<p>Hello, </p>
<p>I'm currently a sophomore taking AP Biology, World History, Psychology, and Micro/macroeconomics. I've been taking Biology and World History as my core classes and have made 5s on released exams. Therefore, I'm studying AP Psychology and Micro/macroeconomics. </p>
<p>I've been visiting my school's psychology/economics teachers and asked them if I could make 5s with Barrons+5steps+PR, but both teachers said that I'd only be able to get maximum scores of 3s if I studied prep books. </p>
<p>Is their statement true? If yes, then should I get cracking on textbooks now? </p>
<p>BTW, I took the AP Psychology released exams and received 75% on MC. I'm almost finished with microeconomics and am going to plow through macroeconomics now.</p>
<p>I am also a sophomore doing the same thing (with micro, macro, and human geo) and based on other posts here I can say what your teachers said is def not true as one person reported getting a 5 on micro and macro with just PR. However, i have not personally gotten scores and would also like any other input from anyone with more experience</p>
<p>The difficulty of self-studying AP tests is overrated. I don’t know about psychology, but macro/micro are some of the easier AP tests. There’s not that much information covered, and the information is pretty easy to learn. Micro has more “common sense” and reasoning stuff, and macro has more information/terms you need to know. If you’re committed, you can probably get 5s on these exams through self-studying. While I’m taking a class in AP macro, I feel like I can self-learn the material almost as well.</p>
<p>I know several people who have self-studied psych and econ and gotten fives. But you also have to consider the possibility that the teachers were talking about you specifically</p>
<p>I’d simply like to know whether using a prep book is good enough to land me 5s for psychology and economics. I’d rather not spend a week trying to memorize entire textbooks when I could focus on other (interesting) studies.</p>
<p>Yes, you can get a 5 using just a prep book</p>
<p>I remember seeing a post here of someone who read the whole Barron’s psych book before the exam and scored the exam. And without any background info about the subject, if I recall correctly.</p>
<p>for environmental science, i just looked at a barrons and princeton review book and got a 5 as a freshman last year. I also had a text book, but only used it once or twice :/</p>