<p>I am an international student who has just joined an American school (for the senior year). My school doesn't offer any AP courses, and hence I would like to self study for a few of the exams.
Could you please help me choose suitable subjects from the short-list below?</p>
<p>Calculus AB (not sure if I can manage this one)
US History
European History
English Language
English Literature
Microeconomics (this, I am pretty sure, I can deal with)
Macroeconomics
Art History (sounds very interesting!)
Psychology
Environmental Science
Human Geography
Statistics</p>
<p>I would like to go for at least 5 of the above mentioned 12 subjects.</p>
<p>Also, which textbooks would be most useful? Can I get a good score even if I don't study from a set text?</p>
<p>BTW, would simply studying from prep books like the ones published by Kaplan or Princeton Review be sufficient?</p>
<p>Since you’re a senior, you definitely want to aim for the courses that can give you G.E. credit. I recommend Art History, Statistics, Calc AB, English Lang or Lit(although lit is harder, most schools give the same credit), and possibly European history.
All of the aforementioned exams can give credit towards your G.E’s in one form or another. I’m pretty sure they work for most UC’s, but not so sure for others. But generally I would recommend these.</p>
<p>…and if you can find a university you want to go to that offers the credit, take AP Environ for a freebie. It’s possibly the easiest AP exam out there(in my opinion)</p>
<p>I plan to apply to some of the top notch colleges and universities (including Ivy League schools). Do you think I’d be at a disadvantage not having taken AP courses (as my school doesn’t offer any)?
Is there any way to include my AP self-study courses on the School Report (commonapp) as the scores are out in July, a couple of months after colleges are done with making admission decisions? Can teachers, teaching similar non-AP subjects, predict grades for the AP exams (as per my performance in the respective classes)?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>They will see that your school doesn’t offer any so they won’t penalize you for it. Nonetheless, I think they will definitely give a slight edge to the kid who has 10 AP classes because they can see his performance, while yours is out of your hands. Nonetheless, this is nothing to worry about since you can’t change anything.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>In the extra info section, you can list that you’re self-studying these courses. In the AP scores section, you can list the courses you plan to and list “May 2011” as the testing date. Obviously they won’t count as much as actual scores, but it’ll let them know what you plan to do. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sure. Just ask them to write that in their letter of recs, and you can even leave a note in extra info saying you discussed with your teachers and they feel that you will score “x” on “Y” test and so on…</p>
<p>English Language/Literature
US History
Calculus AB (not sure if I can manage this one)
European History
Art History (sounds very interesting!)</p>
<p>You’re pretty much guaranteed to receive credit for those 5 courses. Only do 1 of the English ones. There is a wealth of information on calculus online, and diligently reading the Princeton Review AP Calc AB along with lots of practice problems is enough to score well. Just read up on CC and see what books people recommend and stay committed, and you’ll be fine. </p>
<p>Two words of caution though:</p>
<ol>
<li>You’ll probably need a 5 to get credit at a top school.</li>
<li>That will involve a great deal of effort. Most people can’t self study 5 on top of their school load, and if they do, then they take time away from extracurriculars, which are also very important in admission. I think taking 3-4 but doing more ECs will be more beneficial in terms of admission.</li>
</ol>
<p>Sorry, but top schools only look at SATs first, AP credits affect little on your admission. </p>
<p>English (either), Stats, US History, a foreign language, and Calculus looks like the only important ones.</p>