<p>From what I’ve seen, almost every person on college confidential and on the ivy results threads have taken APUSH. Is it really that necessary to take for top tier colleges? If so, is it worth a self-study?</p>
<p>*As a side note, the reason I’m asking this is because my High School has block scheduling. Therefore, my option is to take Bio or APUSH, and I am much more interested in Bio as I plan on Pre-Med in the future. </p>
<p>Well, I’m in college right now and regret not taking the AP U.S. History exam, because now I’m taking the exact same course for my GE. I don’t know, I think it shows that you have a thorough understanding of the United States and might give you an advantage as an international / foreign student, not that it wouldn’t give you any other advantages (of course, you learn about your own country.)</p>
<p>To make it short, if you are interested in Biology more then take it instead. Taking a course you don’t enjoy is the worst thing you could do.</p>
<p>If you are attending HS in the US, the probability that USH is a graduation requirement > 99%. That being the case, it makes sense to take the APUSH exam, even if you aren’t taking the class. FWIW, this is one of the few instances where I would recommend self study.</p>
<p>With block scheduling, assuming you are a junior, you have 4 opportunities to resolve the AP Bio/APUSH conflict.</p>
<p>S1 got 54 credits from AP classes…his regret is not taking the exam for AP US Government for similar reasons. It fulfills the GE requirements at many schools and you can spend that time and money on courses that are more geared toward your major. If you want to be a History major, you would enjoy it on its own merits, I suppose.</p>
<p>@skieurope I see what your saying. USH is a grad req at my school too, but I’m taking Honors US Government and Politics to fulfill this because it fits in my schedule. Block scheduling is a problem because I MUST sacrifice something in order to have APUSH, and Bio is most viable as else it would be Calc which is req as a math or Comp Sci which I also want to take. Senior year seems booked too. </p>
<p>So what your saying is that I should look into taking the Honors course and self studying the extra APUSH content off of that? </p>
<p>
Yes, if that’s your only option.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t know if there is a difference between APUSH and a typical high school course… If you have an overview of all the important events (from a review book) that you can use to answer questions / do essays then you can pass the exam. (I never read the textbook, just a 2006 Princeton review book for APUSH, get a newer one because they changed the format–AMSCO is supposedly the best one).</p>
<p>It’s often a graduation requirement in college! So was AP Bio. And AP Gov’t / more classes which all of these are passable off of googling review book copies online.</p>
<p>@tangentline @skieurope as far as getting IN to college, are there certain AP classes that they are looking for you to have taken. You mentioned that taking the AP exam will help you defer necessary credits in college, but do college admissions weight APUSH higher than other APs like computer science or economics? </p>
<p>
No, because not every student has access to AP classes. AP carry little to no weight in admissions for that reason. As for college credit, you can look at AP credit charts on the college’s website. The exams that grant more credit (and this will vary by college) are obviously considered more important from a credit purpose than others.</p>