Choosing APs to take (please respond today if possible)

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

<p>Hi everyone, I'm a high school senior, and I'll be taking APs for Physics C Mechanics, French, Chemistry, English Lit/Comp, and both Economics that I'm taking classes for. (not AP English in that case, but still)</p>

<p>I'm also thinking of taking Physics C E&M, AP US History, and AP European History. I think I know about half of the stuff on E&M already and I'm a fast/thorough independent learner, but I'll be pretty busy until May, so about how much stuff would I have to learn?</p>

<p>Regarding the histories, I feel as though I know the majority of the material (I took the first 11 multiple choice questions on practice AP US and AP Euro exams and got 10/11 right on both, with some educated guesses included, and I knew most of the stuff on the free responses), although I'd definitely need to review the material and brush up some for either exam. The question is - which history should I take? Should I take both? (I heard the Euro has easier free responses in general, but I took a US History class more recently, although it was not an AP class)</p>

<p>The colleges I'm still in the running for (McGill-already accepted, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Tufts, Rice, Cornell, UMass Amherst) in general accept all of the AP exams I'm thinking of taking, although credits are usually limited.</p>

<p>So the question is - can anyone advise me on whether I should take E&M, US, and Euro history?</p>

<p>(E&M is an extra $86 on top of the Mechanics, right?)</p>

<p>Thanks for the help.</p>

2

<p>I would go with US or Euro, unless you have a very strong Physics background. You already have 6 AP classes to study for, and halfway will simply not cut it for a class like E&M.</p>

<p>In all honesty, I wouldn't take any additional class unless you take a full practice exam and know that you know almost all of the material. There's not much sense in trying to learn a relatively new subject when you have 6 others to review for!</p>

3

<p>dude, you're piling on 6 APs already. you think you're gonna be able to pretty much self-study APUS and Euro? And you base your preparedness on 11 sample questions?</p>

<p>Bad move, man. Bad move.</p>

<p>I could have answered 10/11 of those questions for the US a year before I took the course, yet I had to do significant studying for the exam.</p>

4

<p>I do have a strong physics background and I have a knack for math (AIMEs since 8th grade), but I suppose it's not a trivial amount of work to get prepared for a 5 on the E&M. For what it's worth, I don't really need to do any outside independent brushup work for any of the six exams I'm definitely taking (maybe English, but I doubt there's much to do there; Economics is an independent study in school for me). So, not sure about physics yet, I guess I'll take a closer look at all the material. I need to catch up a bit on circuits and learn Maxwell's Equations lock stock and barrel, definitely.</p>

<p>Regarding history, I guess I'm leaning towards taking only one from what you guys say (probably US), although Re IBfootballer: if I can reliably answer 90% of the multiple choices, I only need to get less than half of the open response points for a 5. So, I think I can get away with a fairly small amount of preparation. Does that sound reasonable?</p>

<p>Thanks for the input.</p>

5

<p>US History I would do for sure. It would be great for you to not have to take that in college. Physics C E & M is really up to you. You're a senior already so this is going to have like no effect on admissions or anything like that so it's basically comes down to money. If you got $86 lying around, study a lot and give it a go. Beside the money and time, which I'll assume you are willing to invest, you really got nothing to lose. Oh and I wouldn't do Euro. One history is good, and US tends to be more useful.</p>

6

<p>If you can answer 90% of the multiple choice questions (highly unlikely; in AP Euro two years ago, only 3 students in the whole nation got 70+ questions correct out of 80), then go for it. In general, answering about 75% of the MC right and decent essays is enough for a 5. </p>

<p>Best of luck regardless of what you choose.</p>

7

<p>I'm assuming your registration deadline is before you get responses to your applications. So sign up for whatever you want. But isn't there a later deadline by which you could cancel select tests without penalty? My point being, why take a bunch of tests if the school you choose to attend doesn't give credit?</p>

8

<p>Well, I decided to go for just APUS on top of the six others. No point in making the rest of my senior spring even more hectic than it already is. Thanks for helping me decide, everyone.</p>