Ok, so I decided to self-study AP Psych after some thought and internet research. I have 4 AP classes incorporated into my schedule for next year: Government, Literature, Statistics, and French. Since I want to polish up my student credentials and make up my inevitable sub-par GPA with high AP and SAT scores, I decided to self-study AP Psych and take the AP test in the Spring (since every netizen I have met so far has told me that Psych requires no intense studying in order to do well in, or people just have a nasty habit of lying :P).</p>
What I want to know is, what are the best materials that I can use to self-study Psych? I keep hearing that Barron’s Flashcards are the best self-study materials, so I guess I’ll need to buy those…</p>
I also have a couple of old Psych books collecting dust in my book shelf. Both are Myers’ Psychology textbook, which I hear are excellent for Psych study. Problem is, the most recent edition of the book that I own is the 5th edition. I know it is seriously outdated by about 10 years, but should I at least read the material in it to get a general idea of Psych or should I opt for a more recent version? </p>
Any other suggestions for Psych self-study are greatly appreciated. :)</p>
so really barrons prep book is all you really need, I haven’t even gotten through the entire thing, just read through what I could the saturday and sunday before the exam. And yeah, there you go. I had a myers psych. textbook too, but i barely opened it, such a waste… Oh yeah, and this was for the 2011 test, so its as recent as you can get.</p>
I used a Princeton Review prep book and Barron’s flashcards only because I couldn’t find PR flashcards. I recommend Barron’s flashcards though! They were pretty helpful, however, I think Barron’s has too much information that’s tedious to remember. PR is brief, clear, and still very informative. I read through the PR book a couple times and used the flashcards about a month before testing. I got a 5 but I think I over prepared myself for it. If you don’t have time for studying, at least give yourself 2-3 weeks before testing day to review/cover the material from a Barrons/PR prep book! :D</p>
I am looking into buying a copy of Barrons to self-study. Does anyone know how much it matters whether we use the older 2007 (3rd) edition or the more current 2009 (4th) edition? From what I can discern, the AP Psych test has not been changed significantly in this time-frame, and I do not care if the grading scale on the practice tests is slightly incorrect due to the abolition of the guessing penalty. </p>
Also, how important is the CD? I know it contains practice tests, but are these the same or different as the ones that are in the regular book? Is it worth paying about double the cost of the book to get the CD version?</p>
Alternatively, it appears that I could buy a 2007 book with CD for about the same price as purchasing the 2009 version new. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which would be a better option? Thanks so much.</p>
Hey, I self-studied AP Psychology with Barron’s 3rd edition (but without the CD) this past year and it was definitely good enough for me (I got a 5). It’s up to you, just wanted to say you probably don’t need the CD or even the newest edition. I also didn’t get the flashcards, though I made myself my own sort of vocab list that I used to memorize the words.</p>
Thanks for the advice! It’s a tricky situation because I hate to pay significantly more than necessary for prep material, but, on the other hand, I don’t want to waste an $87 investment by scoring poorly because I didn’t pay $10 more for prep materials. I really appreciate the input, and congratulations on your 5! I’m also glad to hear that you were successful with making your own flashcards.</p>
Yo, I self studied Psych this past year and got a 5. Easy test but you will need to memorize a bunch of stuff. Myers textbook is what i used albeit it was the Myer’s AP E1 edition ( here’s a link to the free resources for this textbook "<a href="http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/myersAP1e/#t_612492____“>http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/myersAP1e/#t_612492____</a>” , there were a few changes to the AP Psych test curriculum so I would suggest opting for a more recent copy, but only if you can find it in a library (don’t buy it!!).I also used Barrons prep text book and that alone covered about 85% (basically enough for a 5 but to be safe…) of the material. I suggest that you read the myers text gradually over the next school year, don’t rush but keep pace, and then read barrons text like 2 times over +practice tests in march and april. Also I practiced well on “500 Practice Questions for Psych” (even if it’s by the notoriously terrible “5 steps to a 5” series by mgraw hill, this particular practice workbook was cheap and gave awesome practice that was pretty accurate in my opinion, oh and it was really well organized by chapter and subject)
This formula gave me an easy 5 so it should help you as well ! sorry for the long post. Bonne chance :D</p>
Wow - thanks again. You are both so helpful, and don’t be sorry about your long response at all! The longer, the better. I really appreciate all the information and tips, and congratulations on your 5! I’d definitely rather be over-prepared than under-prepared, so I’m really appreciate your tip that Barron’s only covers about 85% of the material.</p>
I plan on doing the same thing, and I have already bought the PR book, should I buy the Barron’s cards and/or book as a supplement or will PR be enough?</p>