This discussion was created from comments split from: Self-studying AP’s vs taking a class?.
This discussion is a bit old, but I have a question, @Lindagaf. I am a junior currently, and next year I either have the option of taking Art 4 (Honors class) or AP Psych. However, I love art, and I want to explore Psychology a little bit without taking a course for it in college. If I self-study AP Psych out of interest, would I still seem like an “academic drone” (especially since AdComms can’t really know I’m taking it out of interest)?
You are free to study psychology on your own without taking the AP test, unless you really want the AP credit (if you attend a college where that is useful).
@mohammadmohd18 Of course you can study AP psych on your own as a senior, but no one will ever know about it. There is no point saying you are self studying it as a senior, as by the time your test results come back, you will have already chosen your college. That said, it’s worth doing if you will be able to use it for a higher level psych class rather than intro 101, or if the credit can be used at your college.
Honestly, you can study it easily now and take the test this coming year if you are really interested.Talk to your GC at school. The fees aren’t due until Feb. My D self-studied it as a junior and scored a 5. She didn’t start studying until March or April, tbh. BUT, our school didn’t offer AP psych, she is probably going to major in psych, and she was able to show a clear connection in her app with her interest in psych and self-studying the course. Colleges are not particularly impressed with self-studying, but in some cases, like with my D, it can be a nice way to get some bonus points.
I just came across this old thread, but I have to say that I mostly disagree with @Lindagaf.
There are some reasons you may want to self-study AP classes and take the tests, especially if you wanted to take another AP class but you have exceeded the maximum periods your school allows you to take (at my school it is 7).
Or, the class you want to take may conflict with another one you must take to graduate. In that case, you should self-study.
Contrary to what Lindagaf may believe, many people find joy in learning and they aren’t trying to be drones in order to impress college admissions. If I chose AP chemistry over physics, but I still want to learn physics, why shouldn’t I self-study physics and maybe go online to watch some Khan academy videos about it? If you are one of these people, go for it! It goes without saying that colleges love to see internally motivated kids who are able to capitalize on online/textbook resources despite not having the opportunity to take a class.
What Lindagaf said about self-studying AP backfiring on students is completely false. If the class wasn’t offered, and the subject is something you’re interested in, how can putting in the extra work to learn a new skill backfire on you? If the class was offered, but you were not allowed to take it due to scheduling conflicts, and you self-study because you’re interested in it, how can putting in the extra work to learn a new skill backfire on you? Putting in extra work to follow your passion will NEVER backfire on you.
Some things Lindagaf said are true, if there are other things you can do to show your dedication to what you want to major in (science competition, learning new instruments, etc) then you should prioritize those over self-study. But overall Lindagaf’s tone is misleading, especially to new high schoolers.
When I started high school, I was taking geometry. Then, over the summer, I went to Khan A and studied Alg2 and Precalc, and took two exit exams at my school and skipped to AP Calculus AB sophomore year. Should I have stayed put? Of course not, and this experience will show colleges that I’m willing to put in more effort to further my knowledge.
Just wanted to put my view out there for students. AP subjects aren’t stupid, and they aren’t useless. The reason they’re used everywhere in America is because they’re so useful in determining whether you’ve mastered the material or not. But as @Lindagaf noted, if you’re sacrificing too much time to self-study AP that you could be spending more productively, then you’re doing something wrong.
Well @theChinaman , you might find a few long time CCers who are inclined to understand why I said what I said. The majority of students (at least those who ask about it on CC) who self -study APs are not just doing it because they love learning. They are doing it to impress adcoms, and the reason I said it can backfire is because you might be perceived as an academic drone rather than someone who studies just because they love learning. Completely false? Goodness, you certainly have learned much about college admissions if you can confidently say that. And at what point did I say or imply that APs are stupid or useless???
Note that I said if there wasn’t a good reason to self study, then it’s best avoided. I did not categorically say not to self study. And I did contradict myself when I said self studying won’t give you bonus points. It might enhance your app a little in the right circumstances, but not enough to tip you from denied to accepted. I also said clearly in both my posts that it is fine to self study if you want to get intro level courses out of the way once in college, so please don’t twist my words into some kind of condemnation of students who self-study. I obviously don’t think that or I wouldn’t have been in favor of my own kid doing so.
Believe me, after being on this website for nearly three years, I have read many posts from students who have asked this question, and I think it’s safe to say that for the most part, the truly intellectual kid who just wants to study as many APs as possible is far less common than the kid who is desperately trying to take as many APs as possible in order to boost their admissions chances at highly selective colleges. Maybe @skieurope would like to add his two cents, as a person who did do a lot of APs for the love of learning.
I attended a large info session with HYP and UVA admissions reps. In the Q&A session, someone asked about self-studied AP exams. To a person, the reps were dismissive of it. In their experience, those are people who are padding their resumes – not those who are purely academically curious @theChinaman . After all, then why even take the AP exam or report it? Learn the material and let that be that.
Those with superior curiosity are not doing it through AP exams, in the colleges’ experience. To colleges, they wonder why you’re not frankly doing more within your various communities, not participating in the arms race to add AP scores and having multiple SAT/ACT sittings and fluffing up the resume – you know, typical robot behavior… And the colleges don’t want to create another brass ring that kids are chasing in order to be noticed.
Oh I see what you mean now. I didn’t see it from that way, that many people are doing it just for the sake of boosting college chances, and you are totally right- it probably won’t affect and perhaps even detract from a really great application.
But yeah, now I understand how admissions see it as padding kids’ resumes…where I come from it is quite a common thing to do in order to complete the 8 AP tests by junior year to get Nat AP scholar. I studied an AP test partially just for bragging rights, but at some point in the beginning I was actually interested in the course material.
Perhaps at HYP levels self-studying is not worth the time, but how about less selective schools? Would it make a greater impact there?
Possibly, mostly because less selective colleges will give credit or placement for AP classes and some tippy tops won’t. Also, it might not be as common for applicants to less selective colleges to self-study, so maybe it does have a little more impact.
I can tell you that at the college my kid attends, which is quite selective, she emailed a prof about a course and the prof was very impressed that she self studied and got a five. But the prof wasn’t the adcoms committee. She could have placed out of the intro level course, but being a bit of a perfectionist decided it was best to take it. She is probably going to major in it, so it’s a good idea.