Independently studying for AP tests

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

<p>Hey, all!</p>

<p>Since I don't have enough slots to take more AP classes in school (or my school doesn't offer said AP classes), I am looking to study independently for the tests. I am planning to study for:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>AP Biology using the Campbell Biology textbook</p></li>
<li><p>AP Economics (Macro/Micro) using the Mankiw Principles of Economics, 5 Steps for a 5, and Barron's</p></li>
<li><p>AP Environmental Science using Miller's "Living in the Environment"</p></li>
<li><p>AP Music Theory using Barron's</p></li>
<li><p>AP Psychology using Barron's (don't know which other textbook to use)</p></li>
<li><p>AP World History (don't know which textbook)</p></li>
<li><p>AP Human Geography (don't know which textbook)</p></li>
</ul>

<p>I am hoping to take the Bio, Econ, APES, and Music Theory tests next year. I have two years for the rest. </p>

<p>Do you guys have any suggestions? I am hoping these tests aren't that hard, as I have no outside classes for them and am studying completely on my own.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>P.S. I'm currently finishing freshman year of high school, so I have a bit of time.</p>

2

<p>Music theory isn’t easy, I’ve heard. Requires you to actually have good pitch perception. </p>

3

<p>I’ve been playing various instruments for about 7 years now, so I understand how to read music, sing tones, and find pitches. I understand there’s more to the test, though, so I’m wondering whether or not a textbook exists which might be better than just the Barron’s one.</p>

4

<p>Try online courses, some are cheap while others are not so cheap. Keystone is a good one, VHS is a good one but I don’t think their calander fits the traditional school year for most.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the recommendations, Swag87! However, I’m trying not to take online courses because of the huge cost (especially for this many tests) as well as the time commitments. What is your experience with these sites like?</p>

6

<p>Hey, there, fellow self-studier! :D</p>

<p>First, I just want to point out that Barron’s, Crash Course, Princeton Review, etc. are all review books, not textbooks. They just cover pretty much the basics, and are meant to supplement the actual course. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with just using a review book! But if you really want to get a good score, you should get more than just a review book.</p>

<p>I’m self-studying AP Music Theory as well, and really the only book is Barron’s. It’s not a very popular AP exam :confused: Since you’ve been playing instruments for a long time, I bet you’ll do fine :slight_smile: Make sure you practice singing though, because there are two sight singing questions on the test. For some people, they’re extremely easy, but for others, they’re extremely hard. If you feel confident with your singing, you won’t need to practice much :slight_smile: The Barron’s book also has exercises in it. The book is also really big xD It’s over 650 pages! Then there are two practice tests. But I haven’t taken the test yet, so I’m not really sure of how difficult it is.</p>

<p>For AP Psychology, everyone says that Barron’s is the best. Of course, I’d also get the Princeton Review for extra help.</p>

<p>I guess I’d use Barron’s and Princeton Review for AP Human Geography as well :stuck_out_tongue: The curve is usually very generous, since many freshman take this AP exam as their first and fail miserably.</p>

<p>For AP World History, you’ll probably need an actual textbook. It does go over the history of the whole world, after all xD </p>

<p>You shouldn’t have any problems with AP Psychology, AP Human Geography, and AP Environmental Science, as they are considered the easiest self-studies :slight_smile: If you need any more help, just message me! :smiley: Good luck!~</p>

7

<p>@LosingCrayon‌ </p>

<p>Thanks so much for your in-depth response! :)</p>

<p>The thing about Music Theory is that I know how to read music, play, and sing, but I’ve seen on sample tests that they ask you to write chord progressions and analyze different historical musical styles, which frankly I have no idea how to do. :open_mouth: I have a course at school for AP Music Theory, but I have no space in my schedule to take it next year so I may just wait until junior year to take it and the test. Do you think I should wait to take the course then or study and take it next year?</p>

<p>In regards to AP Psychology, APHG, and APES, I already purchased a few Barron’s and Princeton Review textbooks, so I think I’m good with those. I might need to use some extra resources, though. Do you think I should use a textbook as well?</p>

<p>I’m really worried about AP World History, though. Do you think self-studying that is doable? I’m hoping to attain a 5. Which textbook should I use? </p>

