<p>AP Psych is by far the easiest AP to self-study. I did and I know many people who have also. I scored a 5 as have most people who self-study it. The AP Gov/Pol tests are also easy to prep for individually. Human Geography and Enviro Sci. are also supposedly easy. I'd say those are the top 5 easiest (Psych, Comp Gov, US Gov, Human Geo, and Enviro Sci). Macro and Micro economics follow, imo ;)</p>
<p>OH, and for those with exceptional foreign language abilities (and even fluency), the Romance Language APs (Spanish, French, and Italian) aren't bad at all! It may even be more productive to self-study than to take a class depending on how teacher's at one's school teach the courses. I self-studied AP Italian and I'm sure I got a 5 (I got 5s on Spanish and French). I got a 5 on French Lit which I also self-studied (well...actually I didn't do much studying. I kinda just combined my knowledge of the French language with my knowledge of Literary terms from AP Eng. Lit and voil</p>
<p>Psych is easy to study for since (contrary to what they say) it's common sense (not too counter-intuitive). A lot of it seriously depends on solid mastery of the vocabulary terms! If you can memorize all of the vocabulary and concepts and have a good arsenal of examples (from past experiments or common situations), then you're good for at least a 4. Whether or not you get the 5 depends on how much effort you put into your review and how thorough your review is. It's the easiest AP, without question!</p>
<p>Although I like to do these extra APs because of their wonderful appearance on college apps, I really do like to learn INTERESTING material. Did anyone find Psych and Environmental Science interesting?</p>
<p>Psychology was pretty interesting, but I have a question for APES, was it a lot of work to self-study because I am taking AP BIO and am wondering if that will help at all?<br>
Also, what prep book is good for APES?</p>
<p>While I don't know much about AP ES, I did self-study AP Psych.</p>
<p>Psych is unbelievably intriguing! For a while, I was convinced that I wanted to be a Psychology major. I've moved on now, but I still would like to apply Psychology to my future career plans (international law or diplomacy). Psychology is universal and can help in many fields. As a subject of study in and of itself, it's fun and interesting. I highly recommend it both to the student who wants an easy 5 as well as the student who thirsts for interesting knowledge. :)</p>
<p>My son self-studied APES. He didn't seem to think it was very difficultat all. He looked at the books at the library & Barnes & Noble for APES. He decided the one from the library was good enough & thinks he probably got a 5 in it. He probably studied less than a week total for APES & similar amount of time for AP US Gov, which he also found easy.
He didn't take AP bio but did take regular bio in 9th grade.</p>
<p>I found Psych to be very interesting! Not all of it, of course, and to my chagrin as the AP test got very near I found myself semi-cramming from Barrons instead of reading the textbook. In general, though, I studied it because I was interested, and the AP was of somewhat secondary concern (it IS considered rather "lite," so it won't help much in admisssions etc., but I figured as long as I'm learning from the same textbook typically used by AP students I might as well take the test.)</p>
<p>It covers a fairly wide range of topics, from linguistics to biology, and has many "applications" in everyday life, which I guess was a large part of the attraction for me.</p>
<p>I'm thinking of doing independent study for Psych and/or Economics. Do I really need a textbook or will the review books from Barron's. </p>
<p>My school doesn't offer a lot of AP classes. For next year, all they have is English Lang., Lit., Spanish IV, Art History, Calculus AB and that's it.
:(</p>
<p>I would definitely second Psychology. I self-studied for it this year in three days (yeah, I sometimes procrastinate), ended up knowing more material on the test than the people who actually took the class.</p>
<p>I have heard from kids who took the class that it involves a fair amount of "science" like stuff involving neurology etc. Is this true? Can anyone like provide a rough outline of what topics the AP class covers?</p>
<p>Edit: Additionally, does anyone know how much significance self-studying an AP can have for colleges? I know its getting harder and harder to place out of introductory classes even with a 5 on the test, but for admissions, how much weight is placed on a self studied vs class AP?</p>
<p>It's the companion site for the Myers textbook, which covers everything on the AP and is pretty widely used.</p>
<p>In short, yes, Psych does have an emphasis on neurobiology, but it's basic stuff--regions of the brain, names and functions of neurotransmitters, a bit about different classes of drugs and their effect. It's nothing near AP Bio in terms of level of detail, if that's what you're thinking of.</p>
<p>Not sure about the significance of self-studying, but it's definitely getting harder to place out--and in many cases you might lose out by doing so anyway. Probably the AP class is "weighted" more in admissions, just in terms of seeing that you have a challenging schedule, but from everything I've heard, especially recenty, colleges mostly care about APs for placement after you've been admitted.</p>
<p>Sorry, I meant it doesn't, in response to the previous poster's question about how much neurobiology is in it. I don't think it makes much of a difference either way.</p>
<p>I self studied Chem, Calc BC and Phys C.. out of all of them, I would say Calc BC is the easiest to study for... Chem is relatively easy.. just that none of the books offered out there are REALLY complete to self study.. (as they either dont have the lab section, or they lack in explaining the topic well)</p>