<p>^
Sigh. For the people who take that many APs(me being one of them), studying CAN be fun. Also, it’s not really that time-consuming, since you have months to study.</p>
<p>^
I agree, self studying APs is fun, especially the challenge of it 
(I’d be bashed at my school for saying this…)</p>
<p>@gio1126: I took 18 this year, 2 last year, and 1 freshman year. The three I took during 9/10th grade were not hard to manage. </p>
<p>This year, I had to really test my abilities to manage time well. I learned most of the material over the summer during my free time at my internship. If you’re sitting at a lab bench waiting for a gel to run or for your PCR to finish, there’s not much you can do. So, I decided to utilize my time wisely and self-studied APs. As for a “life”, I assure you I had more than enough time outside of my APs, the IB program, etc. to have fun. Not saying I didn’t procrastinate and stay up until 3 or 4 some nights to write a paper, or spend all night cram-studying before my APs. In the end I’m happy with the amount of free time I had and with my test scores, even if I got a 2 and a 3.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>You took 18?</p>
<p>What were they and how did you do?</p>
<p>Eleven 5s: Euro, World, Lit, Lang, BC, Bio, Enviro, Psych, Human Geo, Comp Gov, Chinese</p>
<p>Five 4s: Spanish, Chem, Micro, Physics C: Mechanics, Stat</p>
<p>One 3: Macro</p>
<p>One 2: Physics C:E&M</p>
<p>Severely underestimated E&M and didn’t even know Gauss’ Law going I so I just drew elephants on my free response. Macro/Micro were hard self-studies because it involved a lot of graphs/understanding concepts vs. memorization. Did better on Micro because it was first in my prep book, hahaha. Stat was also hard to self-study because I was clueless about the calculator functions. I thought I 5’d Chem but didn’t. Guess the hard MC brought me down. </p>
<p>I learned BC, Spanish, most of Euro (up to the 20th century) parts of Physics C (no calculus at all), and assorted bits of Chem (none of the equations) at school. For the rest, I bought the AP prep books, took notes on them, then read and re-read them.</p>
<p>What APs were taken in a class?</p>
<p>I took AP BC and AP/IB Spanish. IB History 1 helped me with most of Euro and part of World, while IB English gave me the skills to take Lang and Lit cold. I’m a native Chinese speaker so I didn’t have to study for that (like everyone else who takes it, haha). For Chem, I learned bits and pieces of it in IB Chem but learned nowhere near enough for the AP. Turns out Pre-IB Chem = AP Chem, so I should have taken it last year. Finally, IB Physics was enough to understand the bare minimum on Physics C, but I didn’t bother to self-study a lot of the calculus applications in E&M, hence the 2.</p>
<p>So Pre-IB Chem is better for AP than IB Chem?
That really sucks because I took pre-IB Chem this past year (freshman, took Honors Bio in 8th grade) and I’m taking IB Chem this year even though I can’t take the IB exam. I can’t take the AP Chem class since it’s double period and I have no time in my schedule T_T </p>
<p>How much of IB SL doesn’t overlap with AP?</p>
<p>Hahaha, JT says the kids who wanted to take AP Chem this year were “crackheads” but actually I’d advise taking AP right after Pre-IB. Great job being a year ahead since Chem is usually the sophomore science at RM.</p>
<p>But things like IB SL Organic Chem go wayyyyyyyyy beyond AP Chem, which is just nomenclature. IB SL takes you through a lot of the different processes of organic compound formation like nucleophilic substitution and stuff. And then a lot of other units like Kinetics don’t even cover how to solve rate laws. You also don’t learn how to use any of the equations (like for wavelength, freezing point depression, boiling point elevation, etc.) that you use in Pre-IB Chem. Essentially, Pre-IB Chem is 90% of what you need to know on the AP. </p>
<p>IB Chem is amazing because it’s with Mr. Turner but the labs are really hard because you have to hand write them and the procedures have to be meticulously complete. The rubrics for labs are crazy because each category (in true IB fashion) is out of 2 points, so you’ll end up getting 1s on half of them xD</p>
<p>I wouldn’t take AP Chem or Bio because they’re both double period (I think). And IB Bio is impossible to get As in, as all of our rising seniors in IB Bio will attest to (even the super duper Bio Olympiad kids who’ve literally memorized the yellow AP Cliffs Bio book). IB Physics is really chill if you’re into supplementing it with outside self-studying from Princeton Review or some other Physics C book.</p>
