I know everyone is stressing about AP schedules but I don't know if I can handle mine

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

<p>In September, I'll be a Sophomore taking 2 AP classes: Calc BC & Chem. My school doesn't offer an official AP European History class, but I will be taking a "European History" class so I plan on buying prep books and 1 textbook for AP Euro Hist, to take the AP exam in May.</p>

<p>I heard from someone on this forum that AP Art History correlates nicely with AP Euro. I have a lot of interest in art and art history so I was happy to hear this. And so I thought, at that moment, that I might be able to take the AP Art Hist exam even though there isn't a course for that at my school.</p>

<p>Sophomore year is my FIRST year taking any APs (I took one SAT Subject Test as a Freshman) so I don't know if I'll be able to handle AP Calc BC, Chem, Euro & Art Hist. I do a lot of sports and many extracurricular activities, and I don't know if I'll be able to be motivated to self-study the entire AP Art Hist.</p>

<p>I've received a lot of recommendations to get at least one textbook for AP Art History, but along with all the prep books I'm buying the cost of books is nearly $200. SO ... what do you guys think? I know its NO WHERE close to people who take 10+ APs in one year, but I'd never be able to handle that kind of stuff. I want to have an actual life along with my APs.</p>

2

<p>If you haven't taken an AP class before, it'll take you awhile to get used to the workload - and you're starting off with alot of AP's. </p>

<p>I took two AP's my sophomore year, and it was really overwhelming at first. There was about 2 hours of homework for each AP every night. In govt, I had to turn in 10 page outlines every 3 days. In APUSH, I also had to do outlines, though they were due at the end of every week. And we didn't just do outlines. There was alot outside reading and other assignments I had to do for each class. </p>

<p>It was not easy for me to handle all at once, and a few times I wondered if it was even worth the trouble.</p>

3

<p>To me, that is way too much to deal with in sophomore year. My first hs only had AP Bio available to 10th graders, and I'm pretty sure that less than 30 people out of a class of around 900 ended up taking that. I didn't start taking APs until 11th grade, so I don't really know what it's like to experience a sophomore load, but...what I can say is that dealing 4 AP classes in one year is a challenge. At least, it was for me, and that was during my senior year. </p>

<p>First, consider the fact that you're taking AP Calc BC in 10th grade. I'm assuming that you're very good at math, or else you wouldn't take BC during your sophomore year. I admit, I have not taken BC; I took AB. However, I do know this: 1) I have heard or knew of a couple juniors taking calc at my second hs, but not so for sophomores. 2) The BC class works at 1.5-2 times the rate of the AB class. Remember, AB is already a college-level class in itself. Again, not trying to insult your intelligence here. If you are a math whiz, and you think you can pull this off, kudos to you.</p>

<p>Second, it's important at this time to ask yourself: "What exactly is this all going to do? Is this all necessary to get what I want?" They may sound like silly questions to ask yourself now. You might think, "Well, it's going to get me into a great school because I'll lead the competition this way," but the thing is, what is competition, really? From my experience, I would say that for AP fanatics around here, it's more about taking the most classes and getting the best AP scores. But see, putting "most classes" and "best AP scores" together creates a whole world of trouble. I'll say right now that you do not need a zillion AP classes to get accepted into a great school. What will suffice? Probably between 4-8 (a "middle range," if you will.) For example, a few years ago, the average number of AP classes taken by people at my hs who were applying to William and Mary was 6.2, and for those applying to U.VA, it was 7.0. However, upon looking at a record book of past acceptances and rejections, I found that a person who took 8 APs didn't get in to U.VA while a person who took 6 did. The reason for this of course is because the 6-er got a better GPA than the 8-er did. So, if you were to take AP chem and AP BC Calc this year, take two more APs during your junior year, and take three APs during your senior year, you'd have a total of 7 APs, and you'd probably be able to manage your time better than in the situation that you're proposing. Prestigous colleges love to see you work your ass off, sure, but they don't really care if you get only Bs and Cs in those difficult classes (okay, a B+, they'd care about, and for Calc BC and Chem or any other science course, a B- could still probably invoke some compassion in the admissions board.) </p>

