I was wondering if I should self study for AP U.S. Government and Politics next year in my senior year instead of taking the full year course that would be offered (next year is the first year the course will be available to take). I got a 4 on the AP European History exam as a sophomore and I am taking AP U.S. History and AP Physics B as a junior - I’m expecting a 4-5 on the exams as of now. If I were to self study for AP U.S. Government, I would most likely start learning basic concepts before the end of this year, learn much of the material next summer, and possibly obtain lesson plans from the teacher who will be teaching the class when school starts. I’ll also be taking a mandatory normal 12th grade level Participation in Government class. I am most likely also taking AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, and AP Biology in my senior year as well. I want at least a 4 on every AP exam that I take.</p>
Do you think I could self study for the exam and get at least a 4 without trying too hard? I am generally a hard worker (I have about a 96.5 overall unweighted). Or should I just take the class (the main reason I don’t want to take the class is because from what I’ve read spending a whole year on AP U.S. Government in class would be pointless).</p>
Do you have a solid background in politics? It helps immensely if you’re someone who has followed politics closely for a time. I’ve been involved with politics since I was 10, so self studying for the exam was no problem. All I did look over a prep book the day before. Got a 5. If you have a solid foundation, go for it. If not, take the class. </p>
If you can answer these questions already I say self-study.</p>
What are two important effects of the 14th amendment?
Why do congressional incumbents win re-election 90% of the time?</p>
I see. Well then, I’m probably not going to self-study
Thanks for putting things into perspective. I think I was just excited by the fact that they added a couple AP courses to start next year. I might just take the class or maybe Psychology or Chemistry.</p>
The thing about AP politics is that it can be very hard to get a solid grasp of the fundamentals, but after you do it becomes very easy to understand the more complex ideas. Does your school offer a like a semester non AP gov class. If so you could take that class and then self-study the more advanced stuff.</p>
There is a participation in government class that I have to take next year. I think I’ve decided to just self-study for AP macroeconomics or microeconomics (I have to take a normal economics class next year and I can just get cliffsnotes or something to supplement the more advanced concepts), and then just take 3-4 actual AP classes.</p>
Quick question, if I am already self-studying AP Comparative Government and Politics, would it be a good idea to attempt to self-study AP US Government and Politics as well? It seems to me that the content isn’t much different (aside from the fact that comp. gov’t covers more countries). Also, I just finished taking an honors american government at my school (freshman can’t take any AP’s), so maybe they would go together sort of? Lol I really don’t know… Any opinions?</p>
US govt and pol is one of the easier aps. With a decent textbook, access to a primary source book for SC precedents, federalist papers, etc and a PR book you’ll be in range for a high score.</p>