<p>I would be careful about self-studying science classes. Especially calculus based physics when you have not already taken a calculus class(even if you took physics B). Environmental is easy, but biology would be hard to self. It’s a ton of info and you have to know how to do a bunch of labs(one FRQ is always about a lab or creating a lab we did in class). Not to mention the last 20 or so mult. choice are based on labs(that are very hard to self study). I took the class, but there was one lab we didnt do in class so we had to do the simulation online and absolutely nobody understood it; on the practice test she gave us the week before the test there was a FRQ and everyone got like 1 or 2 points.</p>
<p>Well. That sucks. </p>
<p>I wish I had known that and taken the AP this year…meh. I guess I’ll just relearn it. I can probably just memorize the equations though…it shouldn’t be too bad, especially since I basically self-studied all this year since Krywy never taught us anything (I swear all we ever did was talk about nutella). At least I’m looking forward to next year since everyone says Turner is really awesome:) </p>
<p>Yeah, all AP’s (at our school) are double periods except Physics (B) and Enviro…I don’t think we even offer a Physics C course except IB Phys (which is 2 years instead of double period, same difference). I want to take IB Bio, but I’ve heard from a bunch of people now that it’s really bad. So I’ll probably take physics as my IB science. But, as a masochist, I might just have to take both (6th subject Bio ftw?).</p>
<p>I would disagree. As stewta4 says, Enviro is easy to self-study. Even with the labs, it’s possible to 5 with only Princeton Review and Barron’s flash cards plus a little common sense. </p>
<p>However, it’s also possible to 5 Bio with only the yellow Cliffs book and Barron’s flash cards (given an Honors Biology background). I self-studied for this year’s exam and found that everything was nicely covered in the Cliffs book, even the labs. Other CCers have found it possible to 5 Bio by intensely reading only the Cliffs book. Moreover, the College Board’s transition towards greater critical thinking and less memorization in the revised Biology curriculum makes Biology more of a “common-sense” exam and less of a rote memorization one. A lot of the questions in this year’s Bio exam that were based on labs were quite easy to comprehend utilizing knowledge from the Cliffs book and common sense.</p>
<p>Like Biology, AP Chem should be relatively easy to self-study as well with an Honors background. Using Princeton Review and Barron’s should get you a 5 as long as you understand the concepts and know how to utilize all of the equations (many of which you learned in Pre-IB Chemistry). You should have no problem supplementing your current knowledge with the additional 10% needed for the AP exam. As I said earlier, IB Chem is unfortunately detrimental to your performance on the AP because it covers mostly different material. </p>
<p>Finally, Physics is the hardest science to self-study. It relies mostly on math and careful understanding of concepts you’ve probably never encountered, given that the majority of the RM IB program has zero exposure to physics until junior or senior year. One disclaimer: self-studying Physics C while taking IB Physics would be extremely difficult without calculus knowledge. Some students at RM take Calculus in sophomore year, and I don’t know if you’re doing the same. Either way, IB Physics is only offered to juniors and seniors to begin with. So, while you’re learning calculus in junior year, it would be advisable to supplement your IB Physics class with a prep book covering both Physics C courses. If you can learn the calculus applications along with each unit, the material will make more sense. It will also be easier to prepare for the AP exam in May.</p>
<p>Hope this helps. As a side note, if you can do well in Pre-IB English (As in Quinn) then you’re well on the way to getting 5s on Lit and Lang as well.</p>
<p>Sorry to double post.</p>
<p>You can relearn it. Most equations you don’t need to memorize for the MC, and then the FRQ they give you a list of all the ones you need to know. Hope you have fun in Chem next year! (:</p>
<p>I thought we offered AP Physics C single-period; I had a friend who took the course last year. I’d take IB Physics because it looks just as impressive in terms of college admissions while being way easier. The first year of IB Physics is equivalent to both AP Physics C courses minus the calculus, so you’ll have to learn that on your own. The second year of IB Physics is all of the AP Physics B material. </p>
