<p>@GreedIsGood</p>
<p>Don’t you want to pad your app?</p>
<p>No, you don’t want to LOOK like you are padding you application. College admissions is a game-there’s a difference. </p>
<p>For example, a good player who averages 20 points a game in basketball wants to go for MVP, so he asks his coach to play him in garbage time so he can average 25 or 30. That is not looked upon favorably, and you are in a position to be ultimately hurt by the decision.</p>
<p>See what I mean? You don’t want to look like a grade or score whore (which is the same as taking the SAT multiple times-don’t be obsessive about numbers, they don’t get you far.)</p>
<p>Not addressed to me, but I’ll bite:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not really, no. App-padding basically demonstrates a willingness to do what you think the colleges want to see. If you do anything at all for the sole sake of app-padding, it’s not a good thing.</p>
<p>What’s the best way to self-study without seeming like you’re “padding your app”? I come from a school that offers limited APs and not a lot of support to students who want to go to better colleges. I was thinking of self-studying an AP or two next year (I’m a sophomore now) to give myself a challenge and show that I’m self-motivated despite the limited options at my school. Would it be a net positive, net negative, or have no impact at all if, for example, I self-studied AP Psychology or APES and nothing else?</p>
<p>In terms of taking the test on the make-up date, assuming you want to, contact your school. I know at mine, if you miss the original test date because of illness, they order the make up exam for you. Definitely talk to your counselor/administration/whomever is in charge of AP testing.
Otherwise, don’t worry about it! One AP test won’t make much of a difference for college admissions. You’ve clearly challenged yourself and done well; one test will not make a difference. :)</p>
<p>"For example, a good player who averages 20 points a game in basketball wants to go for MVP, so he asks his coach to play him in garbage time so he can average 25 or 30. That is not looked upon favorably, and you are in a position to be ultimately hurt by the decision.</p>
<p>See what I mean? You don’t want to look like a grade or score whore (which is the same as taking the SAT multiple times-don’t be obsessive about numbers, they don’t get you far.) "</p>
<p>"All you say is “it will be looked up on unfavorably”. If the player averages that many points, he still going to win the scoring title, whether or not he played in garbage time.</p>
<p>Not really, no. App-padding basically demonstrates a willingness to do what you think the colleges want to see. If you do anything at all for the sole sake of app-padding, it’s not a good thing. "</p>
<p>So, I shouldn’t take AP classes? I shouldn’t do well on standardized tests? I shouldn’t play on varsity sports? I shouldn’t try to get my work published? I guess I’ll have fun at community college.</p>
<p>lmao. 10 points for you my man couldn’t agree more</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No, certainly not, but I was saying I disagree with your statement that you shouldn’t send AP scores to schools besides the one you got accepted into.</p>
<p>US Gov and US History are certainly not “soft” APs. US History is one of the harder ones, and Gov is middling to hard.</p>
<p>AP Euro (hard)
AP Human (very easy)
AP Environmental (easy)
AP Psychology (very easy)
AP US History (medium-hard)
AP US Gov (easy)
AP Lang (medium-hard)
AP Macro (easy)</p>
<p>I didn’t think it was allowed to send your AP scores to a college unless you’re a senior. You’re only supposed to send them to one. (your matriculating school.)</p>
<p>You can put it on your application though</p>
<p>well actually all AP history exams are easy, you just have to read and memorize events, not much critical thinking required, hard ones would be like calculus, chemistry, bio, physics. I have taken AP euro, world, and us history and got 5 on all 3.</p>
<p>bio does not require critical thinking, let me tell you.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I guess it’s a matter of personal preference. Everyone I know would say calculus is a joke AP compared to, say, US History. Calculus just requires you to know some formulas and a few basic concepts, which, if you have a teacher, should have been pounded into your brain repeatedly until it’s like second nature. The math on that exam is pretty simple, mostly a matter of plugging in the right things, and knowing how to integrate and derive (which really isn’t that hard, for the functions they test). Like GreedIsGood said, bio doesn’t require critical thinking. Chemistry is mostly memorization of formulas, after that you just need to know how to apply the formulas, but in this case the application is pretty simple if you know the formula. Also, you definitely do need to show some critical thinking when writing the essays. Just dumping facts won’t help if you don’t have strong analysis. Plus, it is pretty hard to score perfect or near perfect on the essays, while the science FRQs are more concrete- do the math right, or state the right answer, and you can easily get full points without having to write some long-winded thing, in general. Physics does require some more critical thinking, but like I said it’s easier to get full points on the FRQ. And plus, it requires a large amount of formula memorization (Physics B at least)- but on the plus side, if you know the formulas, most of the exam will be a cakewalk. Compare that to the amount of material you need to memorize in a history exam. 50 formulas might seem like a lot (and it’s probably a generous overestimate, more than any of these exams require), but compare it to 200-500 discrete history facts that you need to know to know 100% of the material that the MC might test, and it’s nothing. I got 5 on calculus (both), chemistry, expecting one on physics, probably would have got one on bio but canceled it because I was foolish and didn’t know about the curve, and I studied comparatively little, whereas for histories I studied quite a bit (although, yes, I still got 5s). Finally, the curve for calc/chem/bio/physics is around 62%, while histories are around 67%, I believe.</p>
<p>@ bob - I kinda disagree. If you learn history not in terms of 500 random facts but in terms of trends, the multiple choice especially is really quite trivial. Admittedly, the essays are harder to do with minimal memorization, but I’ve found that if you kind of fit everything together (and skim a review book about the first 3rd of the course), it’s much easier to remember useful examples and facts as well. Of course, some things you just have to know, but a majority of questions can be done without specific knowledge of very much. Also, Chem has about a 66% curve too, while US History is at around 62% (according to AP Pass). Random question - do you think AP Lang is hardest then? It’s got like a 75% required for a 5, and you can’t really memorize things for it.</p>
<p>Overall though, it’s clearly dependent on the person. I’m especially good at history because I like it (a lot more than Chem or English or Math), and I’d say this plays no small part in the supposed ease I have with remembering stuff.</p>
<p>Does the CollegeBoard automatically send the award if you achieve the requirements?</p>
<p>^Theres different distinctions to AP scholar.</p>
<p>**** i had the same problem as the OP. I studied so hard for stat (confident that i got a 5), however I thought I could study for econ in one night… I was wrong and today I totally bombed macro and micro… ****</p>
<p>Lovecolleges, no. Memorizing that much history is not “easy”…perhaps not as difficult as the math and science exams, but not easy.</p>
<p>Like I tell people: If you have to memorize much history, then you’re doing it wrong.</p>