Best way to self-study for APs?

adamonkey2
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:02:49 +0000

Do people just study of review books(PR, Barrons, etc.) or do people get textbooks and actually read/learn material?
Which way is more effective?


I think it’s more effective to use the review book, it is of course the most efficient way to cover all the knowledge that is going to be tested and is at the same level as the real test.
I tried studying from a textbook in addition to self studying from a review book, it didn’t work as well. It was more boring and went in depth in the wrong places, also the exerices weren’t as good quality for practice.

Also, sometimes it’s extremely useful to have an interactive website to introduce the stuff to you before you tackle the review book (since it is review, and u havn’t learned much yet). This is mostly for subjects like Physics or Calculus, since the concepts are slightly harder to grasp and an interactive learning experience can help a lot.


How long does this procedure usually take?


It really depends on the subject you’re going to take. If it’s something like Environmental Science or (maybe Psych?), it takes much less time. I know this guy who self-studied APES the day before the test and scored a 5.
But for things like Physics and stuff, it’s much harder and you really have to understand all the concepts.
But, you probably have to review the stuff (if you already finished studying the book before), starting from 3 weeks before the test or something. It’s very useful, and you’ll find that you forgot a lot of stuff.


Is it even possible to cram?


Depends on the test. Learning a few millenia of history in one night is very hard to do. If you’re going to take the test, i’d suggest you take it seriously and not cram. You’re doing this for learning experience right?
Oh, and yeah Micro/Macro fall into the non-crammable category.


Recommended studying schedule (2 hours a nights 3 weeks before the exam, or w.e, etc.)
Any other advice would be appreciated as well.
Past experiences of self-studying would be cool.


I don’t know about Human Geo/Psych, but when i self-studied for SAT Physics, basically, i finished covering the material a month before and got a few 800’s on my practice tests and was satisfied. About 2 weeks before the test, i started studying (around 1 hour a day) to refresh my memory and took as many practice tests as possible. I actually took notes when i was self-studying the review book, since it’s VERY helpful, your knowledge actually goes in. But then, that’s probably already known.

This is from someone who took SAT2 Physics in his sophomore year and scored an 800. I’m pretty sure the same self-studying tactics can be applied to AP’s.