Should I try to get 8 APs done by sophomore year?

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

Hi, so I’m a grade 9 student in Canada, and since I’m in French Immersion I don’t really have any AP courses available to me until grade 11. In the meantime, should I try to self-study 4 APs this year and 4 next year? I’ll try to self-study APs that aren’t available as a course at my school, such as APCS and APES.

Plan:

Grade 9:
APCS- I have a decent amount of programming knowledge already, and a very good mentor.
APES- I’ve always been interested in this since childhood, and seems pretty easy. Could be a good introduction to harder Science APs.
AP Human Geo- Could be a good introduction to the AP essay format and experience for other Socials APs. If I take this first maybe it’ll be a good way to learn how to write AP essays, while the exam itself isn’t as hard as other Socials APs.
AP Microeconomics- I’m pretty decent at math, and could be useful since I plan on taking Macroeconomics at my school but it doesn’t offer Microeconomics.

Grade 10:
AP Euro and AP World History- I’ve heard these kind of overlap, and I’ve always been pretty interested in history/documentaries and such.
AP Macroeconomics
AP Psychology- My school offers this but I can’t take it in grade 10. I’ll self-study this to free up space for future APs in my schedule.

So is this plan feasible for a grade 9 student?

2

Not really. Colleges really only care about the classes, not the AP exams. If you are aiming for college credit at a state university, then sure, but if you’re aiming for Harvard or Stanford then don’t bother. It would be a better use of time to develop a deep interest that you could discuss in your college essays.

3

@leaguemaster420 But my high school doesn’t even offer most of the ones I’m self-studying. I thought unis only don’t care about self-studied APs when it’s a course that’s available at your school.

4

@Batmoose Yeah if it’s not available at your school, that’s fine for self study. You could also take AP classes online with providers such as NCVPS or FVPS. This is usually a more respectable option.

5

I don’t suggest self studying history APs until you’ve taken a least one in class. I took APUSH last year, and a lot of the times I wouldn’t get some of the points on the DBQ that I thought I did because of so and so, so I think you really need a teacher grading your essays. Also I don’t think most colleges really care about AP Human Geography.