Self-Studying APs: Improving Your App

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I would really like to agree with you—I too come from an underserved school without many AP options (or even Honors). Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s any way to definitively say they’re helpful unless an admissions officer actually outright says they like self-studied APs. If you do have a source, please tell!</p>

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This is where I think doing it as an independent study can help—it really shows you’re committed to it, year round—not just signing up for the exam on a lark to get into college. </p>

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If that were true, why would colleges want official transcripts or SAT reports? If they’re willing to just trust students, then they would accept self-reported scores on everything else as well. Unfortunately, I think there are those who can and will exploit the system—making it more difficult for the rest of us.</p>

<p>Again, I really hope I’m wrong.</p>

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No, they’re still logged like normal APs. The issue is that AP score reports (unlike SAT reports) aren’t sent to colleges during the admissions process.</p>

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<p>All the “proof” I know are anecdotal, although when I was applying to colleges the Yale recruiter I was speaking to said self-studying APs is a big plus. I can ask the MIT adcoms for you, since I blog for them.</p>

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<p>What I’m trying to emphasize is that although it’s great that you can get Indep. Study credit for it at school, it’s not the case for most students. My school had a really strict 6 academic class cap per semester, and you’re not allowed to go over. In this case, should I be limited in what I self-study? Should I sacrifice taking a regular course at school to self-study some AP as Indep. Study? I think self-studying APs is the best way to be able to break out of the traditional academic boundaries that your school has (because of the curriculum, because of the resources available…etc.) and show your true academic potential.</p>

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<p>I think you’re being too cynical. My question again still stands: if they don’t trust you on the self-studied AP scores, then why would adcoms trust any part of your application at all? Why would they not require photocopies for your awards? Why would they not require written proof from the school principal/administration that you actually did all the things on your ECs?</p>

<p>Of course they would have to request an official reporting of the SAT scores because EVERYONE applying to the college needs a SAT score - even the liars, the cheaters, the morally corrupted :P…etc. etc. Having an SAT score transcript ensures quality control for all applicants and they don’t have to waste time deliberating on whether the scores are real or not. Even if the admission office doesn’t have the time to go through all the ETS-reported scores, the fact that they ask for an official score reporting is like a moral mechanism so the applicant will more likely put down accurate scores on the self-reported SAT score blanks.</p>

<p>The reason why I think colleges don’t ask for AP score reports is because not everyone takes APs in high school, and asking for AP score reports will elicit unnecessary questions from students that don’t have AP scores, or encourage the conception that students who go to high school without AP courses are disadvantaged. Therefore, all the AP work that you do is perceived as extra academic work, just like how extracurriculars are the things that you do outside of the school setting. </p>

<p>You have to note that actually self-studying for APs is a relatively rare phenomenon in the college applicant pool outside of home-schooled students and the ultra-competitive applicant pool. Most high school students don’t have the academic drive or motivation to do self-studying outside of school, and it’s unlikely that you’ll get a huge number of applicants having self-studied AP scores*. This is why I’ve been pushing self-studying APs as a way for you to “stand out” academically for these years. I really don’t believe that there is a proliferation of liars who will outright lie about AP scores that don’t exist. </p>

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<li>Based on surveys that I conducted with “How to Get Into HYPMSC” seminars (to ~300 students yearly) that I conduct through MIT Splash and Spark twice a year with motivated high school students in Mass. Most (more than 90%) have not heard of the concept of self-studying APs.</li>
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<p>Also, if you really want to be paranoid about the whole thing, just send the AP score report in! Then don’t you have concrete proof that you did those self-studies? There’s no rule that says you can’t send in an official score report, and the admission office will not throw away anything you send in. It’ll all be logged within your file for reference for the adcoms.</p>

<p>The issue I take with valuing AP courses on your school transcript as more “important” than self-studied APs is that honestly, your school transcript doesn’t mean all that much. So what if you did APUSH at school? If I were the adcom, I would view an APUSH course at school as equivalent to self-studied APUSH, if both applicant had a 5 on the national exam. The problem is that there are so many non-rigorous AP courses in the American high school system that I don’t think an AP course taken at school relatively means more than an AP course done on your own. Just ask many home-school parents why they decide to home-school their children. Are the children then at a disadvantage because they don’t have formal academic transcripts to send to colleges? </p>

<p>The keys to this whole self-study thing are that:</p>

<p>1) You need to be the master of your own academic destiny. Don’t let the course offering of your high school limit your choices of what you can take and what you can’t take. If you can handle more work, self-study APs to prove your academic capabilities.</p>

