I will be taking AP Biology my junior year, starting in September. I really enjoy learning about biology since it is very interesting to me, and I see myself using it in the future. I have heard that many people self-study AP Environmental Science because it is said to be one of the easier AP exams. Because biology and environmental sciences are similar, would self-studying for the AP Environmental Science exam be doable? My school offers the course, but I do not want to take it. (I do not have time or room in my schedule.) However, I still think that it would be a good exam to self-study for.
I took AP Bio last year and I’m currently taking AP Environmental Science. In my classes, there has been a very small overlap in the content of both classes. AP Environmental Science is not a difficult AP test, but there is a lot of memorization of small details involved. If you can memorize details well, I think self-studying for AP Environmental Science wouldn’t be a bad idea for you. To be fair, my high school is an IB school so I was in AP/IB Biology HL which may have a slightly different curriculum than just AP Biology. The subject matter does vary between AP Bio and APES, so I believe my experience isn’t far from the norm.
Hope this helps!
My daughter and her friend both self studied for AP Environmental Science and did very well on the exam (5 and 4). I believe they both went through the edx class (free), although they did it in a matter of weeks rather than the full year.
https://www.edx.org/course?search_query=ap+environmental+science
Self-studying APs does not help you with admissions. They don’t look at your AP test scores for admissions…seniors who take APs don’t get the scores back until after they are admitted.
So if you do it, you would be doing it for College credit. See if your colleges of choice would give you credit and if that credit would be useful. Like for ES…if you want to be an engineer you would take other sciences…maybe you could get elective credit?
Also realize that doing well in your HS courses is vastly more important than self studying…also would you have time to do ECs if you are self studying?
@HMom16 Did they do anything else in addition to edx and how much time did it take? I’m considering doing this, but some people say APES isn’t as easy as everyone thinks!
@mjt182 They had taken some bio, not APES, but enough to understand the material. They also found and took some old exams and use those to focus their study.
Why do you wan to self-study?
- Love to learn - great!
- Want college credit? Fine…but make sure it is not at the expense of your regular HS courses or ECs
- AP Scholars award with distinction or the like…this is cool and all…but is not useful for college admissions
- College Admissions…doesn’t help. Many people take AP tests senior year after they are already admitted. Colleges don’t generally take AP scores into account. They take your GPA/SAT into account
IMO your time would be better used: 1) excelling in the actual classes you are taking; 2) increasing your involvement in extracurricular activities you care about; and 3) spending time with friends and family. No admission officer will be impressed by your self-studying for AP exam (especially one of the easier ones).
I need credit for my IGETC. AP Environmental Science is one of the easier ones, and it counts as 5A w/lab - so it’s perfect. AP Bio, AP Chem, and AP Physics give credit towards 5A w/lab, but they require work, so I’ve decided on taking the easy way out lol.
I won’t be taking AP Physics 1 just because I can’t find a decent teacher, and Science isn’t my forte, so I’ve opted for Honors Physics.
As long as I get a 3 on APES, I’m good.
I’m a current sophmore and I’m planning to self-study APES too. Would it help my admissions?
@scholarette No, read posts above.