<p>Schedule (Junior year):
Pre-AP Precalculus
AP Statistics
AP Physics B
AP Biology
AP US History
AP English 3
AP Spanish 4</p>
<p>AP Exams (Must get 5s on all):
Chemistry (self-study)
Environmental science (self-study)
Computer science A (self-study)
Calculus BC (self-study)
Statistics
Biology
Physics B
Physics C: Mechanics (self-study)
Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism (self-study)
US History</p>
<p>Input, tips, try to talk me out of it, etc.</p>
<p>Sure, except for Chemistry and I don’t know about Computer Science.
And you can’t take both Physics B and Physics C so that’s not possible.
But the others I have seen people self-study!
I’m also wondering why you’re taking PreCalculus anyways, do AB or BC it’ll help you more.</p>
<p>You can take virtually as many APs as you want regardless of conflict. If testing dates conflict, you take an alternate form on a late testing date. </p>
<p>[2013</a> Late-Testing Dates](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/ap/coordinate/late/schedule/next-year]2013”>2024 AP Exam Dates – AP Central | College Board) </p>
<p>Some of the late testing dates conflict, so you couldn’t technically take every single one, but for 12 or less, you’re generally fine. I’ll be taking Physics C - Mech on Friday, May 24, 2013, at 12 pm, and Environmental science on Wednesday, May 22, 2013, at 12 pm.</p>
<p>Pre-calculus is required at my school, otherwise I would definitely be taking BC.</p>
<p>Anything is possible…IF YOU BELIEVE.</p>
<p>You could theoretically take 29 out of the 32 AP tests in one year.</p>
<p>Okay but seriously though, calm down. You do not need to take that many AP tests, child.
Why?</p>
<p>1) Not all colleges offer credit for all of your APs, esp if those classes are needed for your major. For example, if you’re going in as a bio major, they will not accept credit for bio or chemistry, maybe physics.
2) Passing/failing your AP tests is not that big of a deal to some schools and does not look impressive. Even if you pass, it looks like you did not want to actually take the class.
3) Do not take both physics B and physics C in the same year, it is not possible for you to properly learn both. Physics C requires calculus, and if you are self-studying, you will not properly learn the material.
4) You are probably going to have SATs and your extracurriculars to focus on this year as well. Junior year grades are extremely important, do not put too much on your plate.</p>
<p>^ I think he’s going for the Siemen’s award for AP testing. I’m doing that as well.</p>
<p>@OP: I’d try to replace AP Bio or AP Stats with AP Chem because AP Bio and AP Stats are much easier self-studies than AP Chem, which from what I heard, is conceptually difficult.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, but this has nothing to do with college credit or looking good to anyone else. It’s nothing more than a personal challenge. The idea was sparked by the Siemens AP award, but that is not the point, that is peripheral to my purpose. And it’s not about passing, it’s about getting 5s. Because of my (not that great, but my school district seems to think so) PSAT score, I’m going to be in a study hall at my school that’s specifically for SAT prep, and my only real extracurriculars will be (an attempt at) co-authoring a book, and my job, if that counts.</p>
<p>And if I don’t get a great SAT score on attempt 1, there will always be summer and fall testing dates, with plenty of time to be placed on my EA app.</p>
<p>“It can’t be done.” Challenge accepted.</p>
<p>@semaphore12 You’re partially right, but the real goal is not any award, it’s to test myself, and that is also part of the reason why I chose to self-study chem rather than take the class. I almost swapped stats for chem on the last day of school, but the AP chem teacher talked me out of it. At my high school, AP chem students have like 1 hour a night homework on a good night. I could teach myself chem a lot faster than in a class, and then I don’t have to worry about stats.</p>
<p>I wish I started working toward Siemens in seventh grade. I’m already a sophomore going on junior and I’ve only taken AP Bio. There is no way I’m giong to get it now.</p>
<p>But I think it’s possible. It would be painful and extremely masochistic though… not to mention time consuming and sleep depriving. I’ve heard that the chemistry and physics APs are pretty tricky. I’m taking 8 AP exams next year, but half of them are the easy ones hah.</p>
<p>I took all of the ones that you did actually. I self-studied most of them as well.</p>
<p>As far as taking them, I think it’s possible, in fact, I know it is (I did it and survived). As far as getting 5’s on all of them, I don’t think that it is extremely realistic. Chemistry and Physics C are the two the I would really recommend against self-studying. Chem will require a more vast laboratory background than you will have, and Physics C will be difficult, because you are self-studying AP Calc, and you won’t have the same experience and stuff. I don’t know though. Depends on how hard you are willing to work really.</p>
<p>@Emily, Flipping through 5 Steps, Chemistry doesn’t seem as difficult as people make it out to be. I’ve looked over the practice tests, and it seems to be only slightly more rigorous and detailed than my Pre-AP Chemistry class, addressing roughly the same concepts. The AP chemistry teacher at my school, who was also my Pre-AP Chemistry teacher this year, gave me the link to all of the lecture videos, homework, and (I just checked to make sure) labs that she bases her class on, so I think I’ll be good there. If I need anything, she told me to come and ask her about it.</p>