<p>2) You need to do well on the self-studied AP exams. The truth is, for most academically talented students, you should be able to get a 3 on most AP tests even if you walk into the test cold. If you self-study, you need to be able to get 4s or 5s (really, 5s, not so much 4s) if you want it to make a difference. Therefore, you also need to begin the process in advance and plan out how you’re going to prep yourself leading up to May.</p>

<p>3) I don’t think self-studying is for everyone. You’ll have to have the discipline and the forethought to plan the course of your self-study out. </p>

<p>To use an analogy, I see self-studying APs as the cream on top of the cake - it’s the garnish on top of everything else. You’ll have to have a solid base already in your academic studies (a good GPA at school, good SAT scores - the “cake”) before your self-studied APs will make a difference - the same way that eating cake with a poor base will not make you full even if you put a mountainful of cream on top.</p>

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<p>If you have the time and energy (and the interest), then go for it! You might get some form of college credit (if not the corresponding credit for Intro to Gov then you might get some kind of elective credit). At the crux of it all, I still want to emphasize that self-studying APs should be something that you WANT to do as well. If you hate the subjects that you’re self-studying, then don’t do it! Life is too short to do things that you hate, even if it’s things that you’re doing to get into college.</p>

<p>The strength of your arguments and prose have convinced me that self-studied APs should be perceived as valuable, though I do still wonder how many admissions officers look at or value them. I’m almost completely ready to agree.</p>

<p>Could you possibly ask an MIT adcom? It would be great to have this nailed down with a definitive statement, or at least as definitive as anything is in college admissions.</p>

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Oh, I didn’t see that you were talking about the admissions process, specifically. My bad.</p>

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I’m definitely interested in the subject. It’s just that we’re all pre-programed to think that AP courses are extremely difficult and come with huge workloads. So, when I think “3 AP courses at once”, even if one is self-studied at my own pace, the natural response is to see it as daunting. I do think I’m up for it, though.</p>

<p>I would like to self-study for four or five AP exams and I’m having trouble deciding which ones to try. I’d really appreciate any advice.</p>

<p>These are the exams I’m considering (let’s mix and match until we find a good fit for this year):
AP Euro.
AP World.
AP Human Geography
AP Env. Science
AP Art History
AP Psychology
AP Statistics</p>

<p>What do you guys think?</p>

<p>I’m considering self-studying for all three history APs (I already took AP US History), and then maybe AP Human Geography and AP Env. Science? History is a passion of mine, and I can assure you I would not tire of the subject. Do you think colleges would appreciate sticking an AP Statistics test in there for fun? If so, should I take out the AP Art History and substitute that in? Maybe that makes more sense, seeing as I may overload myself with too much history otherwise (even considering how much I love the subject)…</p>

<p>Great post! I have a few questions though. I want to self study Stat, but I have no idea how to. Did you purchase a textbook? If so, which book do you think is good? Also, sometimes schools teach you math problems that are not in the textbook, so in that case, how did you prepare for that? (Or was the AP exam just that easy? haha) My last question is, did you do a lot of practice problems/self tests and quizzes?</p>

<p>Is micro or macro economics easier to self-study for? Or should I study for both of them? Also, which review book is best for economics?</p>

<p>Oasis, thanks so much for your post! and do you think self-studying or taking classes at high school would look better on apps?</p>

<p>Tochau, I am taking an AP Economics class in school right now and, while we haven’t really delved into the Macroeconomics portion of the class yet, it’s already clear that Macroeconomics is building on Microeconomics. So, in essence, if you want to self-study one of them, choose Microeconomics. I’d go for both, though. It’s really not that difficult once you learn to think like an economist and speak the economics lingo. </p>

<p>I’d pick the McGraw Hill “5 Steps to a 5” review book.</p>

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<p>There are different ways to self-study AP exams, but I’ve found the easiest way is to just buy prep books and read them. Textbooks are too lengthy to go through, and prep books summarize everything that you need to know in a concise manner. For prep book recommendations, there are numerous other threads on this topic already in the forum. The key though is to pace yourself through the process. If you’re taking the exam in May, start by January by the very latest, otherwise, you’ll find yourself extremely burned out leading up to the AP exam.</p>

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<p>You should take the most rigorous courseload that your high school offers and see if you still have the energy and the time to do anything else on the side. Self-studying APs should always COMPLEMENT your course of study at school, not detract from it. If you’re already on a full AP load at school and you have no time to do anything else aside from your existing extracurriculars, it’s fine to not self-study APs. Do what you can, but most of all, make sure you’re good at what you decide to do.</p>

