Hey Dan:
You've got a perfect setup. The SAT is a more general exam about historical facts and situations. The AP exam, at least when I passed it, is a more specialized area of history.
My suggestion is this:
1. Go to the library and find at least 5 books on US History to simply photoread and preview.
2. Activate those books by finding visual summaries (timelines, charts, etc.). Visual summaries are the same as mind maps. They chunk lots of information into one or two big chunks. It's easier for recall.
3. Don't superread and dip unless you find something interesting in them you just want to read about.
4. Preview and photoread the text you've been using in your AP US History class. Super read and dip through the areas that you've covered to bring them back up to familiarity again.
5. Activate the book within the background of what you need to know only. That means, go thru old AP Exams that you can get a hold of - this step is the process of beginning to ask yourself questions.
6. Take a break. Then come back to the text and super read it again with the intention of finding the areas that you think you'll be tested on based on reading the old exams.
This should really get you where you need to be.
Good luck, and...
CommonSense
