Homeschooled and self-studying. Help and advice please.

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
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Hey everyone! I’m homeschooled/unschooled and I’m thinking of self-studying a couple of APs (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Calculus) so I could take the tests next year.

I live in the middle of nowhere and wouldn’t be able to attend AP classes in a local high school. While online AP classes are too expensive.

Because of my situation, I have a some concerns and questions that I hope you could help me with:

1 - How many study guides/test preps/etc. should I use? How many did you use and, from your experience, which ones are good? And which ones are unhelpful and should be avoided?

2 - Having done some research, I saw that some of the study guides/test preps have ‘subject area reviews’/‘content reviews’. Will perusing those be enough for me to learn the material that will be on the test (plus free online resources: YouTube videos, SparkNotes, etc.) or should I try to get an AP-level textbook? If so, any recommendations?

3 - Any other resources that I should consider using to self-study? I know there are a lot of ‘recommended’ videos, free lessons/notes, etc. online–an overwhelming number, actually. Which ones are worth the time?

4 - How crucial are/were the labs that you performed in your AP classes in passing the test? I’ve done some high school science labs, but I doubt that they compare to the depth covered in an AP class. If doing these labs are important, is there a way that I could make up for missing out? Are there videos online? Or study guides that would discuss the labs?

5 - Even though it’s still a year a way, I would like to start self-studying now. Is it okay to use the 2016 study guides/test prep? Or does the material in the test varies greatly from year to year that I should wait for the 2017 editions?

I greatly appreciate any help or advice! Thank you in advance for your help!

<3 Lauren :slight_smile:

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Lauren - unfortunately I can’t answer any of your questions, but did have one pointer. Make sure you contact the College Board early in the fall next year to get a list of high schools in your area that administer AP exams. Your best bet is your locally zoned school. You will have to coordinate with the school, preferably very early in the spring semester, to order you a test, and you will probably have to pay a fee. The schools can be very hard to reach/schedule with so don’t leave this to the last minute.

My homeschooled son did not take the AP Computer Science exam because we got the ball rolling on scheduling the test really late. It’s not like SAT exams by College Board - you can’t sign up for AP exams on the CB web site (unless it has changed very very recently).

Just wanted to mention that. Good luck with what you’re trying to do!

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Thank you for that reminder. It would be awful to forget signing up for the test after studying for it. Thanks!