<p>Hi everybody. I'm currently a rising sophomore, and going to be self studying AP Microeconomics + AP Macroeconomics, or AP Microeconomics + AP Psychology. I will be studying over the summer and through the school year, and was wondering which combination would be better, AP Micro/Macro or AP Micro/Psych, as when I'm a sophomore I won't be taking any AP courses. Junior year I will be taking the one that I previously didn't take, and as a Junior, I am probably taking AP Bio, and AP USH. Also, what books would be good to prepare for these (and would textbooks be required/recommended)? And one last question, I heard that to take the AP Economics courses, you would need Calculus? I'm taking Algebra II Honors next year, so I would be ill-prepared for that. Any other comments on self-study these 3 subjects would be great. Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi! I’m a rising junior who took AP Micro and Macro my sophomore year; I also self-studied them. You most definitely DO NOT need to know math for either…know how to multiply and you are golden. I would recommend doing Micro and Macro because much of what is in Macro is covered in Micro (although Macro is quite a bit more challenging). However, I have heard that Pysch is a verryyyyy easy test and I’m s-s it next year. No textbooks necessary! 5 steps to a 5 and Princeton Review are really the only good Prep Books I could find but they suffice. Just make sure that you understand ALL the material very well because if you don’t that one subject that you just don’t get will inevitably appear on an FRQ…that happened to me on my Macro FRQ</p>
<p>Given that you’re going to take AP bio and USH in your junior year, I would suggest that you take AP micro and macro now. Bio and USH are very content heavy subjects and having macroeconomics is not going to make it easy. As what YellowDaises said, psych is a very easy test although it will involve a bit of memory work. It’s best to take a less difficult subject during your junior year since you’re already taking Bio and USH.</p>
<p>Take Macroeconomics and Microeconomics, since there is lots of overlap.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. I went out and picked up Barron’s and 5 Steps to a 5 book for Macro and Micro. Would you guys recommend textbooks?</p>
<p>@ Spaghetto…that’s something that all self-studiers wonder but I have never encountered anyone who has actually used them (except for Art History). It’s easier just to use online resources and prep book and most achieve the same results. I did get a textbook from a Econ teacher but it was WAY too simple for an AP course and I didn’t end up using it so I would advise just using 2 prep books</p>