I'm self studying AP Psychology and I have a few questions

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

Hi guys.

I’ve decided to self study Ap Psychology this year as our school doesn’t offer it.

  1. I read that some people simply read the barron’s book a few times and managed a 4 or 5. A friend told me that this only applies to the type of students that are just REALLY smart. As in, the kids that get everything easily and get almost perfect scores on things like ACT/SAT. I.e., we have a girl in our school who gets 5s on all her AP exams and got a 36 on the ACT. He thinks that only those types of students are capable of self studying. Is that true? I mean, I personally think I’m smart, as from my previous AP exams I’ve gotten three 4s and one 3, but I’m not the kind of smart where I barely have to study and get a 4 or 5. Do you guys think I could manage a 4 self studying?
    And btw, my scores were
    Lang 4, apush 4, apes 4, apworld 3

  2. I’d like to read an actual book as I’m interested in the subject, but the textbook is very expensive. My brother does have a book that he had but for his normal college psychology course (Real World Psychology by huffman and Sanderson). Does anyone know if this book would help for the AP exam? Or would it be different than the official AP psychology textbook?

  3. does anyone have any tips or information for self studying AP Psychology?

I’d really appreciate the help. Thanks!!!

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Re: textbooks - My son took Psych 101 at a CC. They used “Psychology: Themes and Variations, briefer version, 9th edition” by Wayne Weiten. The book costs about $15 to rent for a semester.

After taking the class, my son took the AP Psych test with zero prep and got a 4. Granted, he had an entire psych class in addition to the textbook, but if you’re doing Barron’s plus something, there are inexpensive textbooks available.