Depends on the class, but my personal experience was that AP students generally had less homework, not more. I found that endlessly amusing, and always took the opportunity to mention that whenever my friends complained about their homework loads in their non-AP equivalents.
Back when I took APUSH, I don't remember there being a whole lot of homework of extra homework. No summer reading for sure.
DD15 is taking it this year. She already had to read a history book over the summer that went from 1600s to present. She diligently read 10-20 pages every few days throughout the summer - it was very dull reading. She has been in class two weeks now. The text book is an even slower read than the summer reading. They have daily quizzes on their nightly reading. The teacher has super picky requirements for note-taking. She grades the notes and makes them redo them if she does not feel that they meet her standards. In short, there is a ton of busy work and the class is shaping up to be time-consuming drudgery. DD is frustrated. She already took one AP class last year (her Freshman year) and got a 5 using her own notes. She doesn't feel that these notes are for her benefit. I get the impression that the teacher is making them follow some formula that will help most bright but not necessarily gifted kids pass the test.
