (peninsulares and creoles) dominated those of mixed background (mestizos and mulattos) and especially those of pure African or American Indian heritage. Overall, millions perished between disease and mistreatment, devastatingly weakening traditional cultures but enriching the Spanish.

The French differed from the Spanish in their relationship with the indigenous populations. Using the St. Lawrence River for transportation and trade, the French profited from trading fur pelts, particularly beaver, with the American Indians, and then sending the pelts to Europe. These traders profited from the knowledge and goods of the American Indian populations who lived there, and certainly desired to develop mutually profitable relationships with them. Overall, this more cooperative relationship helped preserve American Indian cultures and led to alliances between the French and different American Indian nations. These alliances benefited the French in later wars with the British.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the ultimate ap us history study guide.

Advanced Placement (AP)

Studying for the AP US History course is an exercise in memorization and critical thinking. Multiple-choice questions ask you to read and analyze documents based on your historical knowledge. Essay questions require similar skills but with the added challenge of synthesizing your ideas into a coherent argument that incorporates both outside knowledge and evidence given to you.

In this comprehensive AP US History study guide, we will provide all the resources and strategies you need to prepare for the AP exam and any other test that comes your way in this course !

What's the Purpose of This AP US History Study Guide?

This guide will help you prepare for the AP US History test and other assessments you encounter throughout the school year in your AP US History class. It includes instructions for creating an effective study plan, a few helpful study tips, an overview of the content covered in the AP course, and a list of resources for practice questions.

This article is a one-stop-shop for all the information you need to master the AP US History curriculum.

Creating a Study Plan for AP US History: 5-Step Guide

You should start studying sooner rather than later for the AP US History exam because there's s o much information to remember. Ideally, you'll build on knowledge throughout the year and regularly review to avoid forgetting earlier parts of the course.

We recommend doing a holistic review after each in-class test that covers everything you've learned up to that point. You can then begin your final review for the AP test in March or April, which will give you an  entire month or two to spread out your studying.

Below are the steps we recommend following to prep for the AP US History test. The whole process should take you about 11 hours and 30 minutes .

Step 1: Take a Full-Length Practice Test

Time: 3 hours 15 minutes

The first step is to take a full, official AP US History practice test under realistic conditions. Time yourself in accordance with the actual test and write out both essays (DBQ and Long Essay) completely. Mark any multiple-choice questions you had to guess on—it's crucial to go over this information later even if you happen to guess correctly.

When you're done, score your practice test to see how well you would do on the real AP exam if you were to take it right now.

Depending on how much you're hoping to improve your AP US History test score, you might have to budget for more or less study time. If you're already scoring close to 5 (or a low 5), you might complete these steps once and find that you're satisfied with your results.

If you're scoring 2 or more points lower than you'd like, plan on going through this process several times.

Step 2: Catalog Your Mistakes and Guesses

Time: 1 hour

After you score your practice AP US History test, go through your mistakes and lucky guesses. Try to categorize the mistakes by content area so you can look for patterns and determine which parts of the course you need to study the most.

Once you've identified what you need to learn, move on to reviewing the actual content. Make a list in descending order of the topics that correspond to the highest number of missed multiple-choice questions and missed points on short-answer and free-response questions.

Step 3: Study Relevant Content Areas and Practice Multiple-Choice Questions

Time: 2 hours

Use the list you made in the previous step to guide your review of the AP US History content. Start with the areas for which you need a little refresher, and work your way up to the big issues you had on the diagnostic test .

When you're satisfied that you've fixed the gaps in knowledge that led to your errors, you should do some practice APUSH multiple-choice questions to make sure you really know your stuff (you can find them in review books or on one of the sites listed later in this article).

Step 4: Practice Planning and Writing Essays

You'll need to practice writing essays before taking the AP US History test so you feel comfortable with the time constraints and requirements. This is especially true for the Document-Based Question , which has a unique format.

After examining the problems with your essays from the original diagnostic test, practice your skills on additional free-response questions . For the sake of saving time, you don't necessarily need to write out entire essays, but you should at least make rough outlines that include all the components of a successful essay .

If you struggled a lot with time on your initial AP practice test, then we'd recommend going through another timed free-response section in full, so you can practice moving more quickly.

Step 5: Take a Second Full Practice Test

Once you've gotten more familiar with the APUSH material, take a second full AP practice test to assess your progress . If you find that you've improved to a satisfactory level, you might stop there and just do some light review until the exam.

If you're still not happy with your results, repeat this process , and make sure that you're really absorbing the material as you study.

3 Essential AP US History Study Tips

The following tips for AP US History will help you make the most of your time as you work your way through the process outlined above. The APUSH exam assesses your historical knowledge differently than other tests you might have taken in the past do. Make sure your study methods lend themselves to the format!

#1: Make Thematic Connections

The ultimate goal of AP US History is for you to be able to connect individual events to the main themes of the course and draw conclusions about historical trends based on your analysis.

As you study, don't just look at events in isolation— e xamine how they relate to other events of the time and how they might've resulted from different cultural and political attitudes . What were the outcomes of particular events, and how and why did they feed into other, larger trends?

Ask yourself to dig deeper. Doing so help you on both in-class assessments and the AP test.

#2: Read and Repeat

When you read content notes for AP US History, you might think you have a fact committed to memory but forget it when it appears on a test. The best way to combat this is to pause every couple of minutes and try to remember the facts that you just reviewed without looking back at your notes ; you'll immediately know whether you're absorbing the information or not.

If you're having trouble remembering a particular fact, try to make a distinctive connection with something else that's easier to remember.

For example, say you were trying to remember which items were taxed by the Townshend Acts. (It was glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea.) You could think of the mnemonic GuLPP iT to remember them. It also makes sense because all the taxes were repealed except for the one on tea, which you can gulp!

Maybe this sounds super weird, but we often find that the weirder the method of remembering something is, the more likely it will stick in your mind .

#3: Practice Writing Essay Questions

The free-response section is the biggest challenge on the AP US History exam because you have to plan and write two coherent essays (one DBQ and one Long Essay) in less than two hours. It's imperative that you do lots of practice before the AP test to prevent your essays from being disorganized or lacking in focus. You can consult the College Board site for links to past AP US History free-response questions .

Make sure you always have a strong thesis statement and all the points in your essay relate directly back to it. Plan out your essay before you start writing to keep yourself on track.

You should also t ry to include relevant outside knowledge but only if it pertains directly to your argument and the question itself. Don't just spew out everything you know about the topic!

AP US History Course Content: Themes and Units

AP US History covers history in what is now the United States from 1491 to the present. There are eight main themes in the course separated into nine units, or time periods. For each of these themes, we'll go over the main historical topics associated with it.

Before that, though, here's a quick overview of the AP US History units and what percentage of the AP exam they each make up:

Source: 2019-20 AP US History Course and Exam Description

Theme 1: American and National Identity

Focuses on how and why definitions of American and national identity and values have developed among the diverse and changing population of North America as well as on related topics, such as citizenship, constitutionalism, foreign policy, assimilation, and American exceptionalism.

