<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am entering 9th Grade next year, and my school has offered me the opportunity to self-study either APHG, APWH or AP Psychology during the summer. I'll take a mock exam in September, and if I get a mark higher than 90% they'll give me permission to sit for the AP exam of my choice next May.</p>
<p>I'm positive I'll be able to pass the mock test if I start this early, but the thing is I can't make up my mind :-B . What do you think is the most interesting/easiest course?</p>
<p>What do you think are the best books to study from? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>AP Human Geography would be the easiest for a 9th grader. AP Psych is easy but typically taken junior/senior year to offset a heavy workload. AP WH is very heavy so I wouldn’t take it as a “self study” course/exam, you want to be in class for it and have it recorded on your transcript as such.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. AP Psych was my first choice but I think I’ll follow your advice and pick HumanGeo, it seems so much more interesting 
.
Any advice on the prep books? I’m thinking of using Barron’s, since I’ve got waaaay too much time, but I’ll appreciate any further advice!</p>
<p>You may want to read this (it’s pretty high-level reading but you can read just the abstract to get the general point)
<a href=“Geography | Social Sciences”>Geography | Social Sciences;
<p>The basic website for the class:
<a href=“AP Human Geography – AP Students | College Board”>Get the Most Out of AP – AP Students | College Board;
<p>Work with actual textbooks. See if you can get used ones since they’re pricey.
You can use <em>Visualizing human geography</em>, <em>Landscapes of Human Activities</em>, ou The Cultural Landscape (11e/2013 or 10/e).</p>
<p>You can start reading non fiction books (which may even count for your summer reading) like <em>Guns, germs, and steel</em>, for instance.</p>
<p>You.Are.The.Best!
Couldn’t ask for anything else, THANKS!</p>
<p>Hopefully the mock test is not an actual AP exam as most people don’t score higher than 70% (only 17% score higher than 60% on the exam) on the actual AP and that is after a full year of the course in the classroom.</p>
<p>I second AP Human Geo. APWH is way too difficult for self-studying, especially for a freshman. Just note that APHG is easy because of the CURVE, which is favorable because a lot of freshman take the exam. Good luck! </p>
<p>I agree on AP Human Geo 
AP Human Geo is normally taken by freshmen who usually do terribly on the exam (which results in a generous curve!) 
AP Psych is also fairly easy, but everyone says AP Human Geo is easier. Of course, many people find AP Psych a lot more fun, and if it really interests you, you should self-study it! If your school is making you take a mock exam, I suggest you get the same textbook that they use in that AP class (as well as review books).</p>
<p>AP World is very difficult in general, and self-studying it would make it even harder. Think about it; AP World is the history of the whole entire world xD If you really want to though, you could take it at your school My school doesn’t offer AP World, unfortunately, but I would definitely take it!</p>
<p>Good luck!~</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback guys!</p>
<p>My counselor is now trying to convince me to self-study both AP HuG and AP Psychology. What do you think? He said that he believes I can do it. Should I? They are basically 2 weeks apart on the AP 2015 calendar so it won’t be an ‘examathon’( with AP Psy being on the first day, and AP HuG on the last).</p>
<p>Oh, and by the way my school only offers about 5 AP classes, that’s why their rousing everyone up with this self-studying scheme.</p>
<p>If your school only has 5 APs yet encourages self study, I believe it may be due cause for the administration to offer these courses in a classroom setting and hiring teachers to match.</p>
<p>I do believe you can write both exams successfully; I’m not entirely sure about Human Geography (although I heard it’s easy), but I know the Psychology exam is quite easy and is mostly based on memorizing information. For example, I was able to answer about half the questions of a practice exam (which I found online) by simply taking a semester course of high school Intro Psychology. Thus, at least for the Psychology exam, I believe you could just go through and read a textbook without having taken a class.</p>
<p>I’m also self-studying the AP Psychology exam this year as well in case that helps. Good luck on both your exams!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I think I found a new AP Psychology adviser!</p>
<p>My principal will never even think of hiring extra teachers for AP subjects he doesn’t think are “core”. That’s why our counselor is so keen with trying to convince us to study these “non-core” subjects. Never mind, I’m gonna try my best and hope for the best!</p>
<p>Hey, I took AP World History this year as a freshman and I don’t think it really is as difficult as people say it is. The exam wasn’t too difficult. As long as you take the subject seriously throughout the year, and put in forty-five minutes to an hour a day during the year, and review three weeks in advance, you should be able to score a 4 without difficulty. I think you should take world history and save psychology and human geography for another year.</p>
