<p>Hi all,
I kinda realized this really late, the fact that you can take an AP exam without actually having taken the class.
I've thought a lot about the exams that I want to take, but I'll just ask about this year (sophomore). </p>
<p>My school does not offer AP World History, regular World History is required for 10th grade, but I want to self-study AP World. Book recommendations?
How much easier would it be to self-study, because I'm already taking regular world history?</p>
<p>Also should I try to do AP European history in addition to ap world? or just one of the two</p>
<p>I also want to take AP Music Theory this year, would that be hard to self study?
i mean for a regular person taht would be really hard, but i have a strong-ish background in music?
for those that know about the certificate of merit piano exams, I'm taking level 9 this march. How much extra would I need to study for AP Music Theory?</p>
<p>also, given only until may, so like 5 more months, is it possible for me to self-study anything else and get a 5? i have a pretty busy schedule but i can always push myself
things like
ap psychology, ap macro, ap micro, ap human geography?</p>
<p>I’m just looking for what you think of those classes, i’ll be taking any other ap at school in the following years, i’m just listing ap’s that my school doesn’t offer.
and I don’t want to self-study any AP’s next year, because I’ll already have 6, so maybe self-study one at most, but i’m not looking for advice telling me to wait another year. </p>
<p>is it possible to self-study some of these by May?
The ones I definitely want to take are AP Music Theory, and AP World or Euro.
If I can, then I want to try to do some of the four i just listed above</p>
<p>The English APs are probably very easy to do based on self-studying. You don’t really need to study at all (besides more advanced terms if you don’t know what they mean already (allegory, simile, sonnet, archetype, etc)).</p>
<p>I would stay away from self-teaching math or physics courses - some of those topics aren’t self-explanatory at all. </p>
<p>I took world history, hated the class, but the material isn’t that hard. I love the Princeton Review books, but I used the Crash Course one for my world exam. It provides good background knowledge, but not too much else - it wouldn’t help with the essays at all. </p>
<p>Also - psych is really mostly common sense. Just use one of the books, come up with a list of important terms, maybe read through a psychology textbook, and most importantly DO OLD AP TESTS. Can’t stress that enough. Essays/free-response questions are more or less repeated in general ideas from year to year, and many of the multiple choice questions overlap.</p>
<p>In any case, start studying now. As early as possible. Good luck!!</p>
<p>Sorry it’s late, but I’m taking AP World and it’s almost a requirement to get the Princeton Review book for AP World History. It’s a huge time period to study, but it’s doable if you’re motivated. Good luck!</p>
<p>It sounds like you’re pretty well prepared for AP Music Theory-I’ve heard lots of terrible things about it though, like all the terms you have to learn and sight singing and a bunch of other aural/nonaural things you need to know how to do. Look into the course outline or maybe ask some peers who are taking that class before you decide to self-study it.
If you’re taking AP World, I wouldn’t try to do AP Euro unless you’re a history buff. AP Euro is about 20% of AP World, but it’s such intense memorization and little tiny details (well, in the class at least). But if you’re great at memorization and want the extra challenge, you could do it! (Except now that it’s halfway through the year, I actually wouldn’t advise doing the histories at all :P)
Human geo and psych are generally regarded as two of the easiest APs to self-study. Never taken them, though, and I don’t really care to. xD I’m not planning on ever needing those courses.
The AP Economics courses sound harder for most people to study, but if you use a whole semester you could probably do both of them, seeing as how the first one-two chapters are the same for both of them. Macro is easier for most people, but it really depends. Again, look at the course outlines before making a decision.
Good luck! :)</p>
<p>Thank you ElvenRanger, for your very detailed response! I really appreciate it! If I self-studied an easy AP, such as Psychology, what kind of effort would I need to put into it, and how much time would I need to spend?</p>
<p>Hmm…well Psych is mostly common sense from what people tell me, but you MUST look over past free response questions is what past cc self-studiers have said. Given that info I would say, depending on how busy you are, you could probably do it in 2.5 months or less. I would try to leave at least the last two weeks in April (preferably the whole month open for review for the big exam. But I don’t think you would need to put in a ton of effort for psych at all. </p>
<p>I believe I have heard that most of the lite APs are usually a little harder/more in-depth than Psych but don’t quote me on that…</p>
<p>Aw, don’t mention it! Sounds like you’re a very motivated student who’s going to go far! Good luck! :)</p>