<p>Point being: balance is the key. You don't want to waste money on things that you're not even entirely sure that you're going to be able to study for. It's always best to test things out first. If you find that you don't have time to self-study, then don't buy the books-- that's one lesson that I most certainly have learned from my experiences. There is much value in taking things one step at a time. If you let the prospect of "AP" control your thinking, believe me, when you get out of high school, you may not necessarily come out happy. I'm not saying that AP classes shouldn't be taken. Nay, they are a valuable asset to our education system in many ways. But if it gets to the point where you start believing: "I have to do this because if I don't, I will be a failure in the eyes of others and in my own eyes," then we know that there's a problem. And I, along with several other people I have met in college, can attest to the damage that the AP system is capable of causing. AP does prepare you for college, that I can't deny, but it is a rigid world in my view and can slowly entrap you in its self-promoting world (I still want to take AP exams over to improve my scores...see what it's done to me?)</p>

<p>You have to ask yourself if it really rational to overtax your mind and body to the point where you nearly collapse. I don't know who these people are that take "10 AP classes" a year, and although I have seen them on here, I don't know if I can believe that. I'd have to see it to believe it. I know what I personally was capable of during my senior year...I doled out a 4.0 weighted, 3.71 unweighted, taking 4 APs and 3 regular classes, receiving all As except for Calc and Gov't, for the first semester, but when my apps were in, I got a little lazy, and my final weighted average for the year was a 3.79 weighted, 3.5 unweighted. Not bad by any means, but the point is, if you slack off even a little, you're going to lose points. The only reason why I was so disciplined was because I learned from my mistakes with the two APs I took during my junior year. That said, I don't know how a person taking more than 5 APs a year could get out of the whole system alive without some scars due to a failure of some sort. There's the occasional lucky bird, but is that a risk you're willing to take? That's the question that you should ask yourself. Whatever you do, don't sell your soul to AP! (Edit: Pardon my melodrama.)</p>

4

<p>Idcubed, thanks for your lengthy response, but I do believe I need to prove some of my points. The only reason why I'm taking AP Calc BC & AP Chem is because I am confident that I will get A's in the class and quite possibly a 5 on the AP exam. I got recommendations from my teachers to take those classes; I would never even THINK about taking those without teachers thinking I couldn't do well in them. </p>

<p>I do think that I am one of the more "easier" people here on CC with APs .. I plan on taking around 13 AP exams by the time I graduate HS. And the only reason I'm trying to "self study" Euro & Art Hist is because I have a lot of interest in them, but I'm not completely sure if my motivation will last until next May. As I wrote above, there's a lot of other things going on for me in Sophomore year so I don't want to be "dead" by the time AP exams come.</p>

5

<p>That does clear a few things up, and I should say that I would advise anyone to take my words with a grain of salt, as I'm not by any means an AP expert like Jay Matthews (though I'd definitely advise taking his words with a grain of salt, too, even if he does provide useful information.) </p>

<p>I haven't taken AP Euro, Art History, Chem, or Calc BC, so I don't know about them other than what I have heard second-hand. Basically, what I've heard more than often is that art history is probably the easiest class out of the four and chem is the hardest. The AP art history exam, from what I can remember, is divided into more parts than the other exams are, and it uses a projector for viewing art in one section. However, this may be a good thing, because it allows you to plan and organize better for the exam. Really though, it all depends on your strengths and weaknesses (if you're more of a mth/sci person, then perhaps the scale would be inverted.)</p>

<p>Quite honestly, 13 AP exams is not a low standard anywhere, even here on cc. Most people here don't take the amount of APs that you're suggesting, and I've been here for over 2 and 1/2 years. I can't make a rough estimate, but more often than not, the people I see here take 4-8 AP classes, or that "middle range." Sure, 13 APs is possible, but if that's easy, then what is hard? 20? Sure, there's the U.VA guy, but that's only one guy. 13 AP exams = practically 2 years of introductory college courses in high school. That's not easy, imho. Most high schools don't let students take AP classes until 10th grade, and even then, the most a person could possibly take at that time is usually 2. Obviously, taking an AP exam is different from taking the whole class, but 13 APs? In general? By 99.9%of the overall population's standards (and that means anyone outside of collegeconfidential), that's a heck of a lot on anyone's plate. Nonetheless, it sounds like you realize the possible pitfalls of self-study, so I'm not going to keep lecturing like I know everything. With that, I shall say good luck with your studies and may you get those As and 5s!</p>

