History APs

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Hi! I’m a rising junior in high school and a social sciences nerd. Any and all social science classes are my favorite in school, which has led me to go beyond my small (but really good) public high school’s lack of underclassmen honors classes in the humanities by taking Anthropology Honors and Intro to Psychology, in addition to self studying AP World History (which I got a 4 on with an AWFUL teacher for my regular level WH class, I also got a 740 on the SAT II) and AP Human Geo (which I also got a 4 on) Over the summer, I took Abnormal Psychology at Summer @ Brown. Next year, I’m taking SUPA US History (Dual Credit with Syracuse, same level of difficulty as APUSH but more essays and 3 more college credits) and self studying the AP Gov classes (Comp and US) and potentially self studying APUSH. Senior year, I’ll take AP Euro, AP Psych, and self study the economics APs and AP Art History (I’m only mentioning my Social Science classes here, haha)

A few questions:

  1. Is it worth it to self study APUSH? SUPA US History goes way more in depth on fewer events, and focuses more on historical thinking and analysis instead of APUSH, which covers everything relatively quickly and presents the facts. I feel like I won’t do that well, but if I take it, I’ll have taken every history AP.
  2. How impressive will it look to take (and pass - hopefully!) every history AP?
  3. How bad will my 4’s on APs and 740 on my SAT II look for someone applying for a social science major? (likely psych-anthro double major, history minor)
  4. For my second SAT II, should I take USH or English?
  5. Does anyone know of good opportunities for students interested in anthropology?

Thanks!

2
  1. No. Do something else with your time.
  2. Depends. If you are a history major, it may help. It may also give the impression that you are just trying to cram all the APs possible?
  3. Fine. You can still retake the SAT II.
  4. Look at college requirements to see what you should take.
  5. I do not
3

OK, you are not entirely happy with your existing AP and SAT 2 scores, yet you are planning to load up on as many self-study APs as you can. A 4 on WHAP isn’t bad but it looks to me like you are already pushing the limits of what you can accomplish well. Colleges aren’t nearly as impressed by self-studying APs as students on this site assume they are. So I don’t see how this plan makes sense. All this self studying is going to detract from doing well on your coursework and exams for those courses and from your time for meaningful ECs, it’s not going to impress colleges nearly as much as you think it will, and judging by your track record so far, you won’t be super happy with the outcome.