Kaplan SAT Subject Test: U.S. History

I used this book to help me study for the U.S. History Subject test in October after taking a US History class the previous year. I highlighted and took notes on the book, and it worked very well. All the information is useful and concise. The book is written and organized better than other books I bought from Barrons and Princeton Review. I studied almost exclusively with this book and got a 780 on the test!

Good book--though it looks daunting at first, it is actually very concise and factual. I took AP US History the year before I took the SAT II US History exam, so much of this was review but I had also forgotten quite a bit. I read through this whole book, taking notes the whole time and ended up with a 760. I am sure this book brought my score up considerably. I like the end-of-chapter quizzes too! Before buying, I skimmed through Barron's and this book is much better. Barron's distracted me from the main points, going way too far into detail. I like that this had detailed, yet pertinent, information.

I didn't buy this to pass any tests. I have been reading David McCullough's book John Adams and watching the DVDs too. And I wanted a way to "move around" within US Revolutionary War history quickly when I had questions about what was happening (or had or was going to happen). So regular history books would be way too detailed. I got what I wanted with this book: Helpful "Timelines" and short essays that cover the main events of each phase and period of the war that can be read quickly and are well-written and hence easy reading too. Also, it's great to have the whole sweep of US history in one book that I can dive into at any point and not only get interested, but invest a little time to get a good understanding of what was happening. So it's useful as a reference book too.

I will make this short and sweet. I bought both this book as well as the barons sat US history book. This one dominates in that it makes it 10 times easier to understand. Barron's has a lot of unnecessary info but it is much more thorough in basically all the reading. BUTT it is many times more boring and often very hard to read and understand. I read this book about 3 times (takes about like 3-4 hours, short read!!), did the tests and skimmed over the barrons and amazingly got a 760!!! it was weird cus on the practice tests in this book, i score no higher than 720. the barrons tests are RIDICULOUSly hard!!!! might be good just for info review. If your like me, where if the reading gets to complex then you tune out, get this one!!! Barrons is unnecessarily cus i did not learn anything from that to be honest.. *make sure you memorize the ammendments,acts,court cases, and important election dates......which leads to (down) BUY the sparknotes flash cards!! They work pretty. welll i thought soo. good luck kids!!!

I bought this book in May to prepare for the June SAT II in US History and it was amazing!!! Before opening the book, I took a practice test through the OFFICIAL SAT SUBJECT TEST BOOK published by the College Board. I scored a 650 or 660, or something low like that. I was a little agitated because I bought a book for the AP US History Exam and read through that entire tome. Anyway, after recieving the book 2 weeks before the test, I read it cover to cover and took all of the 3 practice tests. Though the highest I recieved on the practice tests was a 690, I somehow pulled a 750 on the real SAT II. This book definately helped a lot and went into great dept on post-WWI. The main reason to purchase this book definately lies in the chapter reviews. They are great and give you the exact knowledge you will need for the test. Also, with review questions at the end of each chapter, the knowledge stays in your head and you retain all of the information. Two of the chapter review questions were word for word on the actual test! I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to recieve a 700+, because with just a small amount of backround knowledge in US History you can learn all that it takes to ace the exam!!! A+, 5 stars, and my highest recommendation!!!