<p>Hello, I'm a freshman in a reasonably competitive high school in Illinois. I've been self-studying a few AP classes that aren't offered at my school that are considered easier than other AP classes, including Macro/Micro and Human Geography. I've understood most of the content in the textbooks and in study guides such as Princeton Review and Barron's.</p>
<p>I'm not familiar with the general population of College Confidential, but it seems like a lot of the people here self-study AP courses and I'm afraid that that is what most advanced students in my school are currently doing. I don't want to be left in the dust...but at the same time, I feel like I'm attempting this too early on and that I should wait until later during Junior/Senior year.</p>
<p>Am I getting ahead of myself? Or is this a good time to start preparing? Thank you.</p>
<p>YEAH YOU ARE!!! most CC’ers dont even take AP classes until their junior year!! I suggest you use this year to EXPLORE and HAVE FUN and learn from your mistakes. dont stress urself out now!</p>
<p>Well, I personally think you are getting ahead of yourself. Most students don’t begin taking AP courses until sophomore year, at the very earliest. If you want to self-study some now, go ahead, but keep in mind that several colleges don’t look at your freshman year whatsoever (although if you sent in your AP test scores they’d see those).</p>
<p>You say you go to a competitive high school…I would think your high school could offer a sufficient amount of AP courses. Obviously, the more AP classes the better, but I’m sure colleges would be impressed if you did very well in all of the classes simply offered by your school even without self-studied classes.</p>
<p>It’s up to you, I’m not saying it will hurt you to self-study, but I’m not sure just how much it will help you in the end. To answer your question though, I think you are starting a tad too early. You can start preparing, but I’d decide to try out a self-studied AP course after taking one at your school first (probably next year).</p>
<p>My high school does offer several AP courses, but they’re missing a few that I’m interested in, including Geography and Music Theory. Unfortunately, there aren’t any AP classes that are available to ninth graders, so I’m stuck with honors..</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your input. In any case, I’ll probably just read a few books covering Macro/Micro and take the course next year.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I’m in quite a few extracurricular activities. Just wondering though, do colleges care about organized sports/varsity sports or any of that? I’ve been in cross-country for a few years (I’m decent), but I might not have enough time later on when self-studying takes up more of my time.</p>
<p>colleges really admire people who are involved in extra curricular acitivities. when a student is well balanced with the grades, the standardized test scores, the academic honors and the extracurricular/sports activities, the person has a higher chance of acceptance. </p>
<p>and boy, you’re a freshman?
man.
i remember freshman year… i never thought about those things … way to take the initiative.</p>
<p>Thanks Stockguru. I learned a lot of interesting information at CC in the past few days. I like how this place makes me feel like I fit in more than those annoying social networks that I rarely browse. I have yet to see a single post without decent grammar (besides mine, but then again, I’m just a stinkin’ freshman!), and it’s invigorating to hear so many success stories on the SAT and AP tests.</p>
<p>If you are going to self-study something, study something that builds from year to year. For instance, self-studying Latin for 3 years, getting a 5 on the AP Latin exam and a super high score on the achievement test would look way better than a smattering of “easier” AP tests self-studied. </p>
<p>Not that you should study Latin if you’re not interested, but best to go in-depth into something than flitting around on things just to get an AP tests score.</p>
<p>how well you’ll perform is based on your intelligence not your age - i got a 5 on calculus BC, chemistry, and stats freshman year self study, so don’t worry, you’ll be fine - i wish i self studied more</p>
<p>^I’m not doubting the fact that videogames9 may do well on the self-studied AP courses, I’m just doubting how much these few extra courses will help his college applications come senior year.</p>
<p>Also, AP Music Theory is a pretty tough course even with a good teacher.</p>
<p>Don’t feel bad that you aren’t taking any AP courses your freshman year, hardly anyone does. And I’m talking about students who are accepted into top universities. You don’t really need to freshman year, so don’t worry about it! Just take the most difficult schedule possible your freshman year (which it sounds like you are doing) and start piling up the AP classes next year and more specifically, junior year.</p>
<p>It’s never too early to start taking AP classes in HS. I know many, many people at my school who have either taking or are taking AP Bio and/or AP Calc AB in Freshman year.</p>
Just wondering though, do colleges care about organized sports/varsity sports or any of that? I’ve been in cross-country for a few years (I’m decent), but I might not have enough time later on when self-studying takes up more of my time.</p>
Just take the most difficult schedule possible your freshman year (which it sounds like you are doing) and start piling up the AP classes next year and more specifically, junior year.</p>