Test taking tips

General:

Before you take the test, find out about how it is structured. Know how many questions there are, what types of questions there are, and what the time limits are. That way, you won't have to figure it all out during the test. (You can find out about the test at the College Board website or here at this site.)
If possible, take at least one practice test before the real test.
Get a good night's sleep the night before and eat breakfast on the morning of the test.

Multiple Choice:

Due to the way the multiple-choice questions are scored (plus 1 point for each correct answer, minus a fraction of a point for each wrong answer, with nothing gained or lost for unanswered questions), random guessing is unlikely to change your final score.
If you can eliminate one or more answers as obviously wrong, guessing from among the remaining choices probably will increase your score.
Don't waste too much time agonizing over a difficult question. Skip it and come back to it later.
Make sure the number on the answer sheet matches the number of the question you're answering. (I know it sounds stupid, but it's an easy mistake to make and it's a real waste of time to go back and erase all those answers to match them up correctly again.)
Be careful to note whether the question asks "Which of the following IS true..." or "Which of the following is NOT true..." (Again, it sounds obvious, but it's an common mistake.)
The questions that ask you to choose some or all of the Roman-numeral choices are often most easily answered by eliminating all the wrong answers. (If you aren't familiar with these questions, they're explained here as example #3.)
Go back and check your answers after you finish.

DBQ:

Read some historical documents from the D.B.Q. time period, or at least excerpts from documents, before the test. Documents written before the 1800s can be very difficult to read because people back then used different spelling, capitalization, and sentence structure. Also, legal and government documents from any time period can be difficult to read at first -- the style is quite different from modern everyday writing. By reading some documents before the test, you can get used to the unusual writing style.
You do not have to use all of the documents, but you should use most of them. Try not to omit more than one or two documents from your essay.
To help you plan your essay, you may want to take notes on the general ideas in each of the documents. Also, you may want make notes on the other historical details from the time period which could help support your essay.
I have been told that graders give more points to essays which take the less-accepted or more difficult to defend viewpoint on the D.B.Q. (i.e., Franklin D. Roosevelt was a conservative, or liberals supported the Vietnam War). However, I doubt that there is much truth in this idea. Pick whichever point of view you feel is best supported by the documents and the historical facts.
If the question includes subtopics, make sure you address them in your essay. You will lose points if you don't.
Do take a stand on the question. Draw a definite conclusion from the historical facts and documents. Do not spend your whole essay explaining that there are many different ways to interpret the facts and that you cannot draw a conclusion one way or the other.
Make sure you explain how the documents and historical facts support your answer to the question.
Good writing skills are not necessary for the history essays, but they certainly don't hurt

FRQ:

Answer the questions which are easiest for you. You don't get any extra credit for answering the questions which you find more difficult.
If the question asks you to select subtopics, pick the ones you know the most about, and make sure you address them in your essay.
Use plenty of historical details in your essay, but be sure to tie them in with your thesis statement. Being able to give the year a certain event took place is generally not as important as being able to clearly explain what the causes and effects of that event were.
Good writing skills are not necessary for the history essays, but they certainly don't hurt.