The Big Self-Study Initiative - Multiple APs.

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

<p>Hello, so APs are finally done. Took WHAP and Calc AB this year. </p>

<p>I'm going to take APush, AP Chem, and Calc BC next year.
What are the best review books/study materials for each course? I've got Calc BC covered with Barron's right now, but what about the other two?</p>

<p>However, the main point of this thread is I wanted to self study some APs, and I need your guys' input/help on this!</p>

<p>AP Computer Science
I've taken Java last year over the summer at a community college. With this in mind, self-studying for APCS will seem like review. It won't be too hard. What is/are the best material(s) for self studying this? I've heard that Barron's is good for this one, but I need your guys' input! This one's pretty critical.</p>

<p>AP English Language and Composition
Though this course is offered at my school, I decided not to take it since 2 good AP Lang teachers are retiring this year, among other reasons. Again, what are the best study materials for this one? </p>

<p>AP Physics C Mechanics + Electricity and Magnetism
This one sounds like a stretch, doesn't it? People would say self-studying for this one is pretty...extreme. However, I know one person at my school that self studied this and got a 5. I want to self study this because the physics department at my school is HORRIBLE. There's only one teacher for this, and everyone says that he does not know how to teach. Also, our school does not even have the EM part of Physics C! I could probably self-study it better, considering how well I did when I was in Physics last year. That, along with my big interest in Physics (my favorite science) and skill in math makes me think that I can do this. What are the BEST books of all for Physics C. This one is really critical.</p>

<p>AP European History
This does look a bit out of place, but I want to self-study this one since AP World History has a lot of overlaps with AP European History, from what I've heard (though of course AP Euro goes more in depth on Europe). What are the best guides for this one? I heard REA's crash course for this is good?</p>

<p>Now for some overall questions. How would you guys' rate the difficulty of self-studying (or in general) of these AP classes? Is doing all this doable (given straight 4.0 record, being an "anti-procrastinator" to many, etc.)? When should I start tackling the self-study of such (start in this summer)? Am I crazy? Help me out here, and share your thoughts while you are at it!</p>

2

<p>AP Chem - I advise you DO NOT GET BARRONS. It’s over convoluted and contains so much useless information. GET PR, it’s so much more concise and since you have a class, it should be more than enough.</p>

<p>AP Calc - didn’t use a book.</p>

<p>AP Comp Sci can either be extremely difficult or extremely easy. It’s extremely easy and programmers can wing this just by stuyding the day before. I don’t how much programming you do, but it’s definitely self-studiable. I found Barron’s good, though I liked 5 steps more. Get both if you can.</p>

<p>AP Eng Lang again doesn’t really need prep, if you are the englishly type. Get Cliffs if you really want it.</p>

<p>AP Physics C Mechanics + Electricity and Magnetism would both be extremely difficult to self study. Personally, I would just do one - Mechanics. However, E and M could be easier (depending on your strengths). I found this one super hard and if you’re self studying, get at least two books. I got Barrons and Princeton Review. I found them both to be lacking though, you really need to look at past FRQ and past released tests.</p>

<p>AP Euro History, APUSH didn’t do them.</p>

3

<p>For Euro, I used PR and it was pretty good; I’ve also heard good things about AP Achiever.</p>

4

<p>arghywhy—I need resources for AP Lang especially for learning how to do the FRQ section.
Also, I am wondering right now whether I should self study Physics C Mechanics one year and EM the next year or do both in the same year.</p>

<p>bismuthoxide—I’ve used PR for WHAP…and oh…have you heard of REA’s crash course for AP Euro? Most people say it’s good…</p>

5

<p>Out of that self-study list, I self-studied both Physics C this year and I can say that both were pretty hard. Im predicting either a 4 or a 5 on both. It is very doable as long as you pace yourself throughout the year, so if you want to tackle this then you should. If it helps my only background on physics was an honors class the year before that covered most (but not all) of the topics (in less depth too) on the AP Physics B exam. And know calculus pretty well, because it can be a lifesaver when other things seem impossible.</p>

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<p>TenebrousNight, what resources did u use for self-studying Physics C?</p>

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<p>apphysicslectures.com</p>

8

<p>AP Computer Science: You should definitely do well in this, especially since it sounds like you already know Java. And, yes, definitely get Barron’s. This exam only covers the very basics of Java, so…</p>

<p>AP Lang: Haven’t taken, so not too sure on this one. I’ve heard its just like reading comprehension though, so if you excel in that, go for it. (I’m taking this next year)</p>