<p>I don’t get how the AP system works…specifically the “self study” one.</p>

<p>I’m a Junior and I am currently taking my first AP class: APUSH. We will be taking the AP exam somewhere around May…and I will order Prep books to help my knowledge and to hopefully get me a 4 or a 5…but realistically i think i’ll only get a 2-3 since i’m not really intelligent about US History that’s why i will buy a couple prep books [AMSCO and REA].</p>

<p>I will be taking AP Calculus AB on my Senior year so that’ll be 2 APs for me. </p>

<p>But I want to also take the AP Exams of AP Biology, Human Geography, Psychology, and Environmental Science to better my image when i apply for College/University. How will I take the exams of these 3 if my HS doesn’t offer AP classes for them? I will and am determined to self study them. I’ve taken Biology Honors on my Sophomore year so that’ll be a quick review. Psychology and Env. Sci. will be new for me, but i’ll study them. So how will i take the AP exams?</p>

<p>Please answer and i highly appreciate it.</p>

<p>^ Don’t even think about self studying Biology unless you have some kind of tutor. It’s waaayyy too much info. Just take AP Bio next year if you really want to take it.</p>

<p>You can self study HG, Psych and ES by buying prep books and studying for them like oasis said.</p>

<p>Ok, so I am a junior, and originally I was planning on self-studying a few APs next year along with the ones I am taking in school (I go to a public school that offers a large number of them, but I’m legitimately interested in more then my schedule has room for). Then I read this post, and I think someone said earlier that it looks more credible to say you are going to self-study senior year when you already have a history of self-studying.</p>

<p>Basically, I realize it’s already mid-January. I think I’m definitely going to self-study AP Psychology since I know I would enjoy the subject. Given how late it is, do you think it would be reasonable to try and do a second one, either APES or AP Human Geography? I haven’t done AP Bio yet (and I don’t think I’d have enough time to just try and self study it now), but I’ve already taken pre-AP bio and geo, and they were incredibly easy for me. Opinions?</p>

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<p>This was answered fully in some of the earlier posts, but basically you should contact your guidance counselor about ordering exams for you around January-March. The school can order AP exams that aren’t taught by your school, provided that you pay for them. They’ll also have to provide a proctor to administer your exam at the right time and place during exam week. If your school is unwilling to do so, it’s also possible to seek out nearby schools that will help you with this.</p>

<p>I want to study for Euro and World history AP and take the tests. Should I start by reading a textbook or directly go to the review books? Which books are good for these two topics?</p>

<p>Reading the text book and taking notes will give you a deeper understanding of the material… but you may not have time for that, so go with the review book. Hammer down on the overall themes and the DBQ! This will take a lot of self-motivation and that is not always easy. Good Luck!</p>

<p>I’m currently a Junior with some ambitions. This is my AP/IB schedule right now.</p>

<p>AP Psychology
AP European History
AP Comparative Government
IB English A1 HL</p>

<p>Would I be in over my head if I sign up for</p>

<p>AP World History (Both Barrons and PR) - Should I get a textbook?
AP US Government (APUSH last year, 5) (Kaplan) - Ditto
AP Human Geography (Kaplan)
AP Chinese (Native speaker) (Probably not going to study)</p>

<p>Im looking to self study the following classes, would appreciate inputs, or comments if it looks like I would be overextending myself. </p>

<p>I am taking AB Calculus, was considering self studying BC.
AP World Hist
Have been interested in env. science/meteorology since childhood so might try AP Env.
I also have been training vocally for a couple of years and might take AP Music
ap phsychology</p>

<p>In addition, I am taking AP English Lit(not self study)
Just a bit of background, last year i took AP Bio(5), AP Comp Sci AB(4), AP Comp Sci A(5).</p>

<p>What is the good textbook to study for AP Euro anyway? my school doesn’t offer it and I’d really like to read a book instead of directly do the review books. please recommend a good one. thanks.</p>

<p>luv2sk8, I took Euro last year in school (LOVED it) and really enjoyed using the McKay History of Western Society textbook, so much so that I actually read in advance of the class’s pace. It’s thorough and gives good in-depth information on all aspects of Euro history from religion and art to politics and wars. Hopefully you’ll have a good time taking the course, it really helped to show much how much everything in history is connected…so cool.</p>

<p>As for a general question, I was originally planning on studying AP Psych next year by myself, but I’ve also been drawn to self-studying AP Art History lately…which would you recommend to self-study before this year’s May exams? Both seem rather straightforward, I’m just trying to gage which would be best under these time restraints.</p>