I’m thinking about self-studying AP Psych next year and was wondering if it would help my course rigor evaluation by colleges if I were to earn a passing or good score? Basically, does an AP score contribute to course rigor and how should I let my counselor know my score?
As for why I don’t just take it during the school year, I already have 6 academic classes and I want lunch and gym just for my wellbeing.
You have six academic classes already. You need time to eat lunch, and you also need gym. There is no need to self-study anything on top of that. Focus on the classes that you are taking.
No, AP Psych is considered a fluff class by adcoms, skip it.
If the list is “AP tests taken”, then yes.
If it’s “AP courses taken/completed”, then no.
You have not “completed the course” if you haven’t taken the course.
A course you don’t take doesn’t contribute to course rigor.
No. And colleges are not impressed with self studying anyway.
@theloniusmonk Advice that would apply (maybe) if the only goal of AP is to impress adcoms. There’s something to be said about taking a class that interests you and challenges you at the same time. My son loved AP Psych and learned a lot (and was accepted to very competitive schools).
@RichInPitt has it.
It’s not unusual, by the way. Happens a lot. Anyone can take an AP exam. You don’t have to take the course for it. You just sign up. Your home high school might hate keep but you can do it in your own. My kids did. And one went to a school that gladly let anyone take any AP exams even though it offered no AP courses. Their claim was that their courses adequately prepared any student taking the names course for the corresponding AP exam.
In other words, would it be on your list of AP’s taken/AP’s passed?
One other thing I will add. for reasons not related to college admissions, I chose to self study AP Psych since I made the conscious choice to take other classes which I felt were more important. And that’s on me; I own that.
Having said that, my full extent of preparation was cramming over a weekend with Barron’s (which is sorta why colleges don’t put much stock in simply self studying for an exam).
FYI, the fact that the AP Psych exam is so mind-numbingly easy is one of the main reasons Dartmouth eliminated AP Psych credit.
http://pbs.dartmouth.edu/undergraduate/curriculum/transfer-and-ap-credit
Each and every year, there are a plethora af threads asking what are the easiest APs to self study. Experienced users know what they are. More importantly, AOs know what they are. Self studying AP Physics C when the school does not offer it is one thing. Self studying Psych (or stats or environmental science) will not be viewed the same way.
So I should follow this up by asking: What are the benefits of passing AP Psych w/o taking the class (besides college credit)? Also, is there any concrete evidence which would indicate that selective colleges ONLY count AP classes taken in school as AP’s completed and wouldn’t consider an AP Exam score as an indication of proficiency in a subject? I would love to self-study AP Psych, but based on the responses I’m getting on here, I’m not going to study hard for something that won’t improve my chances given that I’ll only have 7 ap’s taken throughout high school (in school ofc).
Other than credit? Not much. For me, scoring a 5 on AP Psych would have allowed me to take upper level pscyh classes as a freshman. But that was a university specific rule, and as it turned out, I ended up not taking the higher-level class.
Self studying could also fulfill an intellectual desire, but that requires no validation from an AP score.
You’re conflating courses with scores. No college is going to consider a score as an indication of taking a class. Some colleges will grant credit/placement for a score, and they will do this with or without a class. But if you are asking specifically as related for admissions whether a score achieved by self studying means anything, then I will say no, with the following possible exception: a score of 5 on an AP foreign language test may be an acceptable alternative to not completing level 4 of a foreign language in a HS class.
When I was going through the admissions process a few years ago, I went to an Exploring College Options event, which had reps from Harvard, Stanford, Penn, Duke, and Georgetown, among others. During the Q&A, someone asked, “What do you think of applicants who self-study for additional AP’s over and above the AP classes they take?” One rep responded, “Please don’t do that. We’re not impressed by that.” The other reps all nodded.
We keep saying, there are no admission benefits to self study. Ski just pointed out that not all colleges will give credit.
You seem to be asking for a short cut that impresses. Not the right thinking for a selective college. They want to see the class is taken, you get the benefit of an instructor, random discussions, your classmates’ brilliant comment/questions and even the dumb ones. In admission terms, learning is not buying a self study book. This sort of padding is not good.
You’re approaching this backwards, thinking, “I don’t have enough,” (which you do not know,) “how can Imake it seem like more?” Why not take a deeper look into what your targets do want. Why not pick colleges that are true matches?
ps. Even self studying physics C is not the classroom experience and better to do at a local cc.
“@theloniusmonk Advice that would apply (maybe) if the only goal of AP is to impress adcoms.”
Right but the OP asking how the class would help course rigor evaluation by colleges, made it about about impressing adcoms.
For the Psych class, I would go just take it at a community college. Most schools, including 4-year universities (yes that includes Berkeley) teaches the class as an online class. If you take it as an online class, it’s the same as self-studying and you get things over with in one semester. Plus it’s more likely to be accepted at a state school than an AP class.
If I were to take it at a CC, when would I do that? I really could do it at my HS during the year, but that would mean in 7 classes during the year and no gym.
The operative word here is “online”.
Hmm… do you personally think that is a better alternative than taking it in HS w/o gym?
I am homeschooled and have self studied for and taken the test for 4 AP’s. Does that mean colleges won’t even look at my AP courses that I have taken?