<p>I don't suppose there is a way to get a real quantitative answer to this question, but from your experience, when a kid says they "Self Study" for an AP test, does this mean they actually go out and get texts and references in the subject to try to learn it, or does this mean they pick up as many practice tests as they can and try to just pass the test? And do these types of material (AP practice tests) exist?</p>
<p>When I was a kid, my high school had one AP class -USH. But people could take other APs bases on what they learned in honors or regular classes. They didn't reallt have any prep material.</p>
<p>self-study covers a range of approaches to mastering the materials. Basically, it means that the student did not learn the materials in a regular class. But the student could be tutored, could get help from well-educated parents and friends, or could truly study on their own with the help of prep books, cliff notes, etc…</p>
<p>Spawn took three AP exams. For his first one, taken as a freshman, he self-studied. He read an Intro to Psych textbook, looked at (might even have read portions of) a Princeton or Kaplan (don’t remember which) review book, and took a couple of sample tests from the review book (under duress from his crabby, nagging mother) to figure out what he needed to brush up on. He got a 5.</p>
<p>For one of the other AP tests (AP Govt), he took the corresponding class in high school as a sophomore. If there was review/were sample tests, they were done in school. He did no independent study/review/test taking for this exam. He got a 5.</p>
<p>For the other AP test (Comp Sci AB), which he also took his sophomore year, he was registered for an online class for which he occasionally read the materials (online) and took the (online) quizzes; he didn’t do any of the labs (which his crabby, nagging mother didn’t learn until either the day before or the day after the exam; the crabby, nagging mother is also old and doesn’t remember exactly when she learned this annoying fact). He almost but not quite finished the course, and did no other preparation/study/test taking for the AP exam. He got a 4 on this exam, and has expressed annoyance more than once that he took the AB exam rather than the easier A exam, on which he is certain (and on which his instructor is certain) he’d have gotten a 5. His crabby, nagging, old mother tells him that a 4 is a very respectable score, and has so far, when his expressed annoyance is directed toward her, not suggested that perhaps if he’d done all the labs, finished the course, and put in a little time reviewing, he might have gotten a 5 on the harder test. His crabby, nagging, old mother will continue to bite her tongue on this, because she feels that a 4 really is a very respectable score, and she is in no way disappointed in his results on the AP exam. There is more to life than scores, and the kid is not, despite what he sometimes seems to believe, just his test scores. (But seriously, if he wanted a 5, he could have worked for it a bit!)</p>
<p>^^^^ That’s impressive. I’d like to think that was the way most kids studied these things, and the attitude they had about learning these subjects.</p>
<p>Even the computer science that’s above and beyond what I thought most kids did.</p>
<p>Daughter took honors (not AP) physics and self studied the “extra” stuff enough needed to take the AP Physics B test. This was not difficult. She got a 4 pretty easily, and that is enough for credit at her college. I’d recommend this for kids who are good at math/science and can’t fit AP Physics into their schedules.</p>
<p>Mathson regrets not having self-studied for AP Comp Sci he knew more than the teacher and it caused all sorts of scheduling issues that had a ripple effect through the years. I think you could easily self study for the English ones.</p>