I am going into sophomore year in high school and am attempting to self study AP Economics (Most likely Macro, unsure if I should take Micro). I have already finished around 10% of the course as I have studied the basic economic concepts. Last year, I finished with a 4.75 Weighted, and 4.0 Unweighted GPA and because my school does not allow freshman and sophomores to take AP classes, I self-studied Statistics and got a 5. I also have a job as a math tutor for an afterschool math service and do rowing in fall and spring and cross-country skiing in the winter. I have put as much effort as I possibly could into making myself be an above and beyond candidate for top tier colleges. My questions are:
How much does self-studying Stats and Econ help me?
Should I take Microeconomics in addition to Macro?
Is Khan Academy a good tool for learning material?
What else can I do to increase my chances of going to a good college?
Generally not, at least for the more commonly self-studied ones (that are known to be the easier ones to self-study for).
Are Stats and Econ commonly self-studied APs?
If you have the height, your time is better spent on your 2k times.
No tip. Adcoms prefer classes and understand if your hs makes you wait. Plus, a lot better ways to study econ than a home version of a high school course.
Instead of rushing into AP, spend the extra time looking at what colleges do want. That’s more important, so you can be what they look for. And you’ll need more than tutoring and sports.
The only exception is districts or states that do offer “virtual school.”
It may get you some college credit depending upon where you go. Will the self studying help you in admissions? Nope. Not at all.
If possible, take both in a class offered by your school. It might have to be in a later year depending on HS restrictions.
They commonly come up on “What are the Easiest APs to Self Study?” threads, along with psych. You should assume that if everyone here knows what the easy APs are that AOs know as well.
I agree with @Eeyore123 If you have time to self study, then the time is better spent on Improving your 2k times
There is one self-study scenario that I can think of that would help:
If you are taking AP Calc AB and self study for AP Calc BC, there are a few schools that heavily recommends/requires BC, or more often would put you level with the majority of applicants. A lot of schools don’t offer BC, or maybe because of tracking you might not get to BC in time.
We can probably count those schools on one hand, and I would say the second half of your sentence is more the case than the first. I can also potentially, and for the same reason, include Physics C if only Physics 1 and/or 2 is available and the student knows some calc. But again, it’s more to be on the same playing field as other first-years at a very very small number of schools, rather than improving admissions chances.
But the OP was clearly asking about easy APs, even if s/he did not phrase it that way.
Thank you!
Call me clueless…but what does this mean?
Rowing recruits tend to be on the tall side. And like swimming and track, stats (times) are the key factor @thumper1