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Award-Winning AP US History Tutors

Certified Tutor
2+ years
Kayley's biology degree might seem like an odd fit for APUSH, but her coursework at New Mexico State included AP-level history and government, and she approaches the subject the way a scientist approaches data — by teaching students to weigh evidence before drawing conclusions. That analytical habit...
New Mexico State University-Main Campus
BS

Certified Tutor
2+ years
Ashley
Most AP US History struggles come down to one skill: turning a pile of historical evidence into a coherent argument under time pressure. Ashley earned a Master's in History, which means she's spent years constructing and defending thesis-driven analyses — exactly the skill the DBQ and LEQ demand. Sh...
Mcgill University
Master's/Graduate
Northeastern University
Bachelor's
Certified Tutor
2+ years
Kaitlyn
I'm currently a student at the University of Alabama, working towards an undergraduate degree in math/statistics. Im also a part of the honors college at the University, the honors society Phi Eta Sigma, am participating in the new STEM program that allows me to work towards a MBA while completing m...
The University of Alabama
Undergraduate Degree
Certified Tutor
Before medical school, Jessica earned her history degree at Penn — meaning she studied American political and constitutional development at a university where those debates literally happened, steps from Independence Hall and the National Constitution Center. That immersion in primary-source-rich co...
Nova Southeastern University
PHD, Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Bachelors, History
University of Pennsylvania
undergraduate
Certified Tutor
Erika
A Master of Public Policy degree means Erika spent graduate school analyzing how American institutions evolved and why specific policy decisions — from the New Deal to the Great Society — reshaped the country. That lens gives her a natural edge when teaching APUSH's thematic threads around governmen...
Harvard University
Master of Public Policy, Public Policy
Certified Tutor
9+ years
Margaret
Studying political science at Stanford means Margaret spends her coursework inside the same institutional frameworks — constitutional design, federalism, party realignment — that APUSH tests most heavily across every period. That gives her a structural vocabulary for explaining why events like the N...
Stanford University
Current Undergrad Student, Political Science and Government
Certified Tutor
Patrick
Patrick earned an MA in History from Duke, where he studied the kind of historiographical debates that drive AP US History — how to weigh competing interpretations of events like Reconstruction or the New Deal. He teaches students to write DBQ and LEQ essays that don't just summarize documents but b...
Emory University
Bachelor in Arts, History
Duke University
JD
Duke University
MA in History
Certified Tutor
Economics majors spend their time tracing how incentive structures, trade policy, and financial systems reshape societies — which means Ryan already thinks in the cause-and-effect chains that APUSH essays reward, especially for periods like the Market Revolution, Gilded Age industrialization, and Ne...
University of Chicago
Bachelors, Economics
Certified Tutor
10+ years
Sarah
Studying political science and government means Sarah spends her coursework inside the same constitutional debates, legislative battles, and shifts in federal power that APUSH tests most heavily — she's not reviewing this material secondhand but actively working through it in her current classes. Th...
Yale University
Current Undergrad, Political Science and Government
Certified Tutor
10+ years
reid
Reid's double major in political science and philosophy at Hobart means he spent years doing exactly what APUSH essays demand — building thesis-driven arguments from primary evidence and defending them against counterarguments. He's especially sharp on the constitutional and governance threads that ...
University of Chicago
Master of Arts, Political Science and Government
Hobart William Smith Colleges
Bachelors, Political Science and Government
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Top 20 Social Studies Subjects
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Ryan
Calculus Tutor • +30 Subjects
I'm particularly interested in politics, history, and religion. I am an avid reader and enjoy discussing literature and popular culture.
Kirstie
Arithmetic Tutor • +35 Subjects
I am friendly, reliable, and most importantlycommitted to helping you learn! It is my top priority to create a positive learning experience that will help boost your test scores without boring you to tears. After all, shouldn't learning be fun? Hobbies: art, books, reading, music, writing
Richard
AP Calculus BC Tutor • +70 Subjects
I am a rising senior at Harvard College pursuing an AB in Government. Academically, I have diverse interests, including history, language, math, physics, philosophy, music, and politics. In high school, I tutored elementary, middle, and high school students in music, math, ACT and SAT prep, and Spanish. At Harvard, I spent a year as a course assistant in the math department, helping to teach introductory undergraduate calculus. Currently, I volunteer with the Leadership Institute at Harvard College (LIHC) as part of its Social Outreach Committee. This work involves teaching a weekly course called "Fundamentals of Leadership" to a class of middle school students. Overall, I have found my experiences tutoring math to be the most rewarding.
Molly
8th Grade math Tutor • +86 Subjects
I am an Illinois certified Teacher in grades K-9. I attended Northwestern University and received a Master's of Science in Education. I have ample classroom experience and expertise in elementary Math and Reading intervention. I have several tools and resources from various curricula to work with and would love to help your students in any elementary or middle school subject area. For the past three years, I have been working as a classroom Teacher in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade classrooms, teaching students with a variety of needs. I can also tutor students through high school and college in History and Spanish as I hold degrees in both subjects from Columbia University. I am highly qualified to tutor Writing at all levels - from elementary to adult professional writing - as I have written two distinguished theses as part of my academic training.
Alex
Calculus Tutor • +26 Subjects
I am proficient at US History and can help an AP US History student towards a 4 or 5 on his or her exam. My concentration for both of my post-high school degrees was religion, and I would love to tutor students who are taking religion courses. My favorite hobby is reading, and I believe it is important to instill an enjoyment of reading in students as early as possible. I can help young people who need extra support to become better readers.
