<p>Okay, I'm a Canadian student and although AP courses are both US/CN applicable I've found that just not a lot of students in my city (Winnipeg) take them and only 10% of the highschools in my province actually provide them.</p>
<p>But as the forums on CC make AP's sound like the be all and end all of the high school curriculum, I am absolutly confused.</p>
<p>Do top colleges value AP courses over regular highschool honor classes and if a student wishing, say, to go to Yale had none on their transcripts, would it effect the ADCOM's decision?</p>
<p>And if so, what classes should I self study if I am not so keen on Math and how on earth do I get the text books if I cannot order them off of Amazon?</p>
<p>Ap tests are a uniquely American college value. Even then, colleges would prefer that a student take only the most rigorous that school offers, even if AP tests are unavailable. It still might help to take a few AP exams if you wish to apply to US schools, particularily those that might be somewhat related to an intended major or area of interest. If you want to be a math major (example), then calculus and maybe physics would be sufficient. </p>
<p>Actually, it is possible to study for some AP courses only through review books. Some of the harder subjects would liekly require a supplementary textbook. I believe the actual ap site has recommended books for each class. </p>
<p>But that does assume you take them in the first place. They are not the "be all, end all". Far from it.</p>
<p>Colleges primarily like the AP tests because they are standardized and therefore provide a better tool for measuring student capabilities than a schools honor classes which can vary from school to school. Now, with that said, if you are an international student, adcoms understand that APs aren't very accessible and would not penalize you if you don't have a string of APs. if you are truly looking for college level work to self-study, you can check out programs at your local university to see if there are any class or programs that match your interests. If you don't want to go to uni classes, then you can always find out what textbooks the uni is using for comparable classes and buy those textbooks from the uni bookstore, amazon.com, half.com, etc.</p>