Im a junior in HS. i am self studying AP Psych (smth i love. also, my school does not offer it). since i heard testing wont be considered that much in college admissions, how much will my self-studying and subsequent AP score impact college admissions? (since it obviously wont show up on my GPA, I wanted to know what benefits there are in self studying it, besides just my genuine interest). Thank you.
Hi! AP scores are not highly considered at most US institutions, but they do look good as they show rigor.
I think a benefit of self-studying is that you can dive deeper into the topics that are of particular interest to yourself.
As rigor is not counted for self-studying I don’t believe, it is more about getting credit (usually a 4 or a 5) and then you could possibly skip the introductory psych classes which covers similar topics to the AP.
I would say to put a bit of effort into it if you would like that potential credit.
Also, I took AP Psych as a junior and absolutely loved it!
Zero. Zilch. Nada.
The potential benefit comes from college credits.
Colleges want applicants to challenge themselves with real courses through their HS. Self-studying an AP is not impressive, particularly an easy AP, and especially if the HS offers the course.
An EC that you enjoy doing is likely a better use of your time.
I disagree. I found Psychology to be fascinating, and took a sequence in college.
Picking an EC that wasn’t interesting enough that a student is already involved in it isn’t better than “smth I love”, as OP put it. Learning Psychology is a valuable EC in itself.
I agree it will be of little value in admissions, but college credit can be useful in getting to advanced coursework or freeing up time to take other courses.
And sometimes doing something you really enjoy is more important than another fraction of a point of benefit on the 10th line of Activities on a college application.
I also disagree that it’s worthless, but it won’t tip any scales. My daughter did this and scored 5 on the exam. She did it because she loves studying, her high school didn’t offer it, and she was interested in the subject and planned to major in it (which she did).
It would have been useful for her to place out of intro level classes or to get course credit. In the end she took the introductory class in college and was glad she did.
If it’s something you are very interested in and your school doesn’t offer it, I think it shows self motivation, but beyond that, it’s not super useful. I also don’t necessarily agree that it’s easy, especially when you do it on your own. Only 22% of students get a 5 on that test, and only 71% get 3 or higher. Self study because you’re interested in it, and if you get a good score, it’s a bonus.