<p>Thanks! :smiley: </p>

8

<p>If you’re a musician then music theory is generally pretty easy. You can use Barrons to practice harmonic dictation and part-writing. The multiple choice is mostly chord analysis and a few questions on form. Most questions are quite straightforward if you know your key signatures and cadences. Melodic dictation and singing aren’t too bad if you have good relative pitch.</p>

<p>I took the course this year but had a completely incompetent teacher so I basically self-studied it the day before the exam. Non-musicians think that it’s one of the hardest APs, but if you have a good base of music knowledge then it’s not difficult at all.</p>

9

<p>@kestrel24‌ Thanks for the response! As for my experiences with music, I only really know how to read and play music, but not the composition/chords/etc. part. Do you think I could still adequately prepare for the test without having much knowledge of these aspects of the course?</p>

10

<p>Keep in mind that that’s alot for one year and that quality is sometimes more important than quanitity. Psychology is relatively easy, so that you can use any book really. For APES I used Ap Environmental Science: The Science Behind the Stories which was a great help, but those seem to be good. If the APES book you chose is a textbook, I’d go with that. I found that the review books are really general. An advantage of the larger books is that it will give you specific examples or case studies which is helpful to bring up in hte free response section.</p>

<p>As for econ, I found youtube to be very helpful in self studying. There’s this guy “ACDC Leadership” who posts PHENOMENAL youtube videos, oftentimes explaining them better than my teacher. They are very concise too, compared to other videos I have browsed through. I found him like a week before the AP test, but that guy is literally god-like.</p>

<p>For Bio, I have heard from multiple sources that Cliff’s is very helpful. A word of advice though: don’t overestimate the time you will have next year. Split them up more so it can be more manageable. Taking the base level course of bio, history, theory, or econ can also be helpful.</p>

11

<p>@shawnspencer‌ </p>

<p>Thanks for the response!</p>

<p>For AP Psych, APES, and AP Human Geography, I was planning on only using the review books (Barron’s + PR), but now I’ll try using the book that you recommended for APES as well. </p>

<p>I have decided that it would probably be in my best interests to take AP Psych, APES, AP Human Geo, and possibly AP Music Theory next year self-studied, as they are the easiest. (I am taking the classes for APUSH, AP English Lang, and AP Calc BC in school anyways.) I will then take the rest of the AP’s junior year. That way I’ll have a bit more time for Econ, Bio, or World History. </p>

<p>I just looked up ACDCLeadership, and his videos seem great! They’re funny and right to the point. I’ll definitely watch his videos to learn and review for the test.</p>

<p>For Bio, I am hesitant on purchasing the Cliff’s book, or any review book, for that matter. I have read many reviews and heard many complaints about these books, as none of them accurately reflect the content presented in the new tests. What do you think?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

12

<ul>
<li>bump * 8-> </li>
</ul>

13

<p>Bio, Econ, and Music Theory are DEFINITELY best done with a teacher. Unless you’re just naturally good at those subjects, I would highly recommend not self-studying them (only exception being selfing the other component of Econ after you learn the opposite one in school).
However, since you’re not taking them all next year, I think you may be fine. For Psychology and World History, Barron’s are the best in my opinion. Just read those and I think I got 5s on both of them.</p>

14

<p>I took AP Music theory this year, however, my brother self studied. Do you have a private teacher that could help you? My brother’s piano teacher helped him work on the aural skills.</p>

15

<p>I might be able to help you a bit. Like you, I was a bit of an over-zealous freshman last year as well. I am currently a rising junior. Last year, I took AP Bio, AP Latin (guided independent study with a teacher), APUSH, AP Macro, AP World, AP Calc BC, and AP Micro (independent study). I got a 3 on Latin, 4s on Micro and Bio, and 5s on the rest. I also have looked into the AP MT test as well.</p>

<p>For Biology, Campbell/Reece is a really good textbook! Its figures are very detailed and thorough, and it is good for learning biology! However, it is not great for preparing you for the AP Bio exam. The AP Bio exam has changed over the past few years, and it is now geared more towards applying what you learn rather than memorizing facts. Also, for the AP Bio exam, you don’t need to use every section of C/R. You will not use Ch 1, 21, 41­-42, 44, 46-­47, and 50. You will cover just sections of chapters 19, 20, 26­39 and 52­-56.</p>