Theme 2: Work, Exchange, and Technology

Focuses on the factors behind the development of systems of economic exchange, particularly the role of technology, economic markets, and government.

Theme 3: Geography and the Environment

Focuses on the role of geography and both the natural and human-made environments in the social and political developments in what would become the United States.

Theme 4: Migration and Settlement

Focuses on why and how the various people who moved to and within the United States both adapted to and transformed their new social and physical environments.

Theme 5: Politics and Power

Focuses on how different social and political groups have influenced society and government in the United States and how political beliefs and institutions have changed over time.

Theme 6: America in the World

Focuses on the interactions between nations that affected North American history in the colonial period and on the influence of the United States on world affairs.

Theme 7: American and Regional Culture

Focuses on the how and why national, regional, and group cultures developed and changed as well as how culture has shaped government policy and the economy.

Theme 8: Social Structures

Focuses on how and why systems of social organization develop and change as well as the impact that these systems have on the broader society.

AP US History Content: Notes and Outlines

In this section, we'll give you notes on the AP US History course content so you can study the facts and connect them to the themes above.

The content is divided into nine units and historical periods. Under each time period, we'll list important topics with links to notes you can use. Every period also includes a link to at least one timeline of significant events. It's helpful to have these handy, so you get a better grasp of the chronology (which will be very helpful for free-response questions).

The timelines are from AP Study Notes , while the rest of the notes are from a different site called APnotes.net , which gives a more succinct overview of the content, with key dates and major events in bold. Overall, this resource is great for a quick review.

We recommend looking at the chapter outlines on AP Study Notes  to see a longer, more detailed description of historical trends and events in the United States.

Period 1: 1491-1607

• Timeline of Significant Events (1650 and earlier)
• "New World" beginnings
• Early English settlement

Period 2: 1607-1754

• Timeline of Significant Events (1650-1750)
• Settlement of the Northern colonies
• American life in the 17th century
• Colonial society leading up to the Revolution
• The fight for control of North America

Period 3: 1754-1800

• Timeline of Significant Events (1750-1775)
• The road to the American Revolution
• Timeline of Significant Events (1775-1800)
• Seceding from the British Empire
• The Confederation and the Constitution
• Starting up a new government

Period 4: 1800-1848

• Timeline of Significant Events (1800-1825)
• The Jeffersonian Republic
• Nationalism and the second war for independence
• Formation of a national economy
• Timeline of Significant Events (1825-1850)
• The rise of a mass democracy
• The ferment of reform and culture
• Controversy over slavery

Period 5: 1844-1877

• Timeline of Significant Events (1850-1875)
• Manifest destiny and its legacy
• The sectional struggle
• Leading up to the Civil War
• Civil War Part 1
• Civil War Part 2
• Reconstruction

Period 6: 1865-1898

• Timeline of Significant Events (1875-1900)
• Politics in the Gilded Age
• Industrial progress
• Development of cities
• Agricultural revolution and the West
• American imperialism

Period 7: 1890-1945

• Timeline of Significant Events (1900-1920)
• America on the world stage
• Progressivism and Theodore Roosevelt's presidency
• Wilsonian progressivism at home and abroad
• World War I
• Timeline of Significant Events (1920-1940)
• The Roaring Twenties
• Economic Boom and Bust
• The Great Depression and the New Deal
• FDR Presidency and the Road to WW2
• World War II

Period 8: 1945-1980

• Timeline of Significant Events (1940-1960)
• Start of the Cold War
• Eisenhower Era
• Timeline of Significant Events (1960-1970)
• Political and social unrest in the sixties
• Timeline of Significant Events (1970-1980)
• Stagnation in the seventies

Period 9: 1980-Present

• Timeline of Significant Events (1980-1990)
• Resurgence of Conservatism
• Clinton presidency and post-Cold War era
• Timeline of Significant Events (2000-Present)
• The start of the new century

Quick Reference Sheets

Here are some quick reference sheets you can use for further AP US History prep.

APUSH Teacher Creations

• Interactive timeline of major historical events in the US through 2015

CourseNotes

• Political parties in US History
• Important political documents in US History
• Important Supreme Court cases

Additional AP US History Resources to Test Your Knowledge

Here are some print and online resources you can use to review for the AP US History exam and smaller portions of the curriculum throughout the school year.

AP US History Review Books

Though not free, AP prep books can be excellent resources for your prep. Here are a few books we recommend getting your hands on :

• The Princeton Review's Cracking the AP US History Exam, 2022 Premium Edition
• Kaplan's AP US History Prep Plus 2020 & 2021
• REA's AP US History Crash Course for the 2020 Exam, 5th Edition

Read our full article on the best review books for APUSH for more details and advice!

Official College Board Materials

The following AP US History practice questions come directly from the College Board, so they're the most accurate representations of what you can expect on the actual test. Try to save these resources for later in your studying to get an accurate reading of your strengths and weaknesses when you're about to take the exam.

Note that older materials (pre-2019) are not aligned with the current exam format , so you will have to tweak your prep a bit to make them work.

• 2020 AP US History Course and Exam Description
• 2017 APUSH Practice Exam
• APUSH Free-Response Questions, 2015-2020 and 2021

Get more guidance on how to use official practice resources in our collection of APUSH practice tests .

Unofficial Practice Materials

Although College Board materials are the gold standard when it comes to APUSH prep, there are some good-quality unofficial resources you can make use of, too. Here are the best ones.

Quizlet Flashcards and Quizzes

These student-created sets of flashcards cover every single aspect of AP US History. You can study different sets depending on where you are in the course or which areas need the most improvement. After studying the terms, you can play games to review them and test your factual recall!

Historyteacher.net Mini Practice Quizzes

This site offers mini practice quizzes for every topic covered in the APUSH course . There are multiple-choice questions as well as "short-answer" questions (you get a drop-down menu of 12 answer choices). These won't help much with the more analytical elements of the test, but if you want to test your knowledge of facts, they'll serve you well.

Albert.io AP US History Practice Quizzes

Albert provides a series of quizzes on every topic in the current APUSH curriculum. As you go through them, the site gives you stats showing how you performed on questions of varying difficulty levels . This should help you figure out whether you've truly mastered the material.

Practice Quizzes for The American Pageant , 12th Edition

This helpful site contains chapter-by-chapter practice quizzes based on an old edition of The American Pageant APUSH textbook. Questions are multiple choice and true/false. This resource is more helpful for factual recall than for analysis questions.

CourseNotes AP US History Practice Quizzes

CourseNotes offers a total of six pages of multiple-choice quizzes on all the topics you need to know for the AP US History exam. Nice!

Varsity Tutors AP US History Practice Quizzes

A well-known test-prep company, Varsity Tutors has short multiple-choice practice quizzes on every APUSH topic as well.

Matching and Multiple-Choice Short Practice Quizzes

This website has sets of matching and multiple-choice questions for every period in US History.

They've got questions; YOU'VE got answers!

Wrap-Up: Making the Most of This AP US History Study Guide

AP US History covers eight major themes across nine time periods. It's hard to study this much material, which is why it's good to have a game plan!

