<p>How long did it take you to self-study your AP exams?</p>
<p>List the subject and time in months? days? hours?</p>
<p>AP Calculus AB(2009 exam) - august - may. finish doing the first seven chapters of larson before March. Since I had ap classes to do at school, I didn't study the subject for over a month in some times because I didn't intend to do the AP exam back then. However, since I decided to take AB exam, the pace quickened. In retrospect, I would say I could finish one chapter in 3-4 days, so I would be able to finish in a month or two. I didn't count the hours because I took break in between every one or two problems.</p>
<p>You can ask me again after May but here's my estimation. I think I'll study everyday for all my subjects and hopefully be done by the start of April so that I can revise for the whole month.</p>
<p>APHG: morning of exam :P</p>
<p>APES: a month or two, every night</p>
<p>As for the rest, I shall know the second week of May :) Although my plan is similar to 082349's.</p>
<p>AP English Language</p>
<p>One day. Like 6 hrs total.</p>
<p>Got a 5.</p>
<p>Apparently, there isn't really much to "prepare" for that test</p>
<p>@wannaBYalie: me too! for APHG lol i read barrons on the half hour ride there =P</p>
<p>Woow
@Jerrry; My teacher is covering like a chapter of AB per month... I guess it's time for me to pick up the pace then.</p>
<p>Anybody else? I'm surprised people can study for such a short time and manage to get a 5, seeing that it's a "college level" test. I never took an AP till this year yet I'm self-studying 5 and taking 4 classes.</p>
<p>Just note that APHG is an exception, MrWheezy. It you are well informed about what's going on in the world (like if you read the newspaper) then it's an easy five. There are some concepts you need to know, like urban sprawl for example, but stuff like that is easy to memorize. </p>
<p>Haha, I remember one of the FRQ's from last year was about religions in the US, you had to pick like 2 or 3 regions and talk about the major religions in that region. The first should be easy (yours), then Utah is an obvious giveaway (Mormon), and then I think I chose Southern Baptist (I'm lucky I looked at the map in the Barron's prep book when I first bought it, that's the only thing I looked at too :P )</p>
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APHG: morning of exam :P
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<p>What was your score?</p>
<p>Unfortunately I only got a 4, but I left a FRQ completely blank (I'm a slow test taker and wasn't paying attention to the clock). I might retake this exam next year and just read the Barron's book, not really sure if I want to yet.</p>
<p>Psych, an hour or two every weekend from Barron's.</p>
<p>Physics C: Mechanics, a continuous experience every single day fueled by my own curiosity and passion for the subject.</p>
<p>Biology, classroom. Cramming for each class test the night before.</p>
<p>USH, reading bits of AMSCO every single day, and then reading the entire chapter in a single burst every week, doing the multiple choice at the end of each chapter. Sometimes I read the same chapter multiple times in a week. Using REA Crash Course to jog my memory. Also, taking a USH honors class, so the homework and tests help me remember too—also, my teacher's lectures are priceless.</p>
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<p>Self-studying can be good, but it can also very well be bad. The trouble is when you say about getting a 5 in such a short time is that the AP tests aren't always that accurate. Yes, they are pretty good, but they fall short in many subjects in many respects. For example, the Calculus AP test, it's all analytical number plugging (and some graphical things) but do you ever look at proofs in how to achieve all of these miraculous formulas? No, not at all. On rare occasions teachers will show proofs to them, but typically teachers breeze right over that because "it won't be tested on the AP test". This is where it falls short. Guess what they will be doing in college? Probably doing math through proofs. Guess what all the higher level math courses are? Proof-based mathematics. This is the problem with self-studying. You study solely to the test and miss out on a good amount of information that you would have gotten in maybe a high school class, but certainly a college class. If you EVER want to self-study, you have to study more than just what's on the test (that is if you want to use it as credit for college). Now there probably are exceptions where the AP actually covers more, but I highly doubt these appear very often. For example, let's say a person was in a Physics B class but wanted to take the Physics C tests. So they decide to self-study for Physics C. Well firstly it's good that you have that background information from Physics B, but as you may know Physics C goes more into detail in the topics. So you decide to pick up... let's say the Princeton Review Physics C book and study your brains out from it. Ok, there is a problem here, you studied solely to the AP test. When you go and skip those classes in college because you got a 5 on the test, there could very well have been things that you missed because the AP test wouldn't touch them. But... there is also this Barrons Physics C book, but people don't recommend it because it has "superfluous" information that is not needed for the test. So which book should you choose? The PR one that may give you what you need for the test but not a large enough scope or the Barrons one that gives you much more than you need but will give a good amount of information possibly not covered on the AP test (that may be very useful for college). I would go with the Barrons hands down. Also, people get textbooks that they study for the year for the test.</p>