<p>Edit: Almost forgot--a most important detail--...some colleges only accept so many AP credits. A common maximum is 32. So, even if you get 4s and 5s on all of your exams, the classes may not all get transferred to an institution for credit. But hey, if you're in it more for the challenge than for the credit, then go for it.</p>

6

<p>I think u should start off by not thinking about the exams- if your really interested in those subjects, then your motivation will reflect that (and not u wanting to take more AP's/ get 5's. This year I took AP Govt and World History as a sophomore and although i was pretty stressed from April-May, i think it all payed off in the end. The exams are nothing, compared to all the hardwork you put into learning the subjects.</p>

7

<p>To me, the classes are so much harder than the AP exams. lol</p>

<p>I put so much effort into my classes, and I only made B's in APUSH and AP US Govt, yet I'm positive I got 4's or 5's on those exams. I do worse in the classes than on the exams.</p>

8

<p>Vicky_sky and Jman2306: I do agree that the classes are reasonably more difficult than a 3 hr test. But for me, I tend to have "panic attacks" right before ANY test so ... you can imagine the sort of state I'd be in come May next year, haha. Also, I'm the sort of person who always does homework (it's an easy "A" or 100, so why not do it?) and that's always helped me stay in the "A" or "A+" range in classes at school.</p>

9

<p>Idcubed, I have to disagree with ya on one point. I took more than 5 (8) this year and I'm perfectly fine out of the whole experience.</p>

<p>The key to "bunching" APs is to choose a moderately large subset containing subjects you love, are good at, or want to learn more about. For me, 6 of my APs this year were math/science and 1 was APUSH, so I had a rather easy time.</p>

<p>Although... I admit that 4 of those were self-study, so I guess I cannot really say whether you were referring to classes or exams. 8 classes would be killer. :D</p>

10

<p>Dolcevalse, don't worry about taking Sophmore APs. I didn't take an AP world class,(only regular) thought I was going to fail it, and ended up with a 5.
Taking multiple AP classes really isn't that bad. but it really depends on the teacher. If the teachers are tough, I would caution against it, but if they're normal to easy go ahead and take the classes</p>

11

<p>I think it's very good for you to get started on your APs so early, and with only two of them being classes there shouldn't be much of a problem because self-studying for Euro and Art history is not that hard, and as you know the curriculum correlates very nicely so really there should be no problem at all in the self studying aspect. Calc and Chem, depending on the teachers, are going to be the hardest part of that, but it's good that your starting out in sophmore year, because I regret not doign more sophmore year. i self studied World History and got a 4 on that sophmore year, an d then this past year I took AP Bio, APUSH, AP Latin and I self studied for AP English language and AP comparative government, and I know i could have handled more than that, so next year I'm going to be doing a bunch of APs that I wish I had done back in sophmore year. And of course if it's becoming too much work, you are not obligated to take Euro History or Art history, just continue the self-studying into next year.</p>

12

<p>I took AP Art History my junior year with an absolutely amazing teacher (she has her doctorate in Art History) and loved every minute. On the other hand, I found our textbook boring (perhaps because it weighed about half my weight, it was huge) and rarely read at all. I can't imagine an art history experience without a teacher because to me at least that interaction is a vital part to learning it. I think that very intelligent people can always learn the finormation and memorize (art history is a lot of memorization), but that doesn't necessarily compare to learning and really digesting the information. I love art and art history (haha, I spent hours studying Vermeer's work on my own as a sophmore) and I oil paint, but even with that love of art I don't think I could have done it on my own. It stinks your school doesn't offer it, but on one hand I understand because it takes a certain type of teacher to teach it well and not just drone on and on. I think you also need a teacher who has the knowledge of what is on the exam and has access to a lot of the released exams (so you don't have to shell out tons of money to get them yourself). </p>