To recap, the steps we recommend taking for your APUSH prep are:

#1: Take a full practice test #2: Catalog your mistakes #3: Study relevant content areas and practice multiple-choice questions #4: Practice planning and writing essays #5: Take a second full practice test

You can repeat these steps as necessary depending on how much you need to improve. As you review, also keep a few key tips in mind:

• Make thematic connections
• Read and repeat
• Practice writing essays frequently

Use the AP US History notes and resources provided above to get yourself up to speed. Also, make sure to start studying for the final exam at least one or two months before test day, so you're not going to be forced to cram for it!

What's Next?

Want more practice with Document-Based Questions? We've got an in-depth article on the best resources for DBQs that you can use in your studying.

Need even more APUSH study materials? Check out our complete list of free AP US History practice tests .

You can also check out our complete study guide to the New York US History Regents Exam . If you take it right after the AP US History exam, you might not need to study much at all!

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Samantha is a blog content writer for PrepScholar. Her goal is to help students adopt a less stressful view of standardized testing and other academic challenges through her articles. Samantha is also passionate about art and graduated with honors from Dartmouth College as a Studio Art major in 2014. In high school, she earned a 2400 on the SAT, 5's on all seven of her AP tests, and was named a National Merit Scholar.

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AP U.S. History Notes

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Sample Essays

Use these sample AP U.S. History essays to get ideas for your own AP essays. These essays are examples of good AP-level writing.

1. The ‘50s and ‘60s: Decades of Prosperity and Protest (DBQ)

The 1950s were characterized as a prosperous and conformist decade for many reasons. The first and most widespread of these reasons was the development of the suburbs. As masses of Southern blacks migrated northward to the big cities, more rich and middle-class families left to live in the suburbs t...

2. American Foreign Policy: Isolationism to Interventionism (DBQ)

World War I had left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Americans; many believed that the U.S. had been tricked into joining the war for the wrong reasons, and they were determined to avoid making the same mistake twice. After the Great War, Americans were disappointed to realize that the war was ...

3. American Identity and Unity

Throughout the 17 and 18 centuries Americans developed a unique system of government with revolutionary ideals – never seen anywhere else before. Americans adopted representative governments with democratic principles that allowed each person to have a voice in the decisions about their countr...

4. Urbanization in the 19th Century U.S.A.

Cities attracted a diverse population composed of hundreds of ethnicities from around the globe. German and Scandinavian immigrants poured into America during the late 19 century, attracted by extravagant stories of the wonderful American lifestyle: three meals a day, freedom, and social equality. S...

5. Flip-Flopper Thomas Jefferson: From State’s Rights to Federalism

Throughout his early political career, Thomas Jefferson had always been a strong supporter of states’ rights and a major critic of Federalist policies. However, after being elected as President in 1801, Jefferson altered his earlier philosophy of government. Documents A and B show Jefferson&r...

6. Abraham Lincoln and the Struggle for Union and Emancipation (DBQ)

President Abraham Lincoln was faced with a monumental challenge during his two terms as Commander-in-chief of the United States: reuniting the shattered halves of the Union. This was his sole purpose in fighting the Civil War—nothing more, nothing less. However, Lincoln was flexible enough to ...

7. Roosevelt and the Revolutionary New Deal

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” was the ultimate reform movement, providing bold reform without bloodshed or revolution. Although many Americans criticized President Roosevelt for his “try anything” approach and wasteful spending, Roosevelt saved the Americ...

8. Agrarian Discontent in the Late 19th Century

Midwest farmers expressed further discontent with the U.S. government on the issue of taxes. During the Civil War, the U.S. government had increased taxes to raise revenue for the relentless war machine, but had neglected to lower them back down after the conflict had concluded. The high taxes and t...

9. Post-Civil War Reconstruction in the South

Even before the Civil War had concluded, Northern politicians were busy making Reconstruction plans for the Confederate States. Reconstruction—the process by which seceded states were to re-enter back into the Union—was a difficult process for the United States for two reasons. Firstly, ...

10. Winners and Losers in the American Revolution

The American Revolution was an important event for the North American continent because it affected so many differing parties. As in all conflicts, the American Revolution resulted in “winners” and “losers”. The Patriots were the obvious winners in the Revolution; they gained...

11. The Transformation of Colonial Virginia (DBQ)

During the time period between 1606 and 1700 hundreds of settlers flocked to the Virginia colony seeking riches – only to find hardship, and no gold. However, after many years, and much effort, the Virginians managed to secure a solid social and economic system that would eventually make Virgi...

12. The United States: A Date with Manifest Destiny

Since the first Puritan settlement of America by the Massachusetts Bay Colony (“City on a Hill”) to the United States’ current involvement in the affairs of foreign countries, it is clear that Americans find a need to spread their democratic ideals abroad. The idea of Manifest Dest...

13. Challenges to American Democracy: Trends and Similarities

American democracy has faced numerous challenges from the 1700s to modern day. However, the American dream has never faltered for a moment; even in the face of sure failure, and sure destruction, the United States has triumphed. The years 1805, 1905, and 2005 were no exception to this tradition; tho...

14. "Duck Soup" and American Beliefs in the 1930s

The Marx Brothers’ film was first released in 1933. At first, many critics deemed the film to be a commercial failure because its popularity paled in comparison to other Marx Brothers’ productions like , , and . Furthermore, many sensitive American audiences were offended at the rampant...

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AP® US History

How to answer ap® us history free response questions.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

Knowing how to answer AP® US History Free Response Questions is an art. If you’re looking for the best tips and tricks for writing APUSH FRQs, you’ve come to the right place.

In this article, we’ll review a five-step strategy to writing top-mark AP® US History free response answers, mistakes students often make on the APUSH FRQs, as well as go over a compiled set of tips and test taking tricks for you to incorporate into your responses. 

Keep reading to get the scoop on what you need to know when it comes to maximizing your limited AP® US History exam review time.

What We Review

5 Steps on How to Write Effective AP® US History Free Responses

Here, we’ll review a five-step strategy for you to start writing AP® US History free response answers that will score you maximum possible points. 

1. Master the three different rubrics for the AP® US History SAQ, DBQ, and LEQ. 

The biggest mistake a student can make when it comes to preparing for AP® US History is never truly understanding how they’re going to be graded. This leads to scattered responses that do not provide the specificity that translates to points on the exam. 

To solve this, you’ll want to go to the College Board’s AP® Central website and navigate to the previously released exams for APUSH:

Here is the link for AP® US History past released exams

Open up the scoring guidelines PDF. These guidelines outline how points were distributed on that particular year’s exams. 

Here’s a screenshot from the first question of the 2019 released exam:

Source: College Board

From the above, you’d see that the first SAQ was worth three points, and each point was awarded for successfully completing the task asked within the question. After reviewing a few of these questions, you’d start to notice the level of specificity the graders require in order to earn points.  For example here you can see that in order to adequately describe the differences between the two sources’ historical interpretations, students had to explicitly state the positions of both authors.

As you familiarize yourself with each type of question, you’ll start to notice the College Board always uses a predictable set of directive words in their questions. We’ll cover that later in this post.

