AP Classes: Online vs. Self Study

<p>Is it better to take AP classes online or self-study? Is online thought of as a self-study with the materials presented to you by a distance learning teacher? If you have taken online classes or self-studied for any AP exam, please share your thoughts!</p>

<p>bump bump bump bump
anyone???</p>

<p>Online because

  1. helps w/ procrastination
  2. college knows you are doing it
  3. if you get an A, it helps with GPA.</p>

<p>I took online Calculus this year and HATED it and totally disagree that it helps with procrastination. Three or four of my friends and I were registered for the course in September, kind of did a few lessons, stopped for a few weeks, did a lesson, left the site alone entirely, then by the end of December I found that I was the only one still signed up for it (and then I quit, too). Granted this may have been due to the confusing structure and unprofessionalism (so many typos…) of the course website, vagueness of lessons, and difficulty in contacting the instructor but I honestly think I would have learned more by just grabbing a textbook and a few review books. Really it probably just depends on the amount of dedication you’re willing to put in and in some instances like mine the quality of the online class. The GPA/transcript bonus is nice though.</p>

<p>I’m doing self-study AP Psych, but to do self-study you have to make sure you’re really self-motivated because you have no one telling you to study, read, and do that in a timely manner. Set out a schedule for yourself during the school year for the self-study, don’t procrastinate and leave it all til April, stick to the schedule…Christmas break and Spring break are good times to study! It’s working for me…I don’t think the AP Psych exam will be too bad.</p>

<p>I signed up for AP Environmental Science online because I heard its really easy when self-studying, so its gotta be a joke if i take it online lol</p>

<p>I’ve been taking online classes since my freshman year of high school, and I personally love them. I took AP Bio online this year, along with APUSH and AP English Language, and I feel pretty confident that I will do well on all of my exams. However, remember that choosing to take an online class in addition to being an in-class student means that you will be graded on your work in the online class. You will have due dates and requirements to fill. </p>

<p>I am solely an “online class” student, but if you take classes in school as well as online, taking an AP class might cause unneeded stress. If you just want to take the AP (and don’t really care about/need a class grade), self-study! You’ll be able to study on your own time.</p>

<p>Where do you sign up for these AP classes online?</p>

<p>Online is far better than self-study because it boosts your GPA, makes it look like more a challenging year to colleges and online classes are extremely easy. At least in Idaho they’re a total joke and you can get extensions to due dates very easily.</p>

<p>Aerobug: Try going to google and typing “____<strong><em>Your state here</em></strong>__ Virtual High School.”</p>

<p>My school hates online classes so they don’t boost our GPA or appear on our transcript. So I self-study (though online classes would probably result in less procrastination…).</p>

<p>Online is always pretty much a joke. Ya it can give you credit, but that can backfire. That means it can have all the constraints of doing busywork, without the flexibility you want in an online course. I advise self-study, but if you need help there are tons of free videos out there. (MIT OCW, Yale OYC, iTunes U, Khanacademy…)</p>

<p>Aerobug, try Keystone High School. Keystone is a nationally accredited and acclaimed online high school, and they offer tons of AP classes (more than my “base school”).</p>