Self-Studying AP Classes

<p>Hola folks, I have a question regarding people self studying AP classes. Pretty much I just want to know how it works. I'm a freshman and perhaps doing it right now with the least amount of coursework is the best time. </p>

<p>My questions are:</p>

<p>Do you just choose an AP and study for it?</p>

<p>How do you study for it (which books or websites)? </p>

<p>At which grades can you do it?</p>

<p>Do colleges like it?</p>

<p>Which ones are the most respected and least, and which ones are the easiest and which are the hardest?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot guys 😃</p>

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<p>Yes, but you need to make sure your school orders the test for you, so you should go to your guidance counselor and discuss it a couple months in advance.</p>

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<p>However you want. Syllabi/course descriptions are available on the College Board website.
I would recommend MIT Open Courseware, though obviously they don’t have lectures for all the available subjects. Khan Academy is good, especially for AP Stats IMO, but the biology/chemistry/calculus playlists do not cover everything you’ll need to know for the AP exams.
Prep books can be used a month or so before the exam, but I don’t think you should try to learn a subject entirely from a prep book. You should try to really learn the material without always thinking about the fact that you’re preparing for a test.</p>

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<p>Anyone can take an AP exam (including people who aren’t in high school). The College Board doesn’t care who you are as long as you pay for the test and someone orders it for you. </p>

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<p>It doesn’t look bad, obviously
it shows that you’re self-motivated, and you’ll often be able to get college credit if you pass the test, but IMO you shouldn’t bother with self-studying unless you’re already getting straight As in the most challenging courses your school offers. You’re not expected to go beyond that academically. </p>

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<p>An AP test is an AP test. They’re not going to do any hair-splitting over which ones they’re going to respect the most, especially if it’s something you did outside of class. “Commonly” self-studied courses include Human Geography, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Statistics, and Environmental Science. I would recommend picking something you’re interested in, or perhaps something that would allow you to take a higher-level course at a local college (I self-studied AP Calculus BC because my school doesn’t offer it and I wanted to be able to take linear algebra and differential equations in my senior year).</p>

<p>Wondering if anyone could help me with this: </p>

<p>So I really want to become an ap scholar by the end of jr year. I have just 1 AP scheduled for this (soph) year and 4 for next. They are AP World, AP Art Hist, AP Lang, AP Euro, and AP Comp Sci.</p>

<p>My question is: would it be feasible to self study AP Human Geo and AP Psych this year? What is self studying like? What does it entail? How would I go about it? </p>

<p>Any insight is greatly appreciated!</p>

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<p>I forgot Psychology, but that too. World History is reportedly easier than the other history tests, but I don’t know how often people self-study it.</p>

<p>In my experience (and I don’t know how representative my experience is), colleges are less likely to give credit for Human Geography compared to other exams.</p>

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<p>First, it would be preferable to just take more AP classes at school. Don’t bother with self-studying unless you’re already taking as many AP courses in class as your school allows. To self-study something, you get your school to order the test and then you learn the material for it on your own. There are tons of Internet resources for a lot of AP subjects, so it’s not as difficult as it sounds so long as you’re self-motivated.</p>

<p>IMO it would be better to spend the time working on your extracurriculars. There’s nothing remarkable about the AP Scholar awards.</p>