For now, be sure to review the last two years worth of released exam scoring guidelines so you can begin to understand how SAQs, DBQs, and LEQs are scored.

2. Underline or circle every bolded and capitalized word in the question prompt.

Now that we know how points are broadly distributed, we need to have a test taking system when reading and preparing for our responses.

As you can see in the above, the first SAQ of the 2019 AP® US History exam was assessing students’ abilities to describe and explain. In the majority of SAQs, you’ll be asked to describe or explain a response to stimuli. 

For DBQs and LEQs, you’ll be asked one of three essay types: compare, change and continuity over time, or causation. This is commonly phrased using the directive words, “evaluate the extent of…”.

It’s easy to circle or underline the key phrases that you’re being asked to respond to. 

There are two “key phrases” to commit to memory when it comes to AP® US History short answer questions:

That’s it. If you review the last several years worth of released exams, these are the most commonly used directive words for the short answer question section of APUSH. 

If you aren’t sure what these words are asking you for, keep reading.

When the exam asks you to describe something, you need to tell them about what they’re asking. This doesn’t mean you need to explain the “why” — it just means you need to talk about what the topic is and the characteristics of the topic being asked.

When you’re asked to explain something, this is where you need to show the “why”. You need to be able to give 3-5 sentences with an example in most cases to earn credit for these questions.

After you’ve identified the key directive words, make sure you take note on how many examples you need to provide in your response. Sometimes students go above and beyond in their response, but what they don’t realize is that if they give more than what was asked, the reader will move on after the student reaches what the question has asked (i.e. the question asks you to describe one thing and you state three; in this case, only the first is considered for your score). 

One of our favorite test taking tips is to make a tick mark or star next to the words you’ve circled or underlined after you’ve answered it in your free response. This gives you a visual way to ensure you’ve answered all parts of the question.

It can be so easy to not answer the question that’s being asked of you. 

Aside from describe and explain, here are other potential directive words the College Board may give you for AP® US History:

• Compare : Talk about similarities and/or differences.
• Evaluate : Determine how important information or the quality/accuracy of a claim is.
• Identify : Give information about a specific topic, without elaboration or explanation.
• Support an argument : Give specific examples and explain how they support a thesis. 

3. Plan your response BEFORE beginning to write your response.

When the College Board shared their favorite AP® US History exam tips , they put this at the very top of their considerations. They describe that it’s common for students begin writing responses immediately and as a result, students create poorly planned responses that are disconnected. 

Remember, the FRQ is intended to test your ability to connect the dots of what you’ve learned in class to historical thinking skills. The crucial skill is being able to identify evidence, and connect it to a historically defensible thesis as part of your historical analysis. 

To do so elegantly, you must plan out your response before you begin writing. 

Here’s what we suggest: read the question once to circle the directive words. Then read it a second time to ensure your understanding of what’s being asked. If needed, read the question a third time and think about how you’d word the question in your own words. 

Craft a clear thesis statement. An easy way to do so is with the “although A, XYZ, therefore” model. We go over this in our tips section below. Ask yourself, is my thesis defensible? Can I agree or disagree with it? 

Then, think about what evidence you can bring in to respond to the question — how does this evidence connect back to your thesis? Do not leave it to your reader to infer what you mean when you include certain supporting evidence. 

This process will help you start to think through what you’re actually answering and how you’ll answer the “why” based questions. It’ll also help you avoid simply restating the question without adding any direct response to the question (what is known as a historically defensible thesis or a thesis with a clear line of reasoning). 

4. Remember that AP® US History DBQs and LEQs require you to demonstrate four key skills: formation of a thesis, contextualization, sourcing, and complexity. SAQs should directly respond to what’s being asked. 

For short answer questions in AP® US History, you do not need to write an essay to score all the possible points. There is no need for an introduction, thesis, or conclusion on these questions.

For the DBQ and LEQs, scoring is clearly outlined on a respective seven and six point scale. 

For the DBQ, you need to be able to: 

• State a defensible claim or thesis that responds to the prompt and establishes a clear line of reasoning. 
• Contextualize your response in the broader historical context (for APUSH, it’s typically demonstrating knowledge of the last 50-100 years prior to the time period asked in the prompt). 
• You earn one point for using content from at least three documents to address the prompt and two points for using six documents as well as supporting an argument in response to the prompt. 
• You earn an additional point for bringing in at least one piece of outside specific historical evidence beyond what has been provided. 
• For analysis, students must source at least three documents discussing the author’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience in relation to the thesis as well as illustrate a complex understanding of historical development to incorporate nuance into their response.

What this means is that as long as you cover all the points outlined above clearly, you can score a perfect score on the AP® US History DBQ. 

For the LEQ, much is the same in the core rubric in terms of needing a thesis, providing contextualization, and analysis. For evidence, there is not a requirement for additional evidence beyond what is provided since that’s the entire point of the evidence section in crafting a long answer question response. 

When you’re going through your mental checklist of whether you’ve demonstrated these skills, ask yourself if you’ve “closed the loop”. This is a test taking strategy the College Board promotes across multiple disciplines and with good reason — it challenges a student to demonstrate they can form a coherent argument. Closing the loop in AP® US History can mean using words like “because” or “therefore” to help bridge two concepts together and solve for the “why” this matters.

5. Practice, practice, and then practice some more. 

The nice thing about AP® free response sections is that they’re generally pretty predictable to prepare for. Ultimately they come down to knowing how you’re going to be assessed, and learning how to craft responses that match those criteria. 

When you start preparing, try a set of released questions and then have your friend grade your responses with the scoring guidelines. See how you might have done without any intentional practice. 

Then, review your mistakes, log them in your study journal and begin to tackle the areas where you’re weakest. Typically students struggle most with the evidence and analysis sections of the APUSH exam. 

After a few times of doing this, you’ll have a stronger intuition towards the test and feel more confident heading into test day.

Return to the Table of Contents

37 AP® US History FRQ Tips to Scoring a 4 or 5

Now that we’ve gone over the 5-step process to writing good APUSH free responses, we can shift gears to tackle some test taking tips and tricks to maximizing your FRQ scores. 

We recommend you review these several weeks, and then days before your exam to keep them top of mind. 

