<p>These are the AP exams I'll be taking this year:
AP Calc BC
AP English lang
AP Environmental Science (self-study)
AP human geography (self-study)
AP US History
AP Microeconomics (self-study)
AP macroeconomics (self-study)</p>
<p>And possibly AP chemistry (self-study).</p>
<p>I don't mind waiting until senior year to take statistics, but if statistics would go nicely with the economics/calc exams, then I would prefer taking it this year. I'll be self-studying for AP statistics with one study guide (probably PR or Barron's, and khanacademy to complement the book), so would you recommend taking the exam this year or next year?</p>
<p>Statistics is more writing than math…it doesn’t really use stuff in calculus(well, the normal distribution is a function without a nice antiderivative, but you don’t need to know that).</p>
<p>Would taking AP statistics help me with the AP economics/calc exams at all then, or vice versa? </p>
<p>I took AP biology last year, so I’m taking APES this year since I already know a lot of the information in my PR book. I will eventually take AP statistics, but I want to take during the most convenient time possible for me.</p>
<p>I took both the same year, they don’t go together at all. Stats is more comprehension than math. I would do them different years absolutely.</p>
<p>Does khanacademy have Statistics videos?</p>
<p>Yes. I’ve watched the first few and statistics seems fairly simple. </p>
<p>And ah okay thank you. I’ll just take AP statistics during senior year then. I don’t want to overwhelm myself and concentrate more on APs than my GPA. I only have to take 5 more exams to get the national AP scholar award, so I’m not really in a rush anyways.</p>
<p>Ap chemistry may be easier gpa wise to do it self study but it’s a hard class to learn yourself. One of the hardest tests as well. You seem pretty scholarly, I would take AP chem in school.</p>
<p>The problem is that my school has a very poor academic background. Out of the ~9 APs that my school offers, only a few have adequate teachers. Most of my teachers don’t care to teach the class, so I learn more by self-studying than actually taking the class.</p>
<p>AP chem is offered for seniors, but it’s an online course and I have to pay an additional $750 dollars to take it, which I can’t afford. I’ll be taking honors chem this year, but I’ve heard that the class is a joke. The teacher literally grades homework based on the legibility of handwriting and makes up equations to teach to the class. I just realized that the APES and AP chem exams conflict with each other though, so I might wait until next year to take AP chem. I was hoping that I’d be able to get a 5 if I watched MIT’s and khanacademy’s chem lectures and read over a textbook and PR.</p>
<p>You would. But colleges aren’t going to like a kid who has no life… You honestly can’t self study all of those while taking the other classes and expect to have a life. It won’t be a good experience nor would it get you anywhere. Join some clubs, sports, anything in the community. You can’t be completely lost in textbooks because then you’ll have nothing to contribute to a college’s community: something you must convey in college essays.</p>
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<p>The APs in human geography and environmental science are not especially useful for subject credit in college (though some may grant breadth credit if they allow APs for breadth credit).</p>
<p>AP statistics is typically only accepted for a low level semester introductory course for social studies majors.</p>
<p>AP calculus BC is probably the most worthwhile of your list – colleges often allow equivalency for a full year of freshman calculus (though you should check the college’s old freshman calculus final exams to check your knowledge when deciding whether to skip the college’s freshman calculus courses).</p>
<p>I disagree with the stereotype that people have about APs. There isn’t a positive correlation between taking several APs and having no “life”. I volunteer at a nursing home that I used to visit as a kid, I’m a volunteer camp counselor at a summer camp for children with HIV, I have a part-time job, I babysit my siblings for ~4 hours daily, I take a class at a community college, and I am a part of/have leadership positions in several school ECs. I study for my APs (as well as the SAT), but I’m nonchalant about my method of studying so I study intermittently throughout the day, and usually no more than an hour a day. The only time I’d say that I “have no life” is the day before each AP exam because I always cram to make sure I haven’t forgotten any information. </p>
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<p>And yeah, I’ve heard that APES/human geography aren’t accepted for college credit at most schools. (Although one university I’m planning to apply to accepts all APs I’m planning to take). I want to take those exams though, mainly because I’m going for the state AP scholar award and I want to challenge myself and learn new things (I think that taking AP human geography will greatly benefit me since I never read the news and know close to nothing about geography. I can’t stay in a hole forever haha).</p>
<p>Sorry I didn’t write that correctly. I don’t mean that taking a lot of AP’s means no life. I myself took 12 total AP classes in high school, 2 sophomore year 5 junior year and 5 senior year. All I am saying is that adding a few more as independent study might 1)affect your gpa in the AP classes you have, 2) take away time to do any Extracurriculars and therefore 3) diminish your chances at being accepted to great colleges. Its just something to take into account, though maybe you can do it all. I’m just saying you should think it through</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s true. I am worried about my GPA, mainly because my essays are mediocre and I’m afraid I’ll get a B in AP English lang… I’m not too worried about my independent study conflicting with my ECs though. Most of my ECs meet during lunch, and I have a sufficient amount of time to practice my instrument/sport even if I do decide to self-study a few APs. I also participate in the science bowl, so APs actually help me with my ECs rather than hurt me. </p>
<p>And a few friends are also going to be taking some APs, and so we often discuss AP topics when we hang out. xDD </p>
<p>I definitely have to take my AP English class into account when I decide on how to distribute my study time though…</p>
<p>That’s good for the AP’s, and I’m sure you’ll get good grades. But after going through the college acceptance process I have learned a lot how important gpa is. My only high school regrets were not caring when I received B’s in English. Do all you can for the gpa, worry about passing the AP tests later since they don’t help you be accepted really.</p>
<p>I was on the verge of getting a B in my English class during sophomore year. I got an 89 for the first six weeks, but then tried to make an effort to improve and got a 96 for the second six weeks so I was able to pass the class with an A. I don’t want to go through that again though, so I’m going to read several books over summer vacation and constantly write journals to prep myself for the class. </p>
<p>It’s a good thing that my intended career path doesn’t involve analyzing essays and passages. xD</p>