<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm a freshman self studying AP Psychology and here is my arsenal:</p>
<p>1) Barrons AP Psychology
2) Princeton Review AP Psychology</p>
<p>I'm all set on the materials part, but HOW DO I GET A 5?! This is my first self study so i don't have an idea.</p>
<p>i say u dont take the test and save urself 84 dollars since most colleges dont even accept the credit</p>
<p>lol ap psych is so easy, just ctfo and do the class and you'll get a 5 unless ur a retard</p>
<p>I'd suggest reviewing the Barron's book - that's what I'm using, though I'm also taking a class. TBH I'm not certain whether it's detailed enough, but from what I hear the AP Psych exam is supposed to be really easy so Barron's should be sufficient. If you want to really make sure you get a 5, I'd get a Psych textbook by David Meyers (7th ed. is really good, easy to read, and interesting) and read through that and then go through the Barron's for review. Just my $0.02.</p>
<p>wenger, read the title, i'm self studying. people can get a 5 without a class.</p>
<p>I self-studied for this last year and got a 5 . . .easiest exam of the 5 I have taken (US gov, US history, Euro, environmental science are the others).</p>
<p>I used the REA book. Its the really fat one. Few people seem to use it but it was great. It taught me more than I needed and I had a lot of matirial for the free response.<br>
Here's what I did: 1) read the whole book, making flashcards of the vocab 2) drew pictures/diagrams of stuff like the parts of the brain, the path of a neuron, most of the bio-chem stuff. Then I reviewed the stuff I had made a few days before the exam. It didn't even take too much time to study, compared to the work I had to do in my AP classes. </p>
<p>When I didn't understand something, I just looked it up on wikipedia, haha. But if you have a good psych teacher at your school that will work too.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Wow, it was easier than environmental science?</p>
<p>Read Barron's. Then do it again. And again. ---> 5</p>
<p>wait but when you say, read barron's do you also take notes as well? o.O</p>
<p>Do whatever works for you.</p>
<p>I personally don't take notes while reading AP books because I already have class notes on the material. I also find that reading takes MUCH too long if I'm also taking notes.</p>
<p>wait how do you already have class notes? o.O</p>
<p>Did you get it from a friend or something?</p>
<p>( I apologize if I sound nosy or anything I'm just very inquisitive about how one self studies... o.O)</p>
<p>You don't need to spend your money on a textbook. (unless your school has one) Assuming you don't plan to major in psychology and you're just taking this for AP credit or something similar, just read through a review book. The essay topics last year were more or less jokes, in my opinion. (they should be on the AP website)</p>
<p>You would have a very decent chance at a 4 or 5 without doing anything, but a quick read through of a review book should make a 5 pretty easy.</p>
<p>so if I read like an hour of the look once a week until the test I'll get a 5 for sure?</p>
<p>The AP Test only teaches a small range of psychology so your best bet would be to get the prep book..</p>
<p>It's not a guarantee, how much you will need to study depends on your memory, reading rate, etc. There's just a very strong chance of a 5, even with only reading an hour a week.</p>
<p>I have a fast reading rate and pretty good memory so I guess I'll be in pretty good shape.</p>
<p>The Barrons book will be here soon and I think I'll shoot for 1.5 hrs a week of studying it.</p>