<p>For Economics, if you have a basic econ class, I would suggest taking that at least to supplement what you learn. About 1/3 of exam content for Micro and Macro are shared, and this is just kind of the basics of economics with Supply, Demand, and Elasticity, etc. Micro is easier to independent study than macro because in macro you need to be able to make connections between about 6-7 graphs in order to answer some questions. The Mankiw book is a good textbook. Here is an awesome website I found with study guides for some of the chapters that cuts out some of the fluff (<a href=“http://flashmedia.glynn.k12.ga.us/webpages/dlandinguin/ap.cfm?subpage=17614”>http://flashmedia.glynn.k12.ga.us/webpages/dlandinguin/ap.cfm?subpage=17614&lt;/a&gt;). For Micro, I just watched these youtube videos after learning Macro and read a little in Mankiw, and I got a 4 (<a href=“Microeconomics Videos - YouTube”>https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL63510640E8F9721A&lt;/a&gt;). </p>

<p>For World History, I would recommend a good review book rather than a textbook. My class used the Ethel Wood Text: <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/AP-World-History-Essential-Coursebook/dp/0983176620”>http://www.amazon.com/AP-World-History-Essential-Coursebook/dp/0983176620&lt;/a&gt;. It cut out a lot of textbook “fluff” and cut straight to the chase. A lot of AP World history can be intimidating because they are just like “LEARN THE HISTORY OF THE ENTIRE WORLD”, but most of the class and exam are focused on broad connections like continuities and changes. You still have to know your stuff about each civilization and stuff, but broad connections are super important. Look up Freedmanpedia. It is a big APWH website with good resources. A big thing about APWH is Key Concepts for the exam outlined by CB. It is the foundation for the course, and making sure to understand them is key to your success. Additionally, the essays are really picky about what is accepted. I don’t really know what to recommend for that because I had a really good teacher that walked me through all of it. Be careful with the essays because it is really easy for a “9-worthy” essay to turn into like a 3 because there is something wrong with your thesis. WHAP is a hard exam to independent study for! I would caution you about doing this IS. It is possible, but it will be pretty hard.</p>

<p>For Music Theory, I am in a similar boat as you. I have played cello for about 5 years and piano for 4. It is a hard class to independent study for because it is not just like memorizing vocab. A good bit of the content is focused at chordal analysis, which as a musician, you don’t have much exposure to. You need to be able to identify chord progressions, intervals, and stylistic notes. It is hard to learn on your own. Plus there is sight singing, and you have to be able to do harmonic dictation (writing down a melody that is played twice-- it is 8 measures and it is not easy). I would recommend that you take the practice exam for AP MT that is posted on the CB website-- be sure to use the audio files as well. I did, and I got about 50% of the content correct. What I did was I decided to wait for a year, and I am going to be taking Music Theory and Aural Skills at my local college (UGA) this fall. If you do decide that you want to do an independent study, I would suggest getting the textbook for it that a college uses. Get the CDs that come along with it as well. </p>

<p>As for your IS plan, I would suggest making an outline of where you want to be with each course at different points in the year. Then, stick to that plan, and adjust if necessary as the year goes along. Set up tests to take and assess how well you know the material. Also, don’t just try to do IS APs just because you think it will look good on a college app, and don’t overdo it. I would suggest waiting until the last possible day to sign up for your AP exams and see if you really want to take the exam. For colleges, it looks better to take fewer APs that you care about and do well than it does to try to take as many APs as possible and not do as well. Also, figure out why you want to take these courses. Like I am going to be IS Human Geo and Psych next year because I am interested in History and Economics and understanding human behavior. I’m not trying to discourage you, but just be sure that you really want to do all of this work.</p>

<p>I hope everything goes well for you. Just send me a message if you have any questions or need any help! Good luck!!</p>

16

<p>For those who independently studying for AP tests, what are your motives behind it?
If it’s for college credits, I would think that one could consider taking classes at community colleges.</p>

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<p>AP exams are more widely accepted than community college courses. For example, GA Tech will give some credit for AP exam scores to exempt out of introductory classes, but they won’t accept credit from community colleges or even other GA colleges like the University of North GA. Collegeboard’s AP exams are just more widely accepted with a standardized difficulty that colleges are familiar with. For independently studying for AP tests, some students just want to be tested over material that they have learned or to exempt intro college classes. It also shows colleges to some extent that you can challenge yourself to learn material that you are interested in on your own. These are just some of my motivations, but it varies from person to person.</p>