Nathan
Pre-Calculus Tutor • +57 Subjects
I am currently a student at Rice University studying both History and Neuroscience. Being the oldest of five kids, working with younger students has always been a part of my life. I can tutor a wide variety of subjects, but I specialize in writing, public speaking, and test taking. My goal for every tutoring session is to give students large-scale takeaways that they can apply in their academic future, maximizing the efficiency of every session.
Charlie
Pre-Algebra Tutor • +30 Subjects
I am a current student at Cornell University with a 4.0 GPA. In High School, I was a National AP Scholar and a National Merit Finalist. I am passionate about helping students succeed, and I am patient and enjoy walking through multiple methods to help a student find what works best for them. I enjoy helping students reach their potential. While I tutor a range of subjects, I am most interested in and best equipped to tutor students in SAT prep (math, English, and test-taking strategies), history, economics, and statistics. In my spare time, I am likely watching baseball, playing basketball, or watching The Office.
Asta
Pre-Algebra Tutor • +74 Subjects
I am a graduate of the University of Chicago where I received my undergraduate degree in political science. Right after graduation, I worked as an academic and test prep tutor as well as admissions consultant in Hong Kong. For the past two years, I worked with a number of students to help prepare them for college in the United States.
Ethan
AP Statistics Tutor • +66 Subjects
I am not teaching or grading papers, I can usually be found playing some brass instrument or another, umpiring baseball, trying out a new recipe in the kitchen, or spending far too much time on Netflix.
Meghan
Calculus Tutor • +32 Subjects
I am a 2015 graduate of Northwestern University, with an undergraduate journalism major/Spanish minor and a graduate degree in journalism. During my time at NU, I spent a semester at Madrid's top-ranked university, taking upper-level history and literature courses with Spanish students. I now work at a trade magazine in Midtown covering real estate.
Top 20 Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Students typically find the period from 1890-1945 most challenging, particularly the complexities of US foreign policy, the causes and consequences of World War I, and the nuances of the Great Depression and New Deal. The Civil War and Reconstruction era also trips up many students because it requires understanding both political and social dimensions simultaneously. Additionally, students often struggle with thematic connections across time periods—like how different groups experienced American democracy differently—rather than just memorizing isolated events.
The exam has three distinct sections requiring different skills: the multiple-choice section (55 questions in 80 minutes) rewards quick pattern recognition and elimination strategies; the short-answer questions (3 questions in 40 minutes) require you to support claims with specific evidence; and the essays (DBQ and long essay) demand strong thesis statements and document analysis. Many students underestimate the short-answer section because they focus heavily on essay prep—but these questions test your ability to explain historical causation concisely, which is a distinct skill from writing longer arguments.
Strong document analysis goes beyond identifying what a source says—you need to consider the author's perspective, purpose, audience, and historical context. Many students lose points by treating documents as simple evidence rather than asking critical questions: Why did this person create this document? Who was it meant to persuade? What was happening in 1863 that shaped this perspective? A tutor can help you develop a systematic approach to quickly categorize documents (supporting your argument, complicating it, representing a particular viewpoint) so you use your 55-minute DBQ time efficiently.
Rather than memorizing dates, focus on understanding the key tensions and transformations that define each era—for example, the early republic's struggle between federal and state power, or the Progressive Era's competing visions of reform. Students who excel recognize that themes like American identity, conflict, and change repeat across periods in different forms. A tutor can help you build concept maps that connect events within and across periods, so you see how westward expansion, industrialization, and immigration are all part of the same story of American transformation, not separate topics.
Your thesis needs to make a specific, arguable claim about causation or change—not just summarize what happened. For example, "The New Deal was important" is too vague, but "The New Deal fundamentally shifted American expectations about government's role in economic security, though it faced significant opposition from those who feared federal overreach" takes a real position. Many students write theses that are either too obvious (restating the prompt) or too broad (covering too many ideas). Tutors can help you practice narrowing your argument and ensuring every paragraph supports your specific claim with relevant evidence.
The 55 multiple-choice questions should take roughly 80 minutes (about 90 seconds per question), but strong test-takers spend 60 minutes on these to leave buffer time. The short-answer section requires about 13 minutes per question to read, think, and write a solid response. For the essays, plan to spend 15 minutes reading and analyzing documents for the DBQ, then 40 minutes writing; the long essay gets 40 minutes total. Many students rush through multiple-choice to save time for essays, but this backfires because careless errors compound. A tutor can help you take practice tests under timed conditions and identify where you're losing time.
Most students who work with a tutor see a 2-4 point improvement on the AP scale (which ranges from 1-5), with larger gains possible if you're starting below a 3. The improvement depends heavily on where you're starting and how much you practice between sessions. If you're scoring 2s on practice tests, focused tutoring on document analysis and thesis-building can push you to 3s or 4s. If you're already at a 4, reaching a 5 requires mastering the most challenging synthesis questions and eliminating careless errors—work that's very doable with targeted feedback on your practice essays.
Beyond deep knowledge of American history, strong AP US History tutors understand the specific demands of the exam format—they can teach document analysis strategies, help you build efficient study plans, and provide detailed feedback on your essays that mirrors how AP graders evaluate them. They should be able to identify whether your struggles are conceptual (not understanding Reconstruction), strategic (poor time management), or technical (weak thesis statements), because each requires different solutions. Look for tutors who use practice tests diagnostically to pinpoint your weak areas rather than just reviewing material broadly.
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