IB Student Self-Studying 4 APs--Too Much?

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<p>Hiya, I'm an incoming Junior and I'm taking IB Diploma. My school isn't an <em>AP</em> school, but we do offer one class, AP US History, which I will be taking next year. Aside from that though, I also plan on self-studying World History, European History, Comparative Government, and Econ. I'll be taking IB Higher Level European History and Econ next year, so that should make self-studying these APs less of an issue. I'm also very much a social sciences/humanities sort of person and got a 780 on my SAT II World History in Sophomore year.</p>

<p>Still, I realize that I might be going way too far and overestimating what a mortal such as myself is capable of :P I'm drowning in my ECs next year (though MUN, debate and all do compliment these APs) and am taking a full IB Diploma course with 3 Higher Levels, 3 Standard Levels and 1 AP class on top of that. Bad idea? Will having to take 5 AP Exams in May in total alone be too much and overload my brain? Or will my need to self-study be minimal given the similar IB classes I'm taking?</p>

<p>All responses are much appreciated :D</p>

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<p>S2, a rising senior, took 5 APs and 2 IBs as a junior.</p>

<p>S2 took SL IB Econ this year, which was cross-listed with AP Macro and Micro. The teacher covered everything from both IB and AP in class, so S found that studying for IB was unnecessary. He does recommend spending some outside time on AP Micro, as that is not covered much in the IB course. Terminology varies slightly between IB and AP, so an AP study guide may be good.</p>

<p>His school also does the HL Euro, and the teachers told us specifically that it would not cover much of anything for the AP World exam. S2 had hoped he could minimally self-study for AP World. My older S took AP World and it is very detail-oriented, though if you did that well on SAT-II World, perhaps some review may be sufficient for you. About half of his class took AP Euro this year (and self-studied 20th century), and about half will take it next year (this is what S will do).</p>

<p>His school recommends taking AP Lit after the first year of HL English – S did this and did no studying at all. Used books they had read in IB for his free essay. He wanted to have an AP English exam score when he applied to colleges. Will take the AP Lang exam spring of senior year – not planning to study.</p>

<p>S will be self-studying Comp Gov’t – he has the Ethel Wood guide that his older brother used, and unless there are major changes, feels that it won’t be too tough. Like you, S2 is also a humanities/history/MUN/debate guy, so he has a lot of this material in his head already via osmosis.</p>

<p>He is also doing HL Bio and will take the AP Bio exam. Students don’t generally study for both.</p>

<p>S2 also did IB SL Spanish/AP Spanish Lang this year. No double studying involved. He took AP AB Calc this year, will take AP Stat next year and take either the Math SL or Math Studies SL exam senior year (not that it matters which Math SL he takes, since noone gives credit for them anyway). This is the one exam where he will spend some time reviewing, mainly because his school teaches most of what’s on Math Studies in soph year.</p>

<p>He attends a competitive admit, highly ranked IB program where many of the IB classes are also taught with AP students, so while there is more work involved during the year, we found that the studying needed in May was not as bad as we feared. This was good, as the teachers continued giving major assignments during the three weeks of AP/IB exams!</p>