Asked a while back about taking APUSH as a self-studied course instead of wasting a slot, though I eventually decided to just take the class (people in my school, at least, say it’s a hard test without 100% knowing the materials).
Can anyone vouch for how to prove that you’re self studying a subject like Micro/Macro or Stat? Obviously a college looks at your app and sees “Hey, that’s pretty good- but who cares, you could’ve just memorized the textbook 2 days before”. Not that they even really consider the scores themselves until admission, but you see what I mean.
Any way aside from direct college courses…? I’d obviously prefer to spend as little money as possible. Thank you all!
You can’t, so don’t even try. No college will care if you self studied. If you’re self studying to get a strong score to potentially get credit or to satisfy a curiosity, then the AP score should be reward enough. But don’t look for AOs to hand out lollipops for self studying.
On your Common App or other apps that you might use for applying to universities, you would self report the classes, perhaps the type of class (AP, Honor, IB, etc) and grades you have taken and will take your senior year. In a separate section, you would then presumably list out all the AP tests you have taken and will take. Whatever is in the AP list that doesn’t match up with your class list, presumably you are self-studying.
There is also a section to explain anomalies. For example if you are taking the AP Calc BC exam but is taking the AP Calc AB class because you weren’t allowed in the class for some reason, this is where you might explain things. I wouldn’t go out of my way to explain self-study tests specifically, except for unusual circumstances like the example above.
I don’t think college admission officers are especially impressed by self-studying for the AP exams. There is a difference between taking an AP level course and simply prepping for an exam. I think time could be better used excelling in academic classes, furthering your involvement in meaningful ECs. etc.
When I was going through the admissions process a couple of years ago, I went to an Exploring College Options event, which had reps from Harvard, Stanford, Penn, Duke, and Georgetown, among others. During the Q&A, someone asked, “What do you think of applicants who self-study for additional AP’s over and above the AP classes they take?” One rep responded, “Please don’t do that. We’re not impressed by that.” The other reps all nodded.
Full disclosure - I did self study a couple, but for reasons totally unrelated to admission.
Nope! They don’t know you are self-studying, and they don’t take AP scores into account really in admissions.
For example, Stanford says:
Students currently enrolled in AP courses are not required to submit AP scores as part of our admission process. AP scores that are reported are acknowledged but rarely play a significant role in the evaluation of an application. Grades earned over the course of a term, or a year, and evaluations from instructors who can comment on classroom engagement provide us with the most detailed insight into a student’s readiness for the academic rigors of Stanford. http://admission.stanford.edu/basics/selection/prepare.html
So spend your effort on your classes in HS or on ECs or if you really need credits to save money.