<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm a homeschooled student doing some APs next May. If I've never done the subjects before, when should I start studying? Is it unrealistic to expect to get a good grade if I start in January?</p>
<p>Also, how much time should be "prep time" and how much should be "go through textbook time"? :)</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>It really depends on the subject. Usually you can cram an AP in less than a month. (Such as memorizing ones like biology, etc.)</p>
<p>However, subjects like U.S History require analytical essays which is a developmental process, rather than a study-do multiple choice-done process.</p>
<p>P.S. Avoid doing practice book M.Cs. Find real past exams from the teachers or get them from the collegeboard website.</p>
<p>All the best!</p>
<p>Are you self-studying or is someone teaching you the material?</p>
<p>It really depends on the test, and how much you want to retain after the AP exam.</p>
<p>I personally prefer studying over a longer period of time, because then I retain a lot better. And I want to learn something that I can keep with me for a long time, not just take the test to take the test. If you are like me, then I would start studying anywhere from late november to the beginning of Feb.</p>
<p>However, If you like cramming, then you can easily learn the material in a month or less (depending on the test), however, the history tests certainly take longer, as well as the science tests (except enviro). I did try cramming for stats in 2 days, and that did not work out so well, I only got a 3.</p>
<p>which one/s areyou taking? that makes a huge difference</p>
<p>The two I’ve taken so far are English Language and US History.</p>
<p>Language you could probably start preparing 2 months ahead of time and get a 5, if you’re an avid reader. </p>
<p>US History I would say takes a good 5 months though. You could definitely study for a month or two and be prepared for the multiple choice. However, the essays are a whole different beast. The style of writing takes some time to get used to, but more than that you need to be able to pack your essays full of support. Knowing minor facts that don’t affect the big picture score you points here. Those are the things you won’t remember if you start studying shortly before hand. I’d say on any given topic you need to know at least 4 events down to the temperature those days.</p>
<p>That being said, I fully believe you could self study both of those and get 5’s.</p>
<p>I’m definitely doing US History (using The American Pageant and the AMSCO prep book) and Chinese. I’m also considering:</p>
<p>Psychology, European History, English Language/Literature, Comp/US Gov, Environ.Sci, Human Geo., Economics, Studio Art, Comp.Sci, </p>
<p>and maybe also Biology, Chemistry and World History (though I’m already taking these SATs this December).</p>
<p>I’m self-studying all but Chinese btw. I have Maths, Further Maths, and Physics A-levels, so want to load up on the social sciences.</p>
<p>I don’t know about US history, but based on Euro History that I self-studied this year, you could probably start studying at the beginning of jan. or feb. </p>
<p>Economics takes about a week or two to learn both of them. again, if you want to retain the information, I would suggest starting in jan. or feb.</p>
<p>US Gov, I spent a week on it in december, and couldn’t really focus on it after that week. I still think I got a 4.</p>
<p>Chemistry, I self-studied the stuff that wasn’t covered in my honors class a week before the test, but I did have 8 months of honors chemistry class before the test too. I would suggest about the same time for euro, maybe a little bit more; there is a LOT of information.</p>
<p>The other tests, I have no personal experience with.</p>
<p>You’re considering studying all of those? Or some of those?</p>
<p>The American Pageant is good, if not the best from what I’ve heard. Also, I reccomend in the weeks right before the test you get a set of flashcards, barrons makes some great ones. Those help a lot.</p>
<p>I’m considering doing some of them - all of them would kill me, lol :P. Which ones are “core” APs in “core” subjects and which are ones it’d be better to learn in college?</p>
<p>This is just my opinion, as I little on the topic of which APs are best to take. I would say that core APs are:</p>
<p>English (Lang or Lit)
History (any of them)
Science (Bio, Chem, and either Physics B or Physics C)
Math (Calc AB and/or BC)</p>
<p>Economics knowledge is also good, I think. Particularly Macro, but I think Micro is more fun.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that cramming only works if you’re studying for 1 or 2 exams. The problem is that all the exams are within 2 weeks (3 if you’re doing late testing). Can’t exactly cram 3 exams in week. Even if you could cram an exam in a day or two (which I don’t believe is possible, unless you’re taking an honours class), you’d be so exhausted after cramming hard for 2 straight days and writing a 3 hour exam that you don’t have enough energy to cram the next exam.</p>