15 AP® US History Short Answer Question Tips

• Answer the question.
• Cite your supporting evidence.
• Explain how your evidence proves your point. 
• Focus much of your prep time on the E in ACE . Students often are not effective at earning the point for explaining because they simply restate a fact and fail to show how that fact supports comparison, causation, or continuity and change over time. 
• Practice demonstrating comprehension of historical excerpts by working on sharing ideas from different sources in your own words. Review both primary and secondary sources.
• Practice supporting your main points of your thesis, and then practice supporting your minor points and details. 
• Be specific in your responses to questions. It is not enough to say for example that “something changed”. What changed, how did it change and what might have prompted that change?
• One of the easiest ways to bridge two concepts is to use words like “because” or “therefore” and then proceed to answer the “why this matters”. Always double check that your answer addresses the how and the why — this is a good gut check for whether or not you’ve been specific enough. 
• To help you score points in demonstrating your historical reasoning skills, use words like whereas, in contrast to, or likewise when drawing comparisons.
• Think of short answer questions as pop quiz drills, rather than full essays. There is no need for having a thesis in each SAQ response. 
• Stick to the right time period and review your chronology. Sometimes students bring in irrelevant information from outside the time period being asked in the SAQ. More recently this happened in 2019 where students brought in information about women’s history that was not relevant to the time period asked. 
• When presented with a stimulus such as an image to interpret, be sure that your reference to key concepts from class ties back to that stimulus. For example, “this image demonstrates the historical concept of CONCEPT, which was DEFINITION. This can be seen by the DESCRIPTION OF HOW THE IMAGE RELATES to the CONCEPT.”.
• Pennsylvania and Maryland are not part of the New England colonies!
• Know your key definitions with specificity. For example, it’s not enough to only state that the New Deal and Great Society programs helped the economy. To earn points, you must distinguish how the New Deal focused on America’s economy after the Great Depression to combat unemployment while the Great Society focused on social supports via Medicare and Medicaid to support Americans. 
• Review your wars and presidents before, during and after key wars. Students have often confused things between WWI and WWII or between the Korean and Vietnam wars. 
• Do not use the outcomes of a government program to describe a difference. Just because one program for example was successful while another was not does not demonstrate that you’ve mastered the content knowledge. 
• For example, just because a primary source demonstrates something about a particular group of people doesn’t mean it necessarily applies to that entire geographic region. There is often nuance, which is why we study history!

17 AP® US History Document Based Questions (DBQ) Tips

• X is your counterargument or counterpoint
• ABC are your strongest supporting points for your argument.
• And Y is your argument.
• If you don’t like the above formula, another common way to form a thesis is to use the word “because” — the claims you make after you state “because” will be your argument. 
• Cover your contextualization point in the introduction of your essay. The easiest way to do this is to discuss what was happening 50-100 years before your prompt and its relation to your thesis. 
• In document 1, XYZ
• In document 2, XYZ
• Be sure to have clear topic sentences that relate back to your thesis. This helps you avoid document listing without direction in your essay. 
• It’s not enough to just describe the content of the documents.You need to relate what’s going on in the documents to your thesis. Students lose points here for failing to include clear arguments or claims in relation back to their thesis. 
• XYZ, therefore ABC
• XYZ is the description of the document
• ABC is the implication and support of how what you described relates to your thesis. 
• Many students struggle with author purpose and point of view. Practice articulating what you believe to be the intention of the authors of documents and connecting it back to your argument. Don’t just say “the author has this point of view”.
• Continuity and Change Over Time : You should include at least one “however” statement at the end of every body paragraph. Example: XYZ changed…; however, one continuity was ABC…”
• Compare/Contrast : You should include a similarity and difference at the end of every body paragraph: “XYZ similarities…however, one difference was ABC…”
• Cause/Effect: Have at least one therefore statement at the end of each body paragraph. “XYZ happened….therefore, ABC consequence of XYZ happening”
• Sourcing is earned when specificity and significance is included in discussing historical context, audience, purpose, or point of view. You don’t earn it by making general statements. 
• When sourcing, you only need to use one of the skills for each document you source. Don’t feel the need to go over historical context, audience, purpose, and point of view for every single document you are trying to earn sourcing for. 
• Source at least four or five documents to be safe, in case you’re wrong in one of your interpretations. 
• Be sure to incorporate a few examples of historical evidence from each decade from beyond the documents you’re given — this is worth a full point on your DBQ. 
• When you incorporate outside evidence, make sure it’s from the same period  you’re writing about. Chronology and time periods are important! 
• It’s more than just including the word “however” to qualify an argument. It’s considering the broader picture and implications.
• It can also be demonstrated in the form of illustrating contradictions between documents or historical events in relation to the thesis.
• The College Board rubric describes this as “explaining relevant and insightful connections within and across periods”
• The College Board describes this as “explaining both similarity and difference”
• If you’re writing about causation, discuss the effects.
• If you want another way to earn this point, you can earn it by applying your argument to another time period and drawing a connection. If you do this, keep in mind you must apply your entire argument to another time period.
• A few possible stems to signal to your grader you are attempting complexity is to say use one of the following phrases: another time, another view, or another way.

5 AP® US History Long Essay Questions (LEQ) Tips

• Your thesis does not need to just be limited to the model of addressing economic, social and political issues. Students have often overused this format when they could be better off understanding core AP® US History themes and how they relate to the question being asked. 
• Make sure you know your time periods. Students often lose points when it comes to evidence because they bring in concepts that are outside the scope of the time period or region. Chronology is important across the entire AP® US History exam. 
• Review the causes of key events and how the occurrence of key events impacted society over time. For example, what was fought for in women’s rights before Roe v. Wade, what led to it happening, and what were the outcomes from the case happening going forward in relation to women’s rights?
• Show the “why” of the evidence you’re providing. It’s not enough just to mention a concept. Explain to the reader why you are including that concept or evidence and relate it back to your thesis. Evidence should further your argument. 
• If you’re answering a continuity and change over time question, make sure you also discuss continuity. Students often only talk about change over time.

Wrapping Things Up: How to Write AP® US History FRQs

Whoa! We’ve reviewed a ton of information in this AP® US History FRQ review guide. At this time, you should have an actionable 5-step plan for your FRQ prep as well a 37 test taking tips to prepare with.

Putting everything together, here are a few key things to remember: 

• Students who excel on the AP® US History free response section do so because they understand how they’re being graded. Master the rubrics. Understand how and when points are awarded and not rewarded. There are tons of previously released exams to help you here.
• Follow a regular system for responding to each question. Whether it’s our approach of identifying the directive word, planning and then writing while checking off after you’ve answered each part of the prompt, have a methodology in the way you craft responses. 
• Remember the ACE acronym for SAQs: answer the question, cite your evidence, and explain how your evidence proves your point. 
• Focus your time on chronology, time periods and course themes. This will help you write within the scope of the time period given in each question and not lose points by mistakenly incorporating something outside of the time period being asked. 
• Review commonly tested AP® US History topics. Review the curriculum and exam description to see the percentage breakdown of different units. Units 3 through 8 are always more important for the exam than Units 1-2, and 9. 
• Make sure your thesis includes a clear line of reasoning. Remember the model: Although X, ABC, therefore Y.
• Always “close the loop”. Use words such as “because” or “therefore” to bridge two concepts together and solve for the “why” this matters. 

We hope you’ve found this FRQ guide helpful for your AP® US History exam review. 

If you’re looking for more free response questions or multiple choice questions, check out our website for more valuable exam prep! Albert has hundreds of original standards-aligned practice questions for you with detailed explanations to help you learn by doing.

If you found this post helpful, you may also like our AP® US History tips here or our AP® US History score calculator here .

We also have an AP® US History review guide here .