<p>I've also taken all the AP classes you are thinking of: Chem (junior), Calc BC (senior), Euro (sophmore), Art Hist. (junior). I'd say Chem was the worst for me because while I'm pretty good at science, I wasn't as good at chemistry as I thought. It looks like you have an experienced teacher, which I would say is a definite plus, because while I loved my teacher and he was fun, he had only taught at the AP level for one year before me, which made it difficult. </p>

<p>For me, Calc BC was the easiest (but I had AB first), but I love calculus, so it was fun for me =). I already talked about AP Art History. </p>

<p>AP Euro is managable, if you search I'm sure you can find review books that will prepare you. I think European history is one of the most interesting history classes I've taken, but I think if I did it later I would have appreciated it more. I think it is one of the "easiest" classes, especially for histories, of the AP's for a first-timer. </p>

<p>The key to everything is time management! Good luck with whatever you decide =).</p>

13

<p>piccolojunior, I suppose I was referring to the classes. Taking 8 AP exams in a year may not be irrational given the incentive of self-study, but 8 AP classes per year would be pretty insane, especially considering how most high schools have only have 7 periods. In fact, my first high school--on the west cost--had six classes per day (no block system) with an optional "A.M." class as a 7th period. A lot of seniors were also allowed to cut out an entire period or two. </p>

<p>At any rate, I gather that it is true that self-studying for an AP exam is much different from taking the associated AP class along with the exam. I did neglect to mention that I knew a couple people who took an AP exam without taking the AP class, plus, I am thinking of self-studying for a couple APs before I transfer to a new college. Lots of higher-echelon colleges don't accept CLEP scores, so I thought, "why not re-take some old APs or even take some new ones?" </p>

<p>Point being: Taking 4 AP exams through self-study and another 4 through classes can be rational because you have the option of "dropping out" of those self-study classes any time without any long-term consequences. There's nothing wrong with challenging yourself like that, though I know for me, it would have been difficult. Meanwhile, taking 7 or 8 AP classes in a year is just irrational, not to mention nearly impossible considering the maximum number of periods most schools have (and a 1 semester class like AP Comparative Gov't does not count as 1 class, if anyone is thinking of using that as a loophole.) I don't care if someone got all As and 5s after filling up their schedule with all APs. Good for them! But unless someone has a good reason for not taking at least one regular class, or even one honors class if regular doesn't cut it, I'm sorry, but there's something wrong with that person. Knowledge is a beautiful thing, but I've said it once and I'll say it again: there is a world beyond AP, and there are actually some regular classes out there that are worthwhile taking. For me, those classes were acting, film studies, creative writing, journalism, and astronomy. I mean, honestly, I'd find it pretty arrogant of someone to pass by an interesting class just because it doesn't have the "AP" label. Not everything has such a label, and although more AP classes are being added to the cirriculum, there is NO way that every single class in the universe is going to eventually end up having that label. I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone, but that's just the way I feel <em>end dramatic rant.</em></p>

14

<p>Next year, I'll be a sophomore also taking AP Art History, AP Statistics, AP Calc AB (BC not offered), IB Computer Studies, AP US govt, and AP English language. I'm worried about it too considering it's also my first year taking APs, but if you have enough determination, you should be able to pull it out.</p>

15

<p>Man I wished my school had offered so much in the way of taking ap classes while in lower grades, though they do better than some. You can take AP Stats & AP Calc anytime assuming you have the math prerequisite. Then in 10th grade they offer AP U.S. history. I ended self-studying AP. Gov't in my freshman year while taking the Stats class. Then this year I self-studied calc while taking the U.S. history class.</p>

<p>If you're smart or a hard worker I think it's all good. You'd probably do better with your self-study than I did. I was wait till the last minute. Like less than a month till the exam to start learning the material. I am such a procrastinator. I'd presume it be totally manageable if you started early. I'd suggest using the summer.</p>

16

<p>I took 3 AP classes this year (sophomore year), and everything turned out fine, though I didn't do any EC's. However, I did spend several hours daily taking naps and/or wasting time, and I still got 6 hours a sleep each night. You'll be fine.</p>