I’ve heard that AP Psych is very easy, an most people at my school take it for padding their GPA. I’m not interested in Psychology as a major, but I would love to learn about it. Would taking an actual college level class in it be better than the AP? I also have an AP Psych textbook, so could I study that and take the AP exam as well?
AP Psychology is indeed a “light” AP. A college psychology course will be faster-paced and more in-depth. Choose the one you think you can get a B or more in.
Depends greatly on the intro psych course. Departments have to teach them, professors and TAs often don’t enjoy it, and may have little expertise on areas that don’t fall within their narrow specialties. If you’re not really sure how good the one available to you is, I’d go with AP. At least there’s some external quality control.
BTW: at most colleges, intro psych is considered very easy, and people take it as padding for their GPA.
No. As @NavalTradition said, it’s not generally considered a overly rigorous course in college either. Many students take it just to satisfy some gen ed requirement.
It’s an exceptionally easy AP to self study, IMO, but if you’re interested in the subject and the instructor is good, take the class.
@skieurope The Psych teacher at my school is notoriously terrible. It’s a shame since I would love to take it otherwise. I would much rather take it elsewhere.
@NavalTradition I’m thinking of finding a course through a MOOC; likely edX or MIT OpenCourseWare. Would taking a more advanced class as a freshman in college, or taking a more advanced Psych class in later years still be considered padding?
@MYOS1634 Based on what NavalTradition and skieurope said above, do you still think it’s that much more rigorous? I thought I was going to go with the college level course, but idk anymore.
Then take it elsewhere. You should decide what is best for you, and not get caught up in what some faceless admissions officer will think.
Non-intro courses in psych are much more rigorous than intro psych courses, but in many/most cases, have the intro course as a prereq. There’s nothing “wrong” with having an easier course in your schedule from time to time; it will keep you a little more sane 
@skieurope Of course an easier course would be great. I’ll go mad next year with all my EC’s, AP Euro, and double sciences :-). I’m hoping that MIT has good online intro Psych teachers. But I also don’t want to register and drop a class on my transcript before figuring out if it’s worth taking, hence this post to try and clear any (or at least some) uncertainty.
It’s okay to have some ‘padding’ on your college transcript. In many cases, it’s required.
@NavalTradition When is padding required? Honestly, I’m only taking classes if they interest me, and sometimes not even then if I think they come off as too easy/bad teacher making bad experience or want to take another one more.
In college, you’ll need one easy/easier class per semester to keep you sane and productive.
Yes, regardless of the college Intro to psych will be faster-paced than ap. Ap lasts 9-10months with5periods a week. A college course covers the same amount of materual but often more, in4months, with 2-3periods a week.