I’m a junior in high school right now and currently enrolled in regular US History and Government. My older brother convinced me over the summer that I wouldn’t need to take APUSH in order to take the exam and do well, but after spending the money signing up and researching more into the test, I feel like I made a huge mistake signing up. I don’t know what to do and I don’t know if I’d be able to get my money back after I already signed up. I’m worried if I get a bad grade on it, it will look bad on my transcript when applying to colleges but I also worry that if I don’t take it, I could be missing an opportunity. What should I do??
If you’re taking the exam without taking the course, you’re in for an uphill climb IMO, but it isn’t impossible. The most important thing that I saw with my friends who did the same thing you are doing last year is that you MUST practice the essay format, as much as possible. Use prep books (Barron’s and Crash Course were the best, for me at least) and take as many practice exams as possible.
I agree that you @bcc8178 are in for an uphill climb. You will have to do independent studying and want to practice the writing portion. Does your school include AP scores on your transcript? I don’t think that is common and the colleges you apply to will never know you took the exam.
For next year, keep in mind that colleges are looking to see how your course load compares to that of other seniors at your school. If your school offers a lot of advance courses and you consistently take regular courses, this will hurt you when the college counselor has to address the question of how your course rigor compares to others at the school. This may not be the case but I thought I’d mention it.