milki

Thanks oasis, one more thing. Is self studying APs to get the AP Scholar awards a good idea? Right now I might get AP Scholar with Honor, studying 1 more will be AP Scholar with Distinction (I personally think AP National Scholar is an overkill). Are the awards impressive? Thanks a LOT

mikenthemaddog66

I loved self studying APs. There was no homework, no tests, no quizes, no pressure to get things done, just learning for the sake of learning, until the last couple weeks before the tests where you got out your prep book and worked it.

It was all the look of an AP class, without that constant buzy work that most high school teachers employ.

llpitch

Oh and oasis, I'm interested in Comp Gov. Do you think that's a good AP to self study? I was also wondering hwo I should study for that class, textbook + prep book or just prep book?

Thanks

mario2485

Something in my mind keeps bugging me whether self studying for AP exams is worth it.

Here is my background of my school and my situation.

I attend a NONcompetitive school of about 95% hispanics, basically sort of a ghetto school in south texas close to the border in the rio grande valley.

I took AP English Comp beginning of my of junior year just to have an AP class. I hated it and I ended up dropping out of that class into a lower level class in time for 2nd semester. I didn't have much thought about the importance of AP classes until near the end of my junior year.

So I now conentrate on classes I actually like instead of ones just to look good. Since I was taking Physics PreAP, it was one of my favorite classes so I signed up for AP Physics C but at the end only 5 people (including me) signed up for the course so the class didn't get approved because the enrollment size was too small

Also I planned on taking AP Calculus by taking a Pre-Calc course at a nearby university during the summer so that I would be able to fulfill the prerequisites to take the AP course my senior year, but despite meeting the requirement to take pre-calc at the university for the summer, they denied to sign me up for the course. I felt upset about this since even though I was qualified to take the course, the math department had the final say in the decision disregarding me being qualified to take the course.

In conclusion, I feel bad about not taking two of my planned AP courses my senior year and left with only AP Stats to take and thats it.

Basically these are my choices on what to self study
A. Physics C and Calc AB (My two desired APs I wanted to take)
B. Physics C and Computer Science A (I'm planning on majoring in CS)
C. Physics C only (Probably since im taking Pre-Calc PreAP)
D. Don't self study and just have only 1 AP for my entire school career (would rather avoid this unless the other choices would have no effect in admissions)

Basically my purpose is to show to colleges that I challenge myself in courses I LOVE and not in courses that I hate solely to fake an impression in the admissions process. I am aiming for reach schools.

I am wondering what would be the best option for me to take since senior year is just around the corner and I want to know if my choices are worth self studying. I am open to other suggestions and I want a clear explanation on the effects of my possible choices to see if either self studying my senior year would be beneficial or just a lost cause?

llpitch

bump again love this topic

SunPenguin

Yeah oasis, i got some questions (anyone can answer)...

How tough is Physic B for self study? I really have no previous physic background, but i'm good at math, and i successfully self study psyc (5), so i was thinking about physic B maybe along with the SAT 2 for it (any info on that is welcome also).

Also, does anyone have any experience with compsi AP test? I'm planning on taking a course for it, but i've heard it's very difficult (though the AP grade distribution looks alright...) and my teacher isn't that great. if i take the course, and study an AP book along with it, how hard is it to get a 5 (for A or AB)?

llpitch

Well you're taking a course and using a prep book. That should be enough although I have no idea what your background with computers is so I can't really make an accurate statement regarding this.

llpitch

Oh and oasis, I'm interested in Comp Gov. Do you think that's a good AP to self study? I was also wondering hwo I should study for that class, textbook + prep book or just prep book?

I've seen people post on this website saying that they took the Comp Gov. AP Exam beacuse it came free with the AP Gov. exam. Is this true for everyone or was this just some special thing they're school offered? If it is for everyone I'm interested in also taking AP Gov.

What kind of study materials do you suggest for the following courses btw:

AP Comp Gov
AP Gov
AP Env Sci
Both AP Economics

thanks

oasis

@llpitch - If you self-study for APs, you can put it in the "additional information" box. If you're writing an app like MIT's app that requires you to report your courseload, just put your self-studied APs as a regular course and put (self-study) beside it. That should be sufficient.