<p>AP Physics C: Taking B next year… School doesn’t offer C. I’ve heard that the exam was impossible from like the smartest person in my school who took B, self-studied C, and was accepted to Princeton.</p>

<p>AP Euro: I haven’t taken and won’t be taking this class. Usually, though, if you just get a good review book and have a lot of time to study, you can self-study AP histories and do well.</p>

<p>Also, I would recommend maybe doing AP Environmental Science and AP Human Geography. I self-studied these this year (for 2 days and 6 hours, respectively). I probably got a 5 on APES and a 4 on APHG lol.</p>

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<p>wcclirl444:
AP Physics C: My school’s Physics department is really bad. The person I mentioned earlier that got a 5 said it was pretty hard. </p>

<p>APES and APHG would be pretty pointless considering that I want to be an engineer (Computer Science oriented). I was considering self-studying AP Psychology earlier too, but given the dire situation of AP Physics at my school, that’s out of my options for now.</p>

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<p>Don’t self-study Physics, especially when you have nobody around to ask for help. It’s already a difficult exam with an actual class, but you would need to have the will to pull through all of the material at a brisk pace all on your own - and most study guides don’t cover everything thoroughly enough.</p>

<p>If you must, I recommend PR, and my friend recommends Barron’s. They’re both much more thorough than 5 Steps. Mooney’s AP Advantage seems to have good reviews on this site, but I didn’t particularly find it that impressive (It’s probably better than everything besides PR/Barron’s). You might opt to get PR or Barron’s and Mooney’s rather than settle for one.</p>

<p>You don’t particularly need prep for Eng Lang (since all you supposedly learn in Eng are “critical reading skills,” “detailed analysis,” etc. anyway). Just take a few practice MC and look at the sample FRQ answers.</p>

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<p>I really don’t recommend self-studying physics. I don’t see the point for a future engineer. College-level physics is vastly more demanding and a 5 on the AP exam is not a substitute if you are looking to enter a physics-heavy field.</p>

<p>If you insist, you need to buy a proper textbook (Serway & Jewett is good) and study really hard. Think about it this way: you spend ~5 hours per week in a given class. You need to do that plus another ~5 hours per week of homework if you want to master the subject. That’s a heck of a time commitment.

Can you read and write?</p>

12

<p>^ahahaha</p>

<p>Yeah, AP Lang is literally just reading and writing. I looked at Cliff’s for 30 minutes (didn’t take the class).</p>

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<p>noimagination: Interesting statements. My friend took 2 hours every weekend to study for Physics C. His comment was that the time used in class is inefficient.
Yes, I can read and write. AP Lang isn’t THAT easy though, right? I need to get used to the FRQ answering system for AP Lang.</p>

<p>alwaysleah, what did you get on the AP Exam, then?</p>

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<p>It really is that easy. I don’t know because I just took it, but I would guess a 5. At least a 4.</p>

15

<p>alwayssleah, wow. I am surprised at people’s responses to self-studying AP Lang because they say it’s easy, yet most of the time when people mention APs that are easy to self-study, AP Lang isn’t mentioned. I wonder why?</p>

16

<p>

What is your goal? You just want to brag about getting a 5 on CC? Maybe a couple hours per week is enough. If you want to be an engineer, a strong conceptual understanding of physics is absolutely essential and you will not get that without practice, practice, practice.

Read some [previous</a> questions](<a href=“AP English Language and Composition Exam – AP Students”>AP English Language and Composition Exam – AP Students) and scoring guidelines. You’ll get to know the kind of language they are looking for.</p>

<p>I got a 4 with no studying and one of my essays did not address the prompt at all. You’ll be fine.</p>

17

<p>AP Lang can be very hard or very easy to self-study. If you read a lot and are good at english, it’ll be easy. The best way to prepare, however, is to took look at past FRQ on AP Central and (maybe) do a couple of practice MCs.</p>

18

<p>Should I start studying for any soon? I’m thinking of starting on Physics C during the summer, in particular.</p>

19

<p>After taking both Physics I can’t even fathom self studying. Not because you need a teacher or anything (there was minimal actual learning in class) but you need to have an excellent work ethic to cover all of the material without tests spurring you on. If you do, that’s great. I would advise getting a textbook and doing the problems, doing every FRQ from the last decade, and watching videos on youtube (MIT has some good ones) particularly of E & M.</p>

20

<p>Also, to throw in my two cents on Language, we don’t really even offer a course geared toward the AP, but all juniors take it. As long as you’ve learned to write and process from history and read in your free time it should be very, very easy. So easy I don’t understand how it’s an actual test.</p>