Is this ridiculous? (pertaining to AP awards)

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
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<p>I'm a freshman taking two AP classes: AP World History and Human Geography. I have been studying economics privately for about eight months and feel confident that I have enough time to prepare myself for Macro/Micro exams (the material doesn't look extremely challenging). Next year, I will be taking U.S. Gov't and Stats AP.</p>

<p>If I do well on all of these tests, I could have the potential of obtaining the National AP Scholars Award by sophomore year, which I haven't heard many achieve. The only task I'd have to complete would be to self-study Psychology (which I'm very interested in, but unfortunately, it is not offered in my school) and Comparative Government, which may be a bit more of a challenge, but I know my gov't teacher for next year and he can help me with that. </p>

<p>My question is, is this worth it, or should I just stick to the AP tests that I will take via my classes? I'm not sure if receiving National Scholar Award by sophomore year is anything to note, or if it will help me out, but if it doesn't, I may just end up taking a few less AP exams, though it'll still be in the 6-7 range. Lastly, $84 a test kind of blows, since one of my parents just lost their job (and can't receive unemployment benefits, which I won't go into at the moment) and the other is on the verge of being dropped. Should I still dive into this task, given that even with these financial problems, I still won't qualify for price deductions?</p>

<p>Thank you for any help and sorry for the long post.</p>

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<p>How many APs are actually offered at your school? In college admissions, if you school has like 25 you are “expected” to have taken more than the school with none. However, self-studying also shows a great deal of initiative, and I think that’s great.</p>

<p>A very select few achieve that award by junior year, so by sophomore year, I think it would be a very viable award. Is it worth $84 X 8? I don’t know because colleges don’t really admit based on one award alone. It would certainly be a decent asset and one that you can get without “competing” per se.</p>

<p>One drawback is that the tests you are taking probably won’t count for much credit/placement in collegs, especially top ones. </p>

<p>However, Colleges generally expect your courseload to get harder throughout highschool, so I’m not sure what your plans were for junior/senior year, but if you take 8 by the end of sophomore, you migh be expected to do something comparable. Or take less exams, but harder ones like Chem, Physics, English. </p>

<p>My advice for NOW though- if you ARE taking the econ exams let your guidance counselro know NOW. Because they are ording tests NOW. Then study study study and SEE how well you do when you get your scores in July. All 5’s,maybe one 4 or so- go for it! A couple of 3’s- maybe lighten the load. You don’t want to spread yourself too thin and do equally not well on all of them. However, I’m guessing you’ll do very well on them as long as you practise and whatnot. </p>

<p>Final words- You could always do it after junior year, which is still VERY hard to attain. Only two people from my school are going to get it and we are seniors. Yes we. One of them is me. :)</p>

<p>So, as I see, you ARE a freshman. Don’t get TOO addicted to CC, and I hope this information is interesting and helps you figure things out. You DO have time though. Chill!</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t rush through AP exams to have a National AP Scholar under my belt by the end of Sophomore Year. Junior year would suffice well also; on college applications, all you really get to write down is that you are a National AP Scholar, not when you got it. I’m amazed you have the chance to take AP classes as a freshman, because my school never has that happen at all. Your schedule is already very impressive, so I suggest not overexerting yourself. If your school has some AP classes that you can take junior year in order to meet the National AP Scholar requirements, focus more of your time on community service, extracurriculars, clubs, sports, music, art, whatever you like to do, rather than teaching yourself a subject for an AP exam.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>EDIT: I thought I’d add that I hope to be a National AP Scholar by the end of this school year, my senior year. I just have to do well in Calculus BC, Physics B, and English Literature. Even having that award by the end of junior year is astonishing and noteworthy, so don’t fret about cramming yourself full with APs. Take it form someone who has ripped out more than a few hairs from the stress! :]</p>

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<p>how many APs do u need for national scholar?</p>

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<p>Also for National Scholar do AP’s in senior year count?</p>

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<p>dude chill down…first of all you don’t need all that ap’s in your senior year…have to save some for your junior and senior year…studying outside is great…but still…don’t overblow yourself…</p>

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<p>If you look at state level stats from last year you will see ~10-15 students
in the most competitive states have national AP scholar by end of
Junior year.</p>

<p>If you are not in NY/Maryland/New England area/Texas/NC/CA that number
is in the low single digits.</p>

<p>If you review EA and acceptance threads for your favorite colleges you may discover students who seem to have done a gadzillion courses getting rejected.</p>

<p>Try not to let it happen to you.</p>

<p>Spend your time instead showing you are world class by acing the
USA/MO/PHO/CO/NCO/etc …?</p>

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<p>Thanks for all of your help, your posts were very informative. For the record, my school offers 24 AP classes, so I have quite a few choices to make. If all goes according to plan (which it usually doesn’t), I’ll be taking Chemistry, Calculus BC, U.S. History, English Literature and English Language (they’re both one semester in the school that I’m attending, not sure if that’s the norm everywhere else) during my junior year, I don’t plan on self-studying anything past sophomore year, because I’ll be too involved with extracurriculars and sports (hopefully attain some leadership roles) to bother with that. </p>

<p>All of these random tests that I’m taking now are simply ways to kill time when I’m not doing anything else. It’s difficult to become a club president or do something exciting at this point in time. </p>

<p>Again, thanks everyone, I’m signing up for AP tests next week, so my decision will be made by then. ;)</p>

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<p>

that’s the advice i give and eveyrone gives. but those are hard</p>

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<p>And P.S. those AP test fees keep going up; we just paid $90 each for S to register for Calc BC, Eng Lang and Envi Sci. But those small price increases should not be a reason to do these tests early. Focus on developing your leadership opportunities and community service record.</p>

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<p>Don’t be too ambitious just yet. After all, you haven’t taken any AP’s yet. Take those 4 this year and see how they go. If you have a knack for test-taking then definitely go for the award next year. If not, then realize that you have another year to take tests and get the award before you apply to colleges. That’s what I did. In all honesty, I didn’t realize how trivial things can become until I physically wrote my applications. Then it’s like, ‘wow, it’s incredibly easy to skip over this one line and recognize one of my biggest accomplishments.’ So the difference between writing “received in fall 2009” and “fall 2010” is minimal or non-existent.</p>

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<p>oh god this was my exact mentality and its really ****ed me up</p>

<p>GPA is WAY MORE important than number of APs. I will be the only student at my school getting National AP scholar by junior year with 10 APs, and it really isn’t that big of a deal. If you can get straight As with all your APs, do it. If not, don’t. I’m taking 6 APs at school and 1 AP (macro/micro) online, and its not fun. You won’t have much time for EC’s trust me. </p>

<p>Spread yourself out. A good friend of mine has a good chance at HYPS and he has only taken 8 total.</p>

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<p>Yes you are ridiculous.
get a life man.
Go outside, play some sports, hang with friends, have some fun…</p>