<p>I'm taking the AP Lang/Comp and AP Gov tests. I'm in AP Comp Sci now but I really couldn't care less about that test because my teacher is really nice but has no background in the field so it's mostly independent learning, and I know I'll do poorly on it.</p>
<p>Next year, I'm taking the AP Psych, AP Calc BC, and probably AP French tests.</p>
<p>Is self studying for some other tests "worth it"? I mean, if I buy one of those AP test prep books, will that be enough to get a 4 or 5 without having taken the course as well? I'm specifically thinking of taking AP Human Geo, AP Comp Pol, AP Stat, and AP World, but I'm not going to if it'll be a waste of my time.</p>
<p>(Also, I don't even know if my school offers those tests, because we don't even have some of those courses.)</p>
<p>Check the universities that you are interested in to see if those AP tests give worthwhile subject credit.</p>
<p>I don’t care about the credit, I just want to see which subjects I can self study for, learn everything myself, and get a decent score on the test.</p>
<p>For me, AP tests are less about the credit and more about gauging “how much I can learn independently”. I just don’t want to start studying for, say, AP Stat, and then not cover all the material the test asks for and do poorly. I’m just wondering which tests it is better to have taken the class for and which can be done through self studying without too much trouble.</p>
<p>E.g., I can’t teach myself enough Chinese to do a writing section on the AP test (though I could probably learn enough for the SAT II), so if I wanted to take that test I’d have to have taken the course first.</p>
<p>This depends entirely on how much time you want to put into the exam. Anything is self-studyable. My AP Chemistry course this year has been a self-study because my teacher is quite literally incapable of understanding stoichiometry and pronouncing “cathode” and “oxo” correctly, much less teaching the class. I’m also self-studying AP Physics C this year (although I did take AP Physics B as a class last year). These are some of the harder AP exams, yet they’re still self-studyable with a good portion of time devoted to them.</p>
<p>If you want an easy self-study, AP Psych, AP Human, AP Enviro, and AP Comp Gov really wouldn’t take very long. They can be 5’d using prep books. AP Stats is deceptively easy. It really does take a good class or a good textbook to teach you the nuances of statistical testing and experimentation. Plus, statistics is so useful, even at the mathematically nonrigorous level, that studying with a prep book might be doing you a disservice.</p>
<p>Of course, your school’s stats class might be so boring and slow that you’d be better off self-studying anyway.</p>
<p>Hm, OK.</p>
<p>I do want to take AP Stat, but I don’t have room in my schedule (stupid P.E. requirements).</p>
<p>Thanks, that really helped.</p>
<p>Any other opinions before I spend a couple hours reading up for gov? :P</p>