<p>Also, if you do not decide to take AP world history, and find yourself choosing between AP Psychology or APHUG, I would choose psychology because it is much more interesting and you can find yourself applying the information to everyday life much more easily than Human Geography. As for the difficulty the workload of psychology should be significantly greater than human geography usually in traditional classroom courses, but when comparing the exams, psychology is basically a test of basic memorization and common sense (as long as you study for it well in a couple weeks advance, you’re guaranteed a 5, or at least a 4). Human Geography takes more analyzing and is not mostly memorization (a 5 or 4 is not guaranteed). </p>
<p>Human Geo and Psych are both easier than World History. For Human Geo, the Barron’s prep book has often been recommended and is great. For Psych, Barron’s is great and 5 steps to a 5 is also very good. </p>
<p>@MidNiteTots I think what you fail to see is the fact that the OP mentioned in the original post that
meaning that they have no chance to take the course in a classroom setting, especially before summer. </p>
<p>World History is a very content-heavy AP Course and would falter if self-studied, especially cramming it in three months. Thus, it would be advisable to take a course less fact-heavy and more of one that applies real-world knowledge and common sense, like Psychology (or maybe Human Geography, I’m not entirely sure).</p>
<p>That isn’t to say that World History is a bad course to take and that it is impossible to do, but it would help more with understanding the material if it were taught by an instructor over the course of nine months and not three. But seeing as how AP World History is not offered at OP’s school, it would make more sense to self-study AP Psychology and/or Human Geography, ones that are more feasible to study in a summer, if only to get “more APs in”.</p>
<p>If you (@AimHighSoarHigh) are insistent on writing the AP World History test and studying it in a classroom isn’t at all possible, I would suggest you wait to take the exam until May of 2016 because that way it will give you over a year to study the material properly and will give you a better chance to “take it all in” for next September’s mock, if that system will be still be in place by then.</p>
<p>Regardless of what you choose, good luck!</p>
<p>@MidNiteTots AP World History is a lot harder than AP Human Geography and AP Psychology. He’s already probably going to self-study at least one of those two anyways; I don’t see why you think he’s not putting any work into school. And he’s going to be a freshman next year. Most high schools don’t even let freshmen take AP. AP World History is an extremely broad subject, that most freshmen can’t even handle. And on top of all of that, he has only 3 months to prepare for the mock exam that will determine if he can take the AP exam or not. </p>
<p>A lot of people don’t have the option to take such high level classes as underclassmen. At my school, there are only two AP courses freshmen and sophomores can take. Most schools simply don’t have honors programs that go that high. At my school, the highest math you can take is just one year ahead. Most of the people that are taking AP Calculus as underclassmen were able to start early. A lot of schools are really strict, too. I wanted to get another year ahead in math by self-studying or taking an online course, but my school wouldn’t allow it.</p>
<p>Also, he’s going beyond his curriculum anyway. I’m guessing his school doesn’t offer those courses, so no college will look down at him for not taking the exams. Not taking the exams wouldn’t put him at a disadvantage at all. Colleges judge you based on the courses your school offers, not other random students. He is putting effort into school, though! I mean, it seems he is going to self-study for at least one of the AP exams, and he has to take the mock exam(s) September. He just doesn’t have enough time for AP World History. He was considering it in the first place, so that shows he did have some interest! :)</p>
<p>Edit: I now see that you removed your last post. I finished typing this before I refreshed my page, so I didn’t know at the time of posting this.</p>
<p>(I was about to comment too before @MidNiteTots deleted the previous post, but I digress)
Besides, even if the OP was considering World History in the first place, and is still insistent on taking the exam (and most likely self-studying), there is still plenty of time to do so in the four years of high school. The exam material would just have to be studied more extensively, perhaps in the time frame of over a year, so that instead of studying for the mock exam this September, the OP would just prepare for the same exam the following year, perhaps when they will be more ready.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to bash on anyone really, I’m telling the OP to take AP World History (although it is the most rigorous choice out of the three classes, it is the most favorable in the eyes of most every single college) because I think he is able to handle it. I took it as a freshman and I honestly did have to put work into reading the material every day, but I was able to receive A’s (top 15 schools in the nation, so it wasn’t easy at all )and the preparation I did (only about 45 minutes a day) really helped me on the exam. Also I’m no expert in history; I barely pay attention to the events going on around me today and I have no preference towards history, it’s one of my least favorite subjects, and I find it to be absolutely boring. </p>