Self-Studying APs: Improving Your App

<p>Is it possible to self study an AP class as an official class through independent study as a ethod to boost your GPA</p>

<p>I just realized after looking at my plan for senior year: Is there any point to self-studying AP’s your senior year, especially if your prospective university usually and probably won’t accept AP credit? Other than, of course, self-improvement or knowledge (?), I suppose? Will colleges even know if you self-studied any AP’s senior year?</p>

<p>@Dreamstanforduni, I think it all really depends on your high school. I think at mine, if you take a college course that corresponds to an AP course it might count, but self-studying AP’s without any sort of coursework I don’t think would.</p>

<p>What would you guys say to somebody taking an Honors Biology course + doing some extra studying and then taking the test? Good idea, bad idea?</p>

<p>Also, the same with World History, taking an honors course, doing extra studying starting around February.</p>

<p>Bad idea. Unless you’re going to study a lot an honors Bio class won’t prepare you for the AP Exam.</p>

<p>Just joined after reading this thread.</p>

<p>I am going to be fighting vigorously for the National AP scholar award for the end of this year. I am currently a junior, and am taking five AP courses during the school day (Psychology, US History, Comp. Sci A, Chemistry, and English Language). Save for English, fours will be fairly easy as far as I am concerned based on knowledge from students at my school that have already taken the courses and my current proficiency in the classes. Last year I took World History (5), and Spanish Language (4- non native speaker!!). I am comtemplating a self-studied exam to get exam number eight and National AP scholar. My thought right now is Physics B, because I am in a PreAP Physics class right now and it is a complete waste of time it is so easy, I am thinking about checking out the AP textbook and a Princeton Review/Barrons AP review to read more detailed concepts while learning it in the course (My teacher also teaches Physics B and could hopefully tutor some crazy difficult stuff). I also hear Enviornmental Science is pretty easy to self study, and I am interested in the subject. Any suggestions? Should I just go for it and take both?</p>

<p>My state’s virtual high school offers the following four courses online (amongst others!):
AP German Language
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microeconomics
AP European History
I’d like to take all four, but my school only permits students to take two AP courses through the virtual HS. At this point in time, I’m planning to self-study for the econ tests. Is this the best course of action?</p>

<p>Hey guys, self-studying HG and ES here.</p>

<p>I got Barron’s for HG, is PR for ES better? Any other ideas?</p>

<p>I’m taking the plunge and will be taking 4 or 5 self-study AP tests. World, Enviro, Microecon, Macroecon and Comparative along with my AP Gov and Lang/Comp which I’m taking classes for. Any advice for these?</p>

<p>I am a freshman in high school and I’ve decided that I’m going to take AP Comparative Government and Politics as my first self-study AP (actually my first AP overall) exam. After reading through some of the self-study threads though, I’ve noticed that most people take more than one a year. Should I also attempt to take another this year as well? Maybe Human Geography or Environmental sciences? I really don’t know… Any suggestions?</p>

<p>^Don’t take “useless” AP’s like AP Environmental/Human Geo/Psych/Comp gov’t? Self-study ones like calc BC, Physics C, Biology, Chem, English Lang/Lit, Comp Sci, US/World/Euro history and so on. The easier AP’s are too easy and many top tier colleges don’t accept oe care for them.</p>

<p>^ Really? I didn’t know that… Well I’m going to stick with comparative govt because I have already ordered the books and stuff for it. Also, I’ll be taking us and world history through the school most likely because those are two of the very few my school actually offers. What’s the difference between english lang/lit?</p>

<p>If you’re going for National AP Scholar, self-study the easiest APs.</p>

<p>If you want credits to be accepted, don’t bother with them.</p>

<p>^Do colleges find the National AP Scholar impressive? Should I even bother trying to get it?</p>

<p>^The National AP Scholar holds less weight if say you’re already in 9 APs classes by junior year because they can already see how you have performed in those AP classes. It holds more weight if say you took 5 APs by junior year and self-studied the final 3.</p>

<p>^ Ok. The problem with that is that my school only offers 2 AP classes before Junior year (you have to be a sophomore though), Junior & Senior year together only offer 3… I am planning on taking both AP classes next year (I’m a freshman). Does this mean I need to self-study 6 classes by Junior year? I’m self-studying two this year, but I don’t think I’ll be able to handle four next year…</p>

<p>Which AP classes are offered at your school?</p>

<p>Freshman - take two (self-study 2)
Sophomore - take three (self-study 1)
Junior - take three (self-study 0)
Senior - take classes at local college / self-study some APs</p>

<p>As a freshman at my school, you can’t take any AP classes… stupid rule I know. I’m going to self-study two this year though. Sophomores only have two AP classes to choose from: AP World History and AP Art History. I want to take both, but since our school is on a 4 block schedule and we don’t have many teachers, many of the AP classes are only offered in the same periods as our required classes. I’ll probably wind up taking AP World History, and if I can somehow get it to fit, AP Art History as well. Juniors can take AP U.S History and AP Biology. Once again, the same schedule issue pops up. Senior year you can take either AP calculus or stats, and if you can find a way to fit it in, AP Economics or Lit.</p>

<p>Yeah my school stinks. There’s basically no possible way to take all of the classes you want to. Not even half of them for that matter. :(</p>

<p>As a freshman at my school, you can’t take any AP classes… stupid rule I know. I’m going to self-study two this year though. Sophomores only have two AP classes to choose from: AP World History and AP Art History. I want to take both, but since our school is on a 4 block schedule and we don’t have many teachers, many of the AP classes are only offered in the same periods as our required classes. I’ll probably wind up taking AP World History, and if I can somehow get it to fit, AP Art History as well. Juniors can take AP U.S History and AP Biology. Once again, the same schedule issue pops up. Senior year you can take either AP calculus or stats, and if you can find a way to fit it in, AP Economics or Lit.</p>

<p>Yeah my school stinks. There’s basically no possible way to take all of the classes you want to. Not even half of them for that matter. :(</p>

<p>Okay I’m really late in the game. I’m a senior and my school (Canada) does not offer any APs at all. I haven’t taken any and I’m considering self-studying AP Bio and Chem to improve my chances at ivies. Problem is the results won’t come out until long after the decisions are released so I’m not sure if my mentioning that I’m self-studying these two will give my application a boost. Thoughts?</p>