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For highly selective schools, the competition is intense, with many applicants having outstanding academic records and test scores. These institutions, such as the Ivies, MIT, and Stanford, typically accept only 5%-10% of applicants. In this context, a great essay becomes a critical differentiator that can significantly boost your chances of getting selected among similarly qualified candidates. A well-crafted essay that vividly describes your unique experiences can make a strong impression. While a poor essay can harm an otherwise strong application, an excellent essay alone usually won't secure admission without solid academic credentials. However, for those who meet the high academic standards, an exceptional essay can be the factor that sets you apart.

What Do Colleges Look For in an Essay From Applicants?

Essentially, colleges seek attributes that align with their values and contribute positively to their campus community. 

This includes intelligence, strong communication skills, ambition, creativity, proactivity, and a genuine interest in personal growth and education. These qualities are crucial because they reflect a student's potential to enrich the college environment. Admissions officers, who read countless essays each season, are looking for a unique perspective, compelling storytelling, and an authentic voice that engages them emotionally and intellectually. A standout essay, one that feels like a genuine conversation, can significantly enhance your chances of receiving that coveted acceptance letter.

Writing a Stand Out College Essay for College Applications

The college essay is a chance for applicants to go beyond their grades and activities and show who they really are. It's about sharing personal stories of growth and discovery that make them unique. 

Instead of sounding academic, it's important to write in a way that feels genuine and true to oneself. Before starting, it helps to reflect on questions like what makes them stand out and what they hope to achieve in college. The essay shouldn't just repeat what's on their resume but should focus on a specific, meaningful story or lesson that highlights their character and goals. 

Colleges value initiative and ambition, so essays should showcase actions taken and personal growth achieved. Whether reflecting on overcoming challenges or exploring moments of significant personal development, the essay should provide a deeper understanding of who the applicant is and what they can contribute to the college community.

Using Stories to Show, Not Just Tell in Your College Essay

When writing your college essay, remember to show rather than just tell. This means using specific examples and anecdotes instead of general statements. 

Admissions officers read many essays, so details and stories make your essay more memorable. Instead of listing activities, focus on sharing stories that show your personal growth and emotions. This approach not only makes your essay more engaging but also helps admissions officers understand your unique qualities and experiences better.

Tips for Structuring Your College Essay

When crafting your college essay, it's crucial to write with your reader in mind. Make sure your ideas flow logically from one paragraph to the next, using transitions to help guide them through your thoughts. 

Make sure your essay looks neat with readable fonts, proper margins, and clear dialogue formatting. Starting with good grammar and clear sentences sets a professional tone and shows you pay attention to details. Strong essays are also free of grammar and spelling mistakes, which shows you care about quality. Focus on including only important information that supports your main point, and avoid adding unnecessary details.

Check that your essay makes sense and has a clear beginning, middle, and end. Provide enough background information without making your writing too long. Be yourself and avoid exaggerating or downplaying your experiences. Share your strengths and how you've grown honestly. Instead of focusing too much on past challenges, emphasize how you've overcome them and how they've shaped your future goals.

Seek feedback from a diverse group of individuals—teachers, family members, and friends—to gain varied perspectives. Listen carefully to each person's interpretation of your essay. Revise any confusing parts based on their feedback. Keep in mind that admissions committees are made up of different people, each with their own viewpoints that can affect your application. However, limit feedback to two or three trusted sources to avoid overwhelming yourself with conflicting opinions from multiple biases.

And remember, you don’t have to navigate the application essay process alone; there are many universities and nonprofits that offer numerous online resources. At 7EDU, we provide free blogs and webinars on college admissions, including topics like essay writing, to support your application journey.

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How much do you need to know about how your spouse spends money? Maybe less than you think

Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Michigan

Disclosure statement

Scott Rick received a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation for the joint/separate account experiment described here.

University of Michigan provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation US.

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Love is in the air, and wedding season is upon us.

Like many elder millennials, I grew up watching sitcoms in the 1980s and ‘90s. Whenever those series needed a ratings boost, they would feature a wedding. Those special episodes taught me that weddings usually involve young lovebirds: think Elvin and Sondra from “The Cosby Show,” Cory and Topanga from “Boy Meets World,” or David and Darlene from “Roseanne.”

But those were different times. People are getting married later in life than they used to: In the United States, the median age of newlyweds has grown to 28 for women and 30 for men.

This trend means that many Americans now enter marriage after being self-reliant for several years, including managing their own money. Will they be eager to change that once they get married? Don’t count on it. A 2017 Bank of America survey suggests that millennial married couples are around 15 percentage points more likely than their predecessors to keep their finances separate.

This is not necessarily a good development. As a behavioral scientist who studies money and relationships , I find that joint accounts can bring partners closer .

There are some risks, however. Joint accounts create transparency, and intuitively, transparency feels like a good thing in relationships. But I argue that some privacy is important even for highly committed couples – and money is no exception .

The newlywed game

Behavioral scientists Jenny Olson , Deb Small , Eli Finkel and I recently conducted an experiment with engaged and newlywed couples . Each of the pairs had entirely separate accounts, but they were undecided about how they wanted to manage their money moving forward.

We randomly assigned each of the 230 couples to one of three groups. One group kept their money in separate accounts; one merged their cash into a joint account and stopped using separate accounts; and one managed their money however they liked.

We followed couples for two years, periodically asking them to complete surveys assessing their relationship dynamics and satisfaction. Our relationship quality measure included items such as “I cannot imagine another person making me as happy as my partner does” and “Within the last three months, I shouted or yelled at my partner.”

Among the couples who could do whatever they wanted, most kept things separate. They and the couples assigned to keep separate accounts experienced a steady decline in relationship quality over time.

This is a fairly typical pattern. For instance, in a large study that tracked U.S. couples’ marital happiness for 17 years , sociologist Jody Van Laningham and colleagues found that “marital happiness either declines continuously or flattens after a long period of decline.”

Declines during the first two years of marriage are particularly important. Social scientist Ted Huston and colleagues call those first two years the “connubial crucible .” They find that relationship dynamics that develop during that crucial period can foreshadow relationship quality for many years to come.

Couples in our study who were prompted to take the plunge into a joint account, however, maintained their initial level of relationship satisfaction over the course of the two-year experiment.

Tit-for-tat

Our survey results suggest that, by turning “my money” and “your money” into “our money,” a joint account can help to reduce scorekeeping within a relationship. For example, we found that couples with joint accounts were more likely to agree with statements such as “When one person does something for the other, the other should not owe the giver anything.”

Relationships usually don’t start with a scorekeeping orientation. In the 1980s and ‘90s, psychologist Margaret Clark and colleagues conducted experiments where partners had the option of keeping track of each other’s contributions to a shared task. They observed that intimate relationships often begin with a “communal” orientation, where partners help one another without keeping careful track of who’s doing what.

Eventually, however, they take on more of an “exchange” orientation – where inputs are tracked and timely reciprocity is expected. Couples that manage to stave off a tit-for-tat mindset tend to be happier .

Too much of a good thing?

The data from our experiment with young couples clearly suggests that using only a joint account is better than using only separate accounts. However, I argue in my new book, “ Tightwads and Spendthrifts ,” that just a joint account is probably not optimal.

When partners use only a joint account, they get an up-close-and-personal view of how the other person is spending money. This kind of transparency is normally viewed as a good thing.