@ milki - AP Scholar with Honor and Distinction are fairly common AP awards. They aren't as prestigious as National Scholar - but I guess if you really want to go for it, Distinction is a good idea. Just note that it's not a HUGE award, if you're aiming for something like that.

@ mikenthemaddog66 - This is exactly why I suggest self-studying Bio. I took AP Bio this year and was assigned a bunch of useless "study guides" that served no educational purpose. The labs were also exceedingly easy and served no purpose whatsoever. I felt that sometimes it's just easier to go through some AP courses on my own, rather than sit through the toil and boredom of a bad AP class.

@ mario - I understand your initiative, and I think that kind of drive should be noted and appreciated by the adcoms reading your application. However, you should bear in mind that the colleges will have to take your word for it if you decide to self-study APs during your senior year. They have no way of verifying, so you really have t o make your message come across. I'm not too sure how you'll make this shine out - perhaps you can communicate your wish to your GC and he might be able to put in a good word for you. Take note also to explain your situation in the "additional comments" box on your application. As for what courses you should study, I guess it's entirely up to you. I wouldnt' suggest doing Physics C and Calc AB at the same time, since Physics C requires calculus principles (you might also want to take that into account before you start Physics). Comp Sci is easily doable if you have sufficient interest in the topic - so you might want to pursue that. There are many options, and I guess it's all eventually up to you to decide. Good luck!

@ SunPenguin - I'm sorry I don't know too much about Comp Sci as I'm quite terrible with Java, even though I took a year of Introduction to Java. As for Physics B - Physics B resembles a typical high school physics class in terms of topics covered but goes into more detail. I must warn you though that it will be VERY different from self-studying Psych. Psych is one of the easiest APs to tackle out there - but Physics is amongst one of the harder ones if you don't have a good physics background. As for the SAT 2, you can get a decent score on it if you had a year of Physics in high school and buy a prep book to practice. You should be able to do fine on it without studying AP Physics extensively.

@ llpitch (again) - I'm not sure if that 1 fee for 2 exam thing is still valid. I know for a fact that it doesn't work for Economics this year anymore...I had to pay twice. As for prep books, you can get PR for AP Gov, Smarty Pants (that's really all you need) for AP Env Sci, and PR+Barrons for Economics (PR gives you the overview, Barron covers the concepts more firmly.

athenegoddess

hey! is your international school in taiwan in Taipei? because i'm pretty sure my friends used to go there.. Bethany i think it was called.

thanks for this thread! i'm a native speaker in Chinese, and i was thinking about taking it next year. is there any way to prep for it? did you find it difficult? and how exactly was it set up ( typing on the computer in pin yin , listening, etc.) ?? thanks!

kyledavid80

This should be stickied.

Question: what are your thoughts on self-studying for AP computer science?

luurynx

How many APs do AP State Scholars take? I'm planning on taking around 22 total, will that be enough? 5s aren't a problem, except for Calc, maybe.

mario2485

I appreciate your feedback oasis, I'll just weigh my options a bit more and research for more information before I decide. Your feedback was a great start.

Thanks again

oasis

@ athenegoddess - I go to the international school in Taichung which is the "main campus" for Bethany Our school has three campuses - two branches in Taipei (Bethany) and Kaohsiung and a main campus in Taichung.

AP Chinese isn't very difficult - it's just a little bit harder than SAT 2 Chinese. There's really no way to prep for it I think - I don't think people will write prep books for it or stuff. You just need to make sure you're able to read (at a Chinese School elementary level), write (typing through pinying or bopomofo), speak (without lapsing into English), and understand basic spoken Chinese (like what is the time, how is the weather...stuff like that). You can switch between traditional or simplified for reading, and for writing you can choose either pinying or bopomofo. You listen through a headset and speak through a mic. That's it, really.

@ kyle - I think Comp Sci is largely self-driven. If you are interested in learning the material and can pick up coding on your own, you should be fine. I never attempted self-studying Comp Sci just because I'm not really into that stuff. You'll know whether you're the "type" to be able to pull it off just through flipping through some CS prep books.

@ luurynx - 22?! wow, that's a lot! State scholar usually depends on what state you're in. In competitive states (CA, TX, MA, NY...etc.) I've heard the number is always in the 20's. I heard somewhere on CC that last year the qualifying amount for TX was 22, so if you're in a smaller state, I think you'll make it.

llpitch

bump great topic