Hi I’m a current sophomore who is interested in the future into going into a international-related field. Hopefully that of either political science, international relations, international studies, or international politics. I’m looking into studying additional AP classes not offered by my school. Currently at my school I’m taking AP World History and plan to take AP Economics (both Macro and Micro) either next year or senior year. I’m also involved in all three world language programs offered by my school and hope to use this strength of mine to eventually take AP French, Spanish, and Chinese. I’m hoping to showcase this strength on my college application form in the future as well. I’m hoping to take another AP social studies class because the social studies department at my school doesn’t offer a lot of classes, especially those of which I’m interested in. I’m hoping to eventually apply to New York University, London School of Economics, Columbia, UCLA, or University of Chicago.
The additional classes I’m thinking about studying being either AP US Government, AP Comparative Government, AP Human Geography, or AP European History.
I’ve heard AP Human Geography is an easy self study but would it be worth taking? Does it transfer well?
I’m interested in the government courses but are they difficult and I think that if I chose this one to self study I would probably self study both since I’ve heard at most high schools that offer it they usually each take only a semester.
Since I’m currently enrolled in AP World History would AP European History be a better choice? For example would the set up of the test be the same or would the content significantly overlap?
If I could get a response to my questions that would be extremely helpful. I’m planning on starting to seriously study in November. Any suggestions or commentary would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
APHG doesn’t normally give credit at top tier schools. My history teacher told us along with APUSH, AP Euro is one of the hardest history APs, but I’ve heard of some fresh/sophs taking it on here. Have you looked at the course selection at your local community college? It might be worth looking there to see if they have anything you are interested in. Obviously, those courses transfer very well.
I think the consensus here is that self-studying APs does very little good.
I’m looking into applying also for LSE which for international students from America requires that I submit AP test scores related to the field I’m applying for. Social Studies obviously fit well with my field so I’m just interested that if I wanted to self study them which one would you recommend as a good choice.
Is the program considered competitive?
Actually, self-studying APs does a lot of good for European schools (such as LSE) that require a lot of APs for admissions, especially if you are at a school with limited AP options.
OP, you are smart to be looking ahead to make sure that you have the APs you need if you are serious about the UK (btw, if you apply to LSE for IR, also look at Edinburgh- you get 5 UK courses for 1 application (it’s 1 fee, 1 rec, 1 essay for all 5, so it’s really easy to add another university).
But- be sure to read the fine print. You need 5 or 6 scores of 5 for LSE. You are taking World, and plan to take French, Chinese, Spanish, Micro and Macro, which looks like 5 -but Micro and Macro are not ‘preferred’ APs, so only count as 1/2 an AP, which means you would need one more. Comp Gov, US Gov and Human Geo are also not ‘preferred’, so they won’t help you, which means that Euro is essential.
Tbh, though, instead of Micro/Macro, imo you would be better off taking Comp Gov and US Gov for IR (which are NOT difficult self-studies) because they are actually useful for your course.
Also, be aware that if you apply without enough scores in hand, you can only get an offer of a place that is ‘conditional’ on your AP results. That makes May of senior year a real pain, means you need a back up college (in the US or the UK), and the wait for the results in July excruciating!
Should probablly take AP gov as a class and AP econ as a class those are the most important AP’s that you should probably take as a class. I’d recommend Self-studying WHAP I’m taking the class RN and while I have a great teacher I could probablly have easy gotten a 4 if I self-studied. Taking the class ensures that I’d prob got a 5 though