Some commentators argue that a healthy marriage should have no secrets whatsoever. For example, Willard Harley, Jr., a clinical psychologist who primarily writes for Christian audiences, argues that you should “reveal to your spouse as much information about yourself as you know : your thoughts, feelings, habits, likes, dislikes, personal history, daily activities, and plans for the future.”

In addition, if your goal is to minimize optional spending, research suggests that the transparency that comes with a joint account can be helpful. We spend less when someone is looking over our shoulder.

Still, there are reasons to believe that complete transparency can be harmful for couples .

Many people have become convinced that if they could just stop buying lattes and avocado toast, they could invest that money and become rich. Unfortunately, the underlying math is highly dubious, as journalist Helaine Olen points out in her book “Pound Foolish .” Still, many people view small indulgences as their primary obstacle to wealth. Complete transparency around these financially inconsequential “treats” can lead to unnecessary arguments .

Also, spouses may have different passions that their partner does not fully understand. Expenses that seem perfectly reasonable to another hobbyist may seem outrageous to someone without the proper context – another source of avoidable disagreements .

'Translucent,’ not transparent

I propose that many couples may benefit from a combination of joint and separate accounts.

A joint account is essential for ensuring that both partners have immediate and equal access to “our money.” Ideally, all income would be direct-deposited into the joint account, which would help to blur the gap between partners’ earnings. Conspicuous income differences can jeopardize relationship quality .

Separate accounts attached to the joint account can allow some privacy for individual purchases and help partners maintain a sense of autonomy and individuality. Each person gets to spend some of “our money” without their partner looking over their shoulder. Spouses would have a high-level understanding of how much their partner is spending per week or per month, but avoid the occasionally irritating details.

This kind of partial financial transparency – what I call “financial translucency ” – could help couples strike the right balance between financial and psychological well-being.

Of course, this approach requires a lot of trust. If the relationship is already on thin ice, complete financial transparency may be necessary. However, if the relationship is generally in the “good, but could be even better” category, I would argue that financial translucency is worth considering.

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• Bank accounts
• Personal finance
• Behavioral science
• Ethical question

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Undergraduate Admission

Application requirements & enhancements.

Our admission counselors review each application carefully, taking into consideration your academic background, life experiences and interests. We don’t have a minimum test score or GPA range to gauge your potential for admission, but there are some things that can make you a stronger candidate.

Required for admission consideration

We look for students who have been successful in a variety of challenging courses, especially those that are above and beyond what’s required for graduation. And we understand every school is different, so we evaluate your transcript specifically against your high school's curriculum.

Prior to high school graduation, we require you to complete a minimum of:

• English: 4 years
• Math: 3 years
• Science: 3 years (2 must be laboratory science)
• Social studies: 3 years
• Foreign language: 2 years

If you're interested in engineering or the sciences, we recommend an additional year of math and laboratory science. Leaning more toward the liberal arts? We’d suggest another year of social studies and foreign language.

Application essay

All first-year students must complete an essay via the Common App or Coalition with Scoir. What you share in your essay is completely up to you—it should be about conveying who you are to the admission staff. No matter the topic, personalize it. Add a part of you into the piece, and make it genuine.

Arts Supplement Required for music majors and those who are pursing a Arts Achievement Scholarship in either music or art studio

Applicants who are required to submit an Arts Supplement will see this required checklist item on their applicant status portal. Students must upload their portfolio materials using the portfolio updater prior to completing the Arts Supplement. You can access the portfolio uploader by logging into your applicant portal using your CWRU Network ID and clicking Edit Portfolio.

The Arts Supplement is optional for all other applicants. (More on that below.)

Opportunities to enhance your application

We understand there may be more you want to share with us than can fit neatly on the Common App or Coalition with Scoir. Though not required as part of their application, some students choose to share additional information that may possibly strengthen their application and help us get to know them better. We welcome you to share such information with us.

Optional ways to enhance your application include the following:

Test-optional policy

Case Western Reserve University is test-optional.  Read about our test-optional policy .

We “superscore” our students’ test results, which means we take your best scores on each section of the SAT and ACT. If you took a test more than once, you will be evaluated on the highest score you received in each individual section of the exam.

Here’s a look at admitted student statistics for the Class of 2025:

Middle 50% 

• SAT Total: 1420-1510
• ACT Composite: 32-35
• Unweighted GPA: 3.6–4.0
• Test optional: 42%

Ordinarily, scores for standardized tests taken in November of your senior year arrive in time for Early Action or Early Decision I deadlines, and scores for tests taken in January arrive in time for Early Decision II or Regular Decision consideration.

To ensure your application can be fully reviewed in time for your chosen decision plan, you should take tests by the following dates:

• Nov. 30 : Early Action, Early Decision I and Pre-Professional Scholars Program applicants
• Dec. 31 : Early Decision II and Regular Decision applicants

Share your talents

Arts Supplements are required for music and music education majors and available to all applicants. If you intend to submit an arts supplement, be sure to indicate this on your application.

The arts supplement is due 15 days after the application deadline and can be completed via your applicant portal .  For detailed information:

Scholarship Audition and Portfolio Requirements

• Prepare two contrasting monologues, one Shakespeare and one contemporary, not to exceed a total time of four minutes. You may also prepare 16 bars of any song, but this is not required. If possible, please present a headshot and resume at the audition.

A portfolio presentation is needed for the directing concentration. Your portfolio should consist of the following:

• A one-page resume documenting your theater experience (directing, acting, playwriting, design, stage management, etc.).
• A one- to two- page director’s concept for a published play or musical that you would be interested in directing, detailing your vision for the show (characters, moods and tones, visual aspects) in addition to what you would want the audience to take away from the production in terms of its central themes and ideas.
• Production photos from previous projects you have directed (if applicable, not required).
• You should be prepared to speak about your interest and passion for directing as well as your previous directing and/or theater experience.

Dramatic Writing/Playwriting

• Submit a 20-page sample of your work in either playwriting or screenwriting (or both) at least one week before the interview date. This can include either an excerpt from a full-length work or a combination of shorter pieces, such as 10-minute plays or short-film scripts. While dramatic writing is preferred, you may also submit other examples of your creative writing, such as short stories, poetry, essays, etc.