<p>Basically, I am not trying to say to not self-study, but what I am saying is to not limit the scope of your study to simply what will be on the AP test (if you intend to opt out of the corresponding college class). People don't need to spend as long on it because they are only doing what the AP test requires and also probably do not have the best understanding of the subject. So if you intend to self-study, get a book that has more than you need and go through everything. Spend the year on it, not the month beforehand. This is especially true if you are going to opt out of Calc 1 and 2, but intend to be a math/science/engineering/etc major.</p>
<p>Salve, have you personally used both PR and Barrons for Physics C?</p>
<p>It sounds like you've looked at/used both books, so I'm interested, how much of Barrons is actually superfluous. I love Physics, and I even have the Feynman Lectures on Physics, and since you mention Barron's has useful information, you've got my attention.</p>
<p>Is Barron's for AP Physics C a good book? I always felt PR was a bit too concise.</p>
<p>I also read Giancoli for Physics C... not sure if it's good for the Mechanics test. What do you think?</p>
<p>Bassir, Well, I used Giancoli during my honors physics class and I don't think it's quite right for Physics C. It does not go into the Calculus involved with deriving the formulas (and this is important considering Physics C is Physics with a Calculus emphasis). It is good however to gain a basic understanding of all of the concepts.</p>
<p>I have LOOKed at Barrons for Physics C and it does go much more in depth. After reading many reviews for it and PR both, I found that the general consensus was that Barrons was not good if all you wanted was a 5 on the AP test, but is great if you want to know a lot of things that the AP exam will not even touch on. PR is simply meant to give you what you need to know for the exam. So if all you want is a 5 on the exam than PR is your book. But, as it seems in your case, if you want to actually learn physics and outside the scope of simply the AP test then get Barrons. To quote a review from Amazon:
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This book is probably great for college physics though and I would recommend it for that. Also great if you are somebody who loves to explore beyond the required material for the sake of learning. Trust me if you know this book, getting a 5 is the last of your concerns.
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<p>Hope that helps! Good luck with your quest into physics!</p>
<p>Yeah, I know, Giancoli is pretty basic, and not calculus-based, that's why I took the initiative to teach myself calculus, and I have a calculus based Physics book coming in the mail (Halliday, Resnick, and Krane's Physics 4th edition Vol 1).</p>
<p>I want a 5, but I also love Physics. I think I'll look into Barron's as well. Thanks.</p>
<p>I also taught myself Calculus, but am now taking a class so I can be fully prepared for the test. All you really need to know though for the Physics C is basic integration and differentiation, because then you're going to be applying them. It's good that you are getting a Calc-based text because that will help you a lot for the C test. I would take a look at Barrons too, it might be helpful.</p>
<p>Good Luck on the test!</p>
<p>Salve, I agree with all your points actually. I currently take AP Calculus AB (planning on self-studying BC) but the teacher does not teach. He skips the proofs and flips through powerpoint slides with just barebone formulas on them, with an example or two sometimes. So I supplement those with MIT Opencourseware lectures.</p>
<p>But are APs such as Human Geography or Environmental Science really worth studying beyond the AP test? I found that a lot of the stuff in EnviSci is already on AP Bio (which the teacher doesn't teach as well, leaving me to read through Campbells+Cliffs). But with respect to other APs, I am using textbooks+prepbooks to selfstudy.</p>
<p>Current I take APUSH, APWH, APBio and AP Calc AB in school and I'm planning on selfing AP Psychology (with barrons only), AP Envi Sci (Smartypants), AP Statistics (textbook + barrons), AP US Gov (Textbook, old edition though + PR), AP Micro/Macro (Just PR atm, but I'm going to try get the school to buy the textbook for me since they might teach it next year).</p>
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But are APs such as Human Geography or Environmental Science really worth studying beyond the AP test?
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<p>As I said before, it depends on what you plan to go into beyond high school. If you feel that these classes will not have any influence in your future major than you don't need to, but otherwise I would recommend studying beyond it. I mean, if you plan to go into something that is not at all related to these classes, then I guess it wouldn't really be useful to study more into them (except for your own intellectual stimulation.. haha).</p>
<p>For example, I plan to go into Chemical Engineering. Would it be worth studying beyond the scope of the AP course for say... US government? I really don't think so, so it may not be worth it. Let's say this was Calculus BC though. Then yes, I think I probably should study proofs that are not covered in the regular class and whatever else is part of Calculus 1 and 2. I would recommend looking at the college's site that you want to go to and looking at the course descriptions of what you would be opting out of and comparing the AP Syllabus with that of the corresponding college course.</p>
<p>Good idea using textbooks and prepbooks to study by the way.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>