How many APs should I self-study?

<p>Hi CollegeConfidential! I would you to take a look at my schedule:</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
Psychology
Biology
Calculus AB
And: 4th Year Spanish, 3D Art, Occupational Education (blow-offs), Sophomore Honors English</p>

<p>Self-studying:
World History (retaking exam from last year, got a 3)
European History (ties in with World History, better get a humanities credit out of the way)
Human Geography (also ties in with World History, heard was easy)
Calc BC (might do throughout the summer to lessen load)</p>

<p>Junior Year:
U.S. History
Language & Composition
Physics 1
And: Honors Chemistry, Calculus III (will study over summer), College Spanish</p>

<p>Self-studying:
Statistics (lack of a better math class, heard was moderate)
Spanish & Literature (I'm very advanced in Spanish, and will study for this exam throughout my high school career as well not just through a year; also taking college Spanish as we'll)</p>

<p>Senior Year:
U.S. & Comparative Government
Literature & Composition
Environmental Science
And: College Spanish, some math class, Advanced Chemistry</p>

<p>Self-studying:
Macroeconomics
Microeconomics
Chemistry (over two years)</p>

<p>-- What a heapload. Freshman year was so boring, so I decided to formulate this schedule. Yes, I have taken AP before. My question is: Can I manage this schedule with ECs? Thanks for your advice! I seriously want to get some college credits out of the way. </p>

<p>This is absolutely ridiculous and unreasonable. This likely won’t give you an edge in college admissions because most colleges don’t consider AP exam scores for admissions and a lot don’t even accept the credit. You shouldn’t self study for more than 2 per year. Especially since you are already taking so many AP classes. I’m not really sure what you are looking to get from self studying. For example, self studying Calc BC, unless you are a math guru is a terrible idea. If you self study over the summer, you’ll forget so much by May. In addition, you will want to be able to prepare for your standardized tests and if you are self studying for 4 AP exams IN ADDITION to studying for the 3 exams you are taking through the class, something is going to suffer. </p>

<p>Yes I agree with the previous post. This is absolutely ridiculous and you will probably crash and burn. </p>

<p>Okay, the thing is the colleges I’m going to have an AP program. My purpose is not to gain an edge in admissions, but to gain an edge in saving tuition money, time, etc. from self-studying the AP courses. I have checked all of the colleges that I want to attend and they all have appropriate AP programs that include most of the courses listed on the first post.</p>

<p>The reason why I made this schedule is because:</p>

<ol>
<li>There are people out there taking plenty of AP courses and are doing fine in them</li>
<li>Some people have self-studied these courses in a few months before the exam and have gotten a good score</li>
</ol>

<ol>
<li><p>there are a lot of people taking the courses for the rigor, not just for the credit.</p></li>
<li><p>Most students don’t self study for 3 or 4 for all of high school</p></li>
<li><p>You will find yourself earning, but not actually receiving credit for a lot of these exams. There’s a very good chance that you will have the credit for a class that you were never going to take in the first place.</p></li>
<li><p>Taking an AP exam and getting a 5 doesn’t mean that you just drop a course for that semester. You will still be taking a course that you will have to pay for in its replacement. So your money saving plan isn’t going to work in the short term or the long term. You are still paying for 4 years of tuition. </p></li>
</ol>