<p>Well, I’m totally free after 2010 begins apart from APs… is there anything I’ve listed that needs more than 4 months to study (given that I’ve nothing else to do?) Apart from Chinese, could I do something like:</p>
<p>English Language/US History/European History/Environmental Science and/or Psychology</p>
<p>in that time?</p>
<p>Also, what are APs like Government useful for?</p>
<p>Python, I highly doubt you could self-study all of that. It’s quite possible to cram in a month, but the thing is, all the exams are in May. It pretty much means that if you decide to do e.g. Psych in Jan and APES in Feb, by the end of Feb, you’ll forget most of the Psych due to retroactive learning (or was it proactive learning? I forgot lol). </p>
<p>Why don’t people get a life instead? Just becuase you’re “free,” it doesn’t mean you’d want to spend 4 hours each night by yourself at a library. Go volunteer instead. If your school offers co-op (I don’t know if this is just Canadian or not), then take co-op. </p>
<p>Seriously, assuming you’re going for at least a Bachelor’s, you’d be studying for at least 4 more years. You don’t want to exhaust yourself out before when your grades actually count.</p>
<p>Edit: I just looked at the first post, and forgot that you’re homeschooled. Then just stick with volunteering or getting a job.</p>
<p>I’m doing studio art:drawing next year and it’s probably the funnest class i have on my schedule. Very relaxing and you just draw (not good for people who don’t have the patience). It may be the most work intensive class though. You get 1 project per week and the summer work takes a while to finish, especially if you’re pieces are going to be any good. I suggest you take the class but if you want a 3, 4 or 5 you have to start preparing from the beginning of the year. AP studio art is all about tedious hours of preparing works. It’s a real discipline if you stick to you, it’ll whip you in shape if you don’t already have the “study” habits.</p>
<p>I tend to stick to the same work schedule every day (say, 5 pages of this book and so forth) and take one break day a week (doing some light revision then) - I’m not sure how that compares to “normal” school…? I’ll probably get a job over the summer, but not before then. At least, not if I can spend that time studying for an extra exam.</p>
<p>@zaboda42: Do you have to have any previous experience in Art? I do draw for fun, but not in a class.</p>
<p>I’m planning on beginning my AP US History self-studying from now on for the May '10 exam.</p>
<p>I’ll also consider AP Psych and Environmental Science too. So, that’ll be AP Biology, AP Psych, AP ES, and AP USH, with Bio being the only one I’m actually taking in school.</p>
<p>I hope I can handle it. I hear AP ES and AP Psych is easy. I’m more worried about how I can self-study AP US History with the essays and all. Any success stories and words of advice you guys can offer me?</p>
<p>How about a failure story instead? I know this one guy who tried to self-study for 3 exams for last May. By the time you spend 3 hours a night studying for 2 months in a row, you’d be so exhausted in May that you’d be falling asleep during the exam. </p>
<p>Sure, he somewhat pulled through. But he ended up opting out of one exam last minute and wasting 20 dollars. Plus, he ended up having no life and there’s no way he’ll do it again. There’s really no point in shelling out 80 bucks per exam (and practically giving up everything else) just for bragging rights. There were times he desparately wanted to go throw some hoops, but couldn’t because he had to study without breaks. </p>
<p>Seriously, especially if you guys have to pay as early as Dec., then you might want to re-consider. You don’t know what you’re signing up for. </p>
<p>And as I mentioned earlier, you might be able to pull this one off, but you’ll be so worn out that you might not survive college. Save you “studying energy” for college when it really counts, instead of voluntarily burning out yourself for something that’s not worth it.</p>
<p>Bassir,</p>
<p>for the essays on the APUSH exam, I would suggest printing off past FRQs, and writing essays on all of the essays for each year (not just choose one of the two that they give you for parts B and C). That way you will get really good at writing, you will know exactly what kinds of questions/what recurring topics there are. And then grade your essays.</p>
<p>I did this on AP Euro History, and it worked really well, although on the actual test this year, all three essay choices in part B were not really any topics that I expected. But I’m still pretty sure I received a 5 on it, b/c I practiced. Also, with the DBQ it is really good to practice.</p>
<p>Well, how many hours of work, in total, would I have to put in for each AP in:</p>
<p>US History/English Language/Chinese/European History/Psychology/Enviro. Sci? </p>
<p>Look, I honestly do appreciate what you’re trying to tell me, but the point I’m trying to make is that I have literally nothing else to do. Also, I may not end up entering for all of these, but in order to make a good decision, I have to know roughly how long each is going to take. If I knew how long the textbook was, that would also help.</p>