Specifically, why do people self-study the APs that they probably won’t get credit for in college? Does it provide some sort of benefit in the college app process if you’ve successfully managed to self-study an AP? Because I really don’t see the point. I have friends who are self-studying things like APHG and APES for no reason, and I don’t know why.
Nope.
Neither do I. The only rational explanations I can come up with:
• The student is genuinely interested in the subject and is self studying to quench his thirst for knowledge.
• The student may possibly be attending a state school where credit is more likely to be given.
At my school AP US History was not offered during my year, and I did well enough on the subject test (790) from a regular US History course that I thought it would be worth it to take the AP test for it. I really didn’t want to retake a class that had been part of the middle and high school curriculum and it was a subject that was fascinating to me. It paid off because the 5 on the AP US History counted as two semesters of college history and double the credit.
@shawnspencer However, APUSH is a course for which most colleges give credit. OP was asking specifically about courses that many/most colleges do not give credit.
AP human geography and environmental science do give credit at a lot of state schools. Whether or not it is useful credit for their major is a different story. Some people self study because they think that all college credits are useful which is not true at all.
Your friends probably have a mistaken belief that self-studying will look really good on their college applications. Here are some other (obscure) reasons for self-studying.
- Non-U.S. universities sometimes require AP exam scores from US applicants. If an applicant's school doesn't have enough AP courses, they would need to self-study.
- I used my self-studied AP Calculus BC exam score (my high school didn't offer the class) to fulfill a prerequisite for more advanced math courses I took at a local university when I was in high school. Dual enrollment is free in my state, so I would have done this even without the possibility of college credit.
Ahhh I see. Well many high school students and even some guidance counselors seem to be under the impression that they could help with admissions, and unless they are informed otherwise, many students do still have such beliefs (as shown by the number of times it is asked on CC each year). Certain schools such as NYU may accept high AP test scores in place of the traditional admissions tests such as the SAT and some colleges will want homeschoolers to demonstrate proficiency in this manner.
it forces you to learn that topic on your own.
for example I want to do CS in college. There is no AP CS class at my school, so I self-studied it. A 5 on the exam doesn’t get me out of anything at the colleges I want to go to, but I learned some useful stuff in the studying process.
@Masterball couldn’t you have just studied the topic and not taken the AP test? I’m studying physical chemistry and I’ve read college-level geology and astronomy textbooks, but I don’t see the point in wasting a hundred bucks on an AP exam that won’t get you anywhere.
@shawnspencer yes, I think that’s the reason. My friend and I were arguing about it an hour or two ago, actually. She thinks that colleges actually see your AP test scores and it counts on your application (just as they see your SAT scores). Eh, I’m not going to take any (extraneous) AP tests. If anything, I’ll just take CC courses on the side.
@topaz1116 Yes you could. But like Masterball mentioned, it forces you to learn it on your own. I self-studied some AP’s last year that were for classes I had this year. Of course, I didn’t have to do so, and even if I did I didn’t necessarily have to take the AP’s. But, the AP exams have a set deadline that made me work like a horse, and it’s made the classes pretty easy for me since I’ve already learned mostt of the material in the curricula.
It’s also led to AP Scholar awards, help on other AP tests like English in which the passages span broad topics, and things like Academic Decathlon in which some of the material is similar to that found in AP curricula. Basically, the exams are an incentive for academic enrichment that one might not necessarily engage in otherwise.
I disagree. If you take the AP test and get a 5, that’s great news. It serves as validation of your homeschool record. While you cannot denote AP US History on your transcript, you can put Honors US History. Also, you may be able to get credit depending on which college you attend. You do not have to have taken the class, only have done well on the exam.
@Willow613 I’m not talking about homeschoolers, I’m talking about people who go to regular schools and can’t/don’t want to take the class.