Stage Management

• Bring your stage management binders, copies of scripts you have worked on (with cues written in), paperwork related to the show, and any other evidence of skills related to stage management such as organization, managing/coordinating large groups of people, multitasking and communication.
• A one-page resume of experience in theater is required. You may also include experience in a related field, such as art, architecture, graphics or photography. Additionally, a statement of intent—even if that statement is exploratory—should be provided. Other materials may include a portfolio demonstrating skills in theater (renderings, sketches, paperwork, scale drawings, production photos, etc.) and related areas (artwork, photography, drawing, drafting, computer graphics, etc.). The portfolio may be in scrapbook format. Art projects or model-making could substitute or be included with the other requirements. The material should be organized into some kind of cohesive presentation, with identifying labels for references. The interviewer will retain a copy of your resume but will not keep your portfolio. Portfolio is for presentation purposes only.
• Submit a video and complete an online questionnaire for pre-screening by dance department faculty. The video submission should be 90 seconds to three minutes in length, and you should be clearly visible. Do not submit ensemble footage. Video may be from technique class or performance.
• Submit a portfolio PowerPoint consisting of 24 pieces of your work. Each image credit line should include the name of the piece, the dimensions, the material, media and the date completed. (For example: Self-Portrait, 18” x 24”, media soft pastel on paper, fall 2021.) If you are showing three-dimensional work, i.e. sculpture or pottery, you may want to show two different views, front and side, etc. You may also want to choose to photograph a specific detail.
• Autobiography : A short (250-word) essay, citing your course of study in the visual arts. Include any special out-of-school activities, i.e., art camp, working as a teaching assistant doing creative activities, or private art lessons. Describe both your junior high and high school art experiences, courses that you took, and subjects that you studied.
• Program of study : A separate, short (250-word) essay of what you hope to gain participating in our program in Art History and Art. You may want to consult the Art History and Art website for courses that are available for you to take.

Tell us more about yourself

Additional materials can be shared through a form on your applicant portal. You can use this opportunity to share videos, web links, PDFs, documents, photos and more.

Some students use this as an opportunity to add additional context to their application with materials like:

• Additional letters of recommendation
• Research abstracts
• ACT writing tests
• Schoolhouse.world tutor transcripts
• Predicted IB results
• Though not all may be eligible for college credit at CWRU, these test scores can still enhance your application. You can send scores directly to us or self-report them via your portal.

Anything you have that can help us know you better and understand the contributions you can make to our campus are welcome and appreciated.  

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Nicholas Kristof

What Have We Liberals Done to the West Coast?

By Nicholas Kristof

Opinion Columnist, reporting from Portland, Ore.

As Democrats make their case to voters around the country this fall, one challenge is that some of the bluest parts of the country — cities on the West Coast — are a mess.

Centrist voters can reasonably ask: Why put liberals in charge nationally when the places where they have greatest control are plagued by homelessness, crime and dysfunction?

I’ll try to answer that question in a moment, but liberals like me do need to face the painful fact that something has gone badly wrong where we’re in charge, from San Diego to Seattle. I’m an Oregonian who bores people at cocktail parties by singing the praises of the West, but the truth is that too often we offer a version of progressivism that doesn’t result in progress.

We are more likely to believe that “housing is a human right” than conservatives in Florida or Texas, but less likely to actually get people housed. We accept a yawning gulf between our values and our outcomes.

Conservatives argue that the problem is simply the left. Michael Shellenberger wrote a tough book denouncing what he called “San Fransicko” with the subtitle “Why Progressives Ruin Cities.” Yet that doesn’t ring true to me.

Democratic states enjoy a life expectancy two years longer than Republican states. Per capita G.D.P. in Democratic states is 29 percent higher than in G.O.P. states, and child poverty is lower. Education is generally better in blue states, with more kids graduating from high school and college. The gulf in well-being between blue states and red states is growing wider, not narrower.

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More than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims arrive in Mecca for annual Hajj pilgrimage

Muslim pilgrims have been streaming into Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca for the Hajj, as the annual pilgrimage returns to its monumental scale. Saudi officials say more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims have arrived in Mecca so far. More are expected, and hundreds of thousands of Saudis and others living in Saudi Arabia will also join them when the pilgrimage officially begins on Friday. (AP video by Bassam Hatoum, Baraa Anwar and Rafiq Maqbool).

Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

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Muslim pilgrims offer prayers at the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Muslim pilgrims arrive to offer prayers at the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Pilgrim buses line up during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Muslim pilgrims have been streaming into Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca ahead of the start of the Hajj later this week, as the annual pilgrimage returns to its monumental scale.

Saudi officials say more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims have arrived in the country by Tuesday, the vast majority by air, from across the world. More are expected, and hundreds of thousands of Saudis and others living in Saudi Arabia will also join them when the pilgrimage officially begins on Friday.

Saudi officials have said they expect the number of pilgrims this year to exceed those in 2023, when more than 1.8 million people performed Hajj, approaching pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, more than 2.4 million Muslims made the pilgrimage. Saudi authorities control the flow of pilgrims through quotas, allowing each country one pilgrim for every thousand Muslim citizens.

The pilgrims included 4,200 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank who arrived in Mecca earlier this month, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were not able to travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year, because of the 8-month war between Israel and Hamas .

“We are praying for Palestine to be free and (for Palestinians) to liberate their land and to be like other nations, to live in peace and not always to have war,” said Ibrahim al-Hadhari, an Algerian pilgrim, as he was standing in the Grand Mosque court waiting for evening prayers.

On Tuesday, pilgrims thronged the Grand Mosque in Mecca, performing a ritual circuit walking seven times around the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure inside the mosque that is considered Islam’s holiest site. They wore ihrams, two unstitched sheets of white cloth that resemble a shroud.

Many were seen sweating heavily from the burning sun, Others were carrying umbrellas against the sun as temperatures reached 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit) and 45 degree Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) during the day on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

“I was relieved when I arrived at the Al-Masjid Al-Haram and saw the Kaaba,” said Rabeia al-Raghi, a Moroccan woman who came to Mecca for Hajj along with her husband and their daughter. “I am very happy.”

AP AUDIO: More than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims arrive in Mecca for annual Hajj pilgrimage

AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports vast numbers of pilgrims are streaming into Mecca.

Mohammad Abdel-Baset, an Iraqi pilgrim, said he was overjoyed to perform Hajj.

“We congratulate the great crowd and thank God for gathering us from all regions, globally and not from the Arab world only, from all the global Muslim regions (who) came to the Grand Mosque,” said Abdel-Baset, a lawyer from Baghdad.

At night, the vast marble court around the Kaaba was packed with the faithful, walking nearly shoulder to shoulder and often jostling with barricades set up by security forces to direct the giant flows of people in and around the Grand Mosque.

Shopping in Mecca flourishes during Hajj. Pilgrims were seen shopping from malls and stores in the city’s centerpiece, the monumental Makkah Royal Clock Tower which faces the Grand Mosque’s main entrance. Makkah is an alternative spelling of the city’s name.

“Trade movement is always excellent during Hajj,” said Bander Mohammed al-Juwayri, who owns a watch store a few meters from the Grand Mosque. “Hajj season strongly helps the economy.”

Pilgrims do the circumambulation, known as “Tawaf” in Arabic, upon arriving in Mecca. The large crowds circling the Kaaba will last into the Hajj’s first day.

On Friday, pilgrims will move to Mina, before heading the following day to the Mountain of Arafat for a daylong vigil. They will then head to Muzdalifah, a rocky plain area a few miles away. In Muzdalifa, pilgrims collect pebbles to be used in the symbolic stoning of pillars representing the devil back in Mina.

One of the world’s largest religious gatherings, the Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. All Muslims are required to undertake it at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able to do so.

Those in the Hajj view the pilgrimage as an opportunity to strengthen their faith, wipe out old sins and start new.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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AP®︎/College US History

Course: ap®︎/college us history   >   unit 10.

• AP US History periods and themes
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