<p>Although I’m self-studying calculus, I see this as an advantage rather than a hindrance. I’ve always been able to teach myself faster and more effectively than any teacher could, especially when it comes to mathematics. I’m best off with some books and the Internet.</p>
<p>Physics C is my top priority, only because I have no experience with the type of problem solving that one does in Physics C. I’ve heard bad things about it, but you must understand, when I tackle the problem of learning, I tackle it with the intention of gaining a complete and very intimate understanding of the subject matter. </p>
<p>As you may have read above in post #8, the purpose of this is to test and challenge my abilities, but I am also doing this because I want a complete and full understanding of these courses. I am even considering dropping US History and taking macro and micro, because I actually care about those. Or I might keep USH and the econs, I’m not sure yet. The point is, although this was a little bit of a spontaneous decision, it is not one that I am taking lightly. Every time I look at this list, I ask myself if I really want to do it, despite the stress it will undoubtedly cause, and the answer is a consistent “yes.”</p>
<p>I’d like to remind you that I too self-studied. In fact, I self-studied 10 APs this year and took a total of 18. I know how much work it is; I promise you.</p>
<p>If you want to take Physics C, I just need you to know that it will require a lot more work than any of the other APs you are taking, especially Physics C E&M, again, I’m not saying that you can’t do it. I am sure that you are a highly motivated person, okay? No need to prove anything to me.</p>
<p>Also, with AP Calculus, self-studying can be tricky. For the sole reason that the AP test doesn’t solely test whether or not you can do calculus, instead, it tests a lot of conceptual things that are harder to master on your own. Again, I don’t think that it’s not possible, I just think that it will require more work than you think it will.</p>
<p>Well, if I can’t make 5s on practice tests by late February, I won’t sign up for the extras.</p>
<p>I’m sure it could be done…I’m just not sure why you’d want to. Taking tests for the sake of taking tests just seems unproductive to me and I’d have to wonder if a college admissions officer would ask why an applicant would spend all of their time taking standardized tests and virtually no time doing service work…or playing a sport or instrument…or participating in a social club…or just about anything that would build leadership/interpersonal skills.</p>
<p>@JoBenny, I’m going to be virtually guaranteed a spot at UT Austin. Aside from that, I find it mildly annoying that you call this “taking tests for the sake of taking tests.” I think you’re missing the point entirely, please read the other posts in the thread.</p>
<p>Lol, you could do this, but its a terrible, terrible idea. *Not a single admissions committee will care *about your massive number of AP scores. They do give you college credit, but the better your college, the less credit you receive (especially for the easy AP’s like Statistics, Environmental Science, and Physics B). I know this from first-hand experience. </p>
<p>In junior year, I took 6 AP courses and 1 college-level class. My AP’s included: AP Physics C (both Mech and E&M), AP Econ (both Macro and Micro), AP Calculus BC, and AP English Language. Due to my Physics and Econ classes, I ended up taking 8 AP exams as a junior without any self-studying (got 5’s on all of them BTW). By the end of senior year, I had a total of 14 exam scores with 5’s on all but one test.</p>
<p>When I got my exams results as a junior, I thought my application would get a significant boost. But after I visited colleges, I discovered that * no-one cares* about how well you do on your AP exams. National AP Scholar is a BS award and no university will consider it impressive. Also, the Siemens AP award is useful, but not that useful; semifinalist in USA(X)O or AIME qualifier is easily more prestigious. </p>
<p>I get that you’re motivated and I understand where you’re coming from. In fact, I probably had the same ambition at one point (people said its impossible to ace 8 AP’s and I want to prove them wrong). What you have to realize however is that you’re not achieving anything remotely useful, college application-wise, by taking 10 AP’s as a junior instead of 6. In fact, it seems like you’re skipping the exams for two of your AP classes (AP Spanish and AP Lang), which is also a big mistake. If you’re so keen on taking the exams for AP Chem, AP CS, or AP Physics C (either part), you should definitely be taking the class (I took all of these AP’s so I know what I’m talking about). </p>
<p>You’re clearly ambitious, but you significantly overestimate the importance of AP’s. You shouldn’t spend you entire junior year chasing after test scores. Instead, I’d suggest lessening your AP load and focusing on more meaningful activities, like clubs, internships, competitions, and summer internships/jobs. Again, when it comes to college admissions, there is no significant different between 6 AP’s and 10 AP’s.</p>
<p>EDIT: Taking AP Physics C is a terrible idea if you don’t even know calculus yet. Calculus BC is very difficult to self-study, although the class itself should be relatively painless. Also, its a stupid idea to take Physics B if you also plan to take Physics C. Physics B is not a legit exam (its like Calculus AB) so don’t even both taking it if you fully intend to take Physics C. Honestly, some of your AP choices are just baffling (no offense).</p>