<p>Hahahahaha, if you’re going to take IB Bio your GPA will get shot/you’ll have to work super hard. It’s not even that the class/material is difficult - I’ve just heard that it’s structured so that it’s impossible for you to get an A. For Sixth Subject you could take a lot of things. I’m doing Sociology with Stillman but you could also do Music (Frezzo!), Philosophy (Thomas!), Theatre, Film, etc. I don’t remember all the other options, hahaha. Anyways, it seemed to me like a lot of sophomores this year took AP Stat as their elective – I don’t know if you want to try that. I’ve heard it’s a hard course, but of course it’s hard to self-study too unless you take it seriously and actually know the calculator functions.</p>
<p>That helps a lot, thanks (:</p>
<p>Fortunately, I’m taking BC Calc and Stats this year so I’ll have those exams out of the way and I’ll have the calculus background for physics. So I’ll probably end up taking IB Physics Junior and Senior year and self studying for the AP Junior year. </p>
<p>That’s good to hear about self-studying bio, but unfortunate about the class. I guess I’ll have to ask myself whether I’m willing to sacrifice my GPA to have an advanced bio course on my transcript…</p>
<p>Unfortunately (or fortunately) my parents didn’t put me through any type of musical education, so music’s out and I definitely don’t have time for 2 years of art or film. That’s why I was thinking science 6th subject…but maybe I’ll look into sociology or philosophy. Though, my parents, (both physics PhD’s (at least they can help me with the AP :D)) probably won’t think too highly of it xD</p>
<p>My parents have always complained how little physics is taught in our school system. I think most kids don’t mind it though!</p>
<p>^ So IB scores are in, apparently IBO ■■■■■■ the world with normalized scores or something because only 4% of people last year got 7s on Chem and 8% on Spanish. So, I doubled 6’d. </p>
<p>On a lighter note, I got State AP Scholar. Don’t have the letter but I got it from an admin who had access to the online Scholar Roster. Summer made.</p>
<p>Seriously? That’s crazy…6’s are still good though.</p>
<p>Yay! Congratulations:) Do you have any idea how many AP’s the top female in MD had?</p>
<p>I don’t know. I don’t even think they do press releases with this info. I had 20 exams eligible with an average of 4.523 among 21 total. The information is supposed to be confidential, anyways. At least until College Board releases the letter. XD</p>
<p>But if the girl is from MoCo they might release that info if the BOE acknowledges me. Typically Maryland State AP Scholar (from what I’ve seen) has been 18-22. Less than 18 and you’re probably out. More than 22 and it’s in the bag. There was a bit of controversy over the award two years ago when apparently one other person also claimed to have taken 21 exams and felt he deserved the award. </p>
<p>Are you going for it? (; If you want it for college admissions, which is all I think it’s good for, then you’ve got two years left.</p>
<p>Do at least 2 your freshman year. I suggest Bio and Enviro, since they’re related anyway.</p>
<p>Psych and Human Geo too. They’re really a combined total of maybe an extra 10-15 hours of study, and even then that’s if you want to ensure a 5. Take them early so you can spread them out and you don’t burden yourself with too many in one year.</p>
<p>TOTALS assume yes on all if’s… (s) indicates self study (sIB) indicates self studying with the aid of a corresponding IB course</p>
<p>Freshman:
NSL (like everyone in IB)
TOTAL:1</p>
<p>Sophomore:
AP French (sIB), AP Stat, AP Calc BC, APUSH, AP Chem (sIB), AP art history (sIB…maybe, but that sounds like a lot of studying in a genre I’m not particularly interested in)
Enviro (s, I’m on the envirothon team anyway…so it should be useful). Then psych (s) and/or human geo (s) and/or comp gov (s) [depending on how adventurous I feel XD. Also, any of those three that I don’t take will be pushed to junior year]
TOTAL:10</p>
<p>Junior:
AP Euro (sIB), AP Physics C: Mechanics & E&M (sIB), AP Bio (s or sIB…considering), Lit (sIB), Lang (sIB), Micro (s), Macro (s) [also any of the 3 humanities I don’t take soph]
TOTAL:8</p>
<p>Senior:
Write college apps and sleep. Maybe Physics B (sIB) if I’m feeling particularly masochistic
TOTAL:0-1</p>
<p>At some point before senior year:
I really, really want to teach myself CP or take some sort of EC course on it. Not even for the sake of the AP, I’m just honestly interested…so if that works out I can take AP comp sci (which I’ve heard is pretty easy if you have programming experience)
TOTAL:1</p>
<p>Which would leave me at 18…or 20 if I do art history (SEVERE DOUBT) and comp sci (rather probable). Then possible 1 more senior year (doesn’t help for apps :/) I better have counted that right >_></p>
<p><em>Ponders</em></p>
<p>How hard is World to self study?</p>
<p>And why isn’t Polish (native) an AP?! Discrimination, I say! Just Kidding xD</p>
<p>Should I do it? Everybody not on cc will think I’m crazy x_x (no offense TheRealFake!) I also want to go for the Seimen’s AP award (scholarship money FTW).</p>
<p>Sorry for the ridiculously long post xD</p>