Liist

Trust me, if you take your exams at a local public school, they'll probably be free.

jml

This varies greatly from state to state. Here in MO the public school students pay their own AP fees so the homeschooled students do too.

tokenadult

Here in Minnesota, the high schools are very welcoming of self-studiers and homeschoolers. The fees are subsidized by the state in large part, but every student except low-income students has to pay a little out of pocket. I think it's a good deal. My son took five AP tests last year (9th grade) and more this year, some based on distance learning classes with AP designation and some based on self-study.

BCEagle91

There are quite a few universities offering course videos for many AP subjects. I just found several more this weekend. Something to look into if you're going to do self-study.

Topoftheworld

^Really? Can you post some links? That sounds very interesting.

Life Strategist

@BCEagle91: Yeah, posts the links, please! We desperately want to know!!!

tokenadult

Life Strategist

I already know about that. OCW is a well-known website. Anyway, thanks!
"There are quite a few universities offering course videos for many AP subjects."
Which universities?

tokenadult

I hope you've all seen this CC thread:

Self-Studying APs: Improving Your App

The OpenCourseWare Consortium link above may lead, by drilling down, to online video courses.

anotherparent

Here is a site of free AP courses. Not great, but FREE! UCCP

My son self studied for a couple of AP courses - Calc BC and Comp Sci AB. I think the thing to remember is that it isnt just testing your knowledge of a particular subject - it is testing on the AP designed curriculum, so it is very important to get some practice tests and prep books. For the above two classes he used prep books from Skylit Press.

He (and my daughter) also took some online classes - mostly through PA Homeschoolers, but my son also took Physics C through EPGY.

For a smart homeschooler with good study habits, AP classes are just not that difficult!

BCEagle91

Butternut

As a follow up question: Is it OK if the textbooks you use are from '92? I'm trying to get them cheap online, but do the books need to be more recent?

BCEagle91

If it's science or math, probably as things change or the presentation changes over time. Can you borrow texts from your local district?

anotherparent

My son used a calc book that was published in the early 70s! (we werent being cheap - it is the book that Caltech still uses). I did get him a prep book to work thru because some of the methods/terminolgy might be a bit different.

I think you can usually get cheap textbooks that are a lot newer. Once a new version comes out, the older ones can be found for under $30, and sometimes a lot less. I bet you could find cheap texts from the early 2000.

BCEagle91

We have a dozen calculus books including the Caltech book. But the newer books provide a lot more in the way of applications. Apostol also comes in two volumes which are $140 each (I got Volume 1 free from a coworker and bought Volume 2 used for $20 before prices for textbooks went crazy).

If you're looking at AP Biology, the material can change rather quickly as it's a rapidly expanding area.