<p>So when I see people who talk about taking more than like, 6 to 8 AP tests, I get quite a bit bewildered, or when it's like more than five in a year.
First of all, how do you find time to learn all this stuff and still have fun? So far I've only completed AP Comp Sci A and I'm a nerd so I enjoyed that. And the only AP class I'm taking right now is AP Lit, and it's probably the best english class I've had since 8th grade accelerated L/A. Next year I'm planning on taking AP Psych, French, and possibly Calc or Gov, all of which interest me, so I would probably enjoy those classes. But when I see people who are like "I've taken AP Environmental Science and AP Latin Vergil and AP Art History and AP Computer Science" etc, it just makes me wonder how they can stand to learn about all that stuff. I could never pass an AP Environmental science or art history test, because I'm absolutely not interested in it. How can people be interested in a majority of AP tests? And if you're not interested in them whatsoever, why not just wait until college to take them instead or not at all?</p>
<p>Well people take APs for numerous reasons. Many take them to make their college app more attractive while some take them just for the sake of learning. Taking 6 to 8 APs at once will be difficult (no doubt) but being motivated and a good time manager will get the job done. Also some people have broad interests, I have done practically every subject that is offered in a standard high school curriculum and I haven’t found a subject that I dislike to the point where I can’t pass it. There are subjects that I find more difficult than some and hence have to put in more time to get the same grade. Some people just enjoy learning :)</p>
<p>Through what I like to call selective studying.</p>
<p>Which is synonymous with “smart” studying in that you only study sections that are difficult and completely ignore the rest. So if I was a good math student and a poor history one, I’d allocate my time accordingly and spend more of it on history than on math. Similarly, if I understood electrochemistry but struggled with orgo, I’d spend more time on that and less on the other.</p>
<p>It also helps to have started self-studying in the beginning of the summer.</p>
<p>I’m taking 9 exams this year, just for the record.</p>
<p>The college board says that five is the most AP classes a student should take to impress colleges, any more is showing off.
You could take more than four or five AP classes in one school year, but I’d imagine you’d have to do nothing else, or be up until 2 AM every night… I know people who are only taking two AP courses and are up until 11 PM-Midnight doing homework… I enjoy learning, but there’s many more important things to life…
EDIT: @ the Selective studying guy… I think you’re missing my point… I’m not talking about courses being more difficult for you, I’m talking about interest and having a life outside studying. And not everybody needs to “study”, I’ve only ever had to study for tests in two courses, Honors Physical Science and World History. Obviously there’s some intense studying in the weeks before the AP test… It’s more about the mandatory homework that would be the issue for me… Also, are either of you involved in any extracurriculars? Because I’m in Boy Scouts, which chews up two hours on every monday and a weekend every month, as well as (as of this year) mock trial, which goes 6-8 tuesdays and thursdays through november. A lot of the people I know who take AP/Honors classes are also involved in Drama/Chorus/have jobs. I don’t understand how it would be possible to prepare for 9 AP exams, have at least one extracurricular, spend time having fun/goofing off, and still get 6 to 8 hours of sleep every night… Like I said, I know people who are only taking one or two AP courses who don’t get 6 to 8 hours of sleep every night…</p>
<p>Except I go to sleep at 10:30, run track as co-captain, babysit my siblings, and party like a rock star.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t destroy my last and best year of high school to make some faceless admissions officer happy. I very well know what I am doing.</p>
<p>How many of your AP exams are you taking courses for?</p>
<p>Four courses, seven subjects, nine exams. All four courses can be considered as the next sequential step in those subjects (Stats, Physics, Chem, English).</p>
<p>Alright, so AP courses are supposed to have an hour of nightly homework according to my school.
Let’s say that’s a little bit of fudge and say it’s an average of 45 minutes.
I’m going to assume you are taking at least three other courses, and let’s say those average 20 minutes of homework a night.
That’s an average of four of homework nightly.
Let’s assume your school gets out at 2 PM, like mine. Assuming you spend an 3 hours doing some mix of socializing and using the computer, plus an hour for eating and 30 minutes of general transportation/wasted time. That’s 8.5 hours, bringing you to exactly 10:30 PM on a night when you don’t procrastinate, don’t baby sit, and don’t do any serious partying.
That would be technically plausible for me under my school setting, IF I was enjoying the work I was doing… But most people at my school spend more time socializing/on the computer than that…</p>
<p>bernier93 you are forgetting that everyone is wired differently. Some people (like me) enjoy learning, and when you enjoy something you do extremely well at it. Also there are techniques that enhance your learning ability. A very common one is learning how to be synced with your learning curve. Everyone has a time when they are at their peak and are able to process large amounts of information in short periods of time. For me its getting up at 1AM and studying/doing HW straight till 5AM. For someone else it could be a different time frame, but once you find it your academic performance will improve.</p>
<p>You don’t understand, I enjoy learning, but only when the information is interesting.
And anyway, you don’t need AP tests to learn, you’re always learning.
My academic performance is fine, I have no grade below a B and made high honors all last year, I’m just saying a load of five or more APs in a year would be way too much work, no matter if I enjoy the subjects or not. IMO homework (not reading assignments or the occasional review packet) is mostly a waste of time, I only do most of it because I have to. More homework != my idea of an enjoyable experience.</p>
<p>Yeah, busywork sucks. That’s why I don’t do it. </p>
<p>My school’s a bit different, and the teachers are for the most part not pressured to regurgitate grades for us. Most of my daily homework comes from English Lit, and since they’re all essays I can’t really skip those. Stats and physics are two examples of subjects I don’t need to do my homework in (for the most part), because they’re both subject I enjoy and I often don’t need the extra studying. Chem is done online, with all homework for the week being accessible from the start, so I can tailor my time as needed.</p>
<p>I also try to do as much work as possible during school hours, which frees up time later. A schedule this demanding requires me to prioritize, so no partying or midnight movies Sun-Thurs. I usually don’t get home until around 5:00 because of track / hanging out.</p>
<p>Most of my homework is spent on actual studying or writing essays.</p>
<p>As an addendum, I do enjoy or have an interest in all of my subjects.</p>
<p>I get the most work in the 2 non-AP classes of my 7.</p>
<p>Most classes in school waste a ton of time. Self-studies let you work at your own pace.</p>
<p>Okay, then let’s talk about practicallity. </p>
<p>How many people have actually sucessfully done 8+ AP’s in one year (Discounting all the 1’s and 2’s, of course)? </p>
<p>Honestly, it’s only September and it’s hard to tell how many AP’s one would drop in the course of 8 months.</p>