<p>Hi! I’m a sophomore in high school, and next year I will be taking AP Euro at my high school. Usually sophomores at my high school only take either AP Euro or AP Human Geo, so taking one AP sophomore year is pretty much the norm. However, I really want to get the National AP Scholar award the end of my junior year so I can put it on my college apps. So, I want to take 4 AP’s this year (3 outside of school, my schedule doesn’t allow it) and then 4 AP’s junior year so I can divide it up evenly. I was wondering, which AP’s would you guys recommend me take? I’m a history and English oriented person, but for some reason I also really like Chemistry. What are the easiest AP’s? I haven’t taken any AP’s before, but I assure you I am very hard-working.</p>
<p>I was thinking about taking AP Euro at my school, and then AP Human Geo (either self study or I might go to a tutoring place to take it), AP Chem (I really like Chem; I think I might go to a tutoring place), and then either AP World History (at tutoring place again; I love history) OR AP Psychology (tutoring place; I find the topic very interesting).</p>
<p>Also, if I get below a 3 on any AP test, is it possible to erase my score so that it will just be like I never took it? Like colleges don’t see the score or the fact that I erased it? Would I still be eligible for the award if I have 8 AP’s with above 4 each, and one AP that’s a 3 but I erased it?</p>
<p>OH! Last question. Does the National AP Award really look good on college apps or is it trivial? Is it worth the effort?</p>
<p>I hear AP environmental science is super easy! And for the score bit, I found this on the official website:</p>
<p>“You may have one or more scores withheld from the report sent to the college you indicated on your answer sheet by sending a signed, written request to AP Services along with the withholding fee. The score will be withheld from any future score reports sent to that particular college, and you will see an optional service requested link next to the withheld score on your online score report. If your request is not received with payment by June 15, the score is automatically sent to the college indicated on your answer sheet. You may later release the score to that college by sending AP Services a signed written request. For complete details, including deadlines and fees, visit Score Reporting Services.”</p>
<p>I wouldn’t divide it evenly if I were you- most people take more AP’s junior year than sophomore year, more senior year than junior year. I myself am taking 3 next year (I’ll be a sophomore), and 5 when I’m a junior.</p>
<p>Definitely do not take AP chemistry unless you have had a good foundation in the subject (e.g.- a year of honors chem, etc.) Most people find it one of the hardest AP’s- being interested won’t be enough. The easiest mix would be Euro, Psych, and Human Geo. Psych is a lot of memorization, so as long as you can hold a lot of information you’ll be fine. Human geo is a bit of a joke, and shouldn’t be very hard. You could also substitute one of them with AP world, but unless you have a strong foundation in the subject you probably won’t get a very good score- it’s one of the hardest exams to get a 5 on. Also, have you considered Econ (micro/macro) or Government (US/comp)? Each is made up of 2 semester-long courses, and counts for 2 AP exams. </p>
<p>The only way you can erase the score is to contact college board a few days after the exam if you think you did badly and tell them to discount your test- they won’t grade it, and therefore there won’t be a score to ‘erase’. Otherwise, I don’t think it’s possible. And yes, you can get the award as long as you have an average of 4 on all your exams- the 3 won’t matter.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say environment sci is easy. 7% get a 5</p>
<p>Eh, we’ll relatively easy then. Compared to the other Ap’s. Just about everyone I know has done very well in the class and on the exam. I’ve looked over the material and it doesn’t seem too hard to get an easy A for. So, I mean, if youre taking multiple AP’s and your last choice is between AP Chem or Ap enviro, best bet would be AP enviro.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t self study World - although a lot of it isn’t conceptually difficult, without a teacher guiding you and pacing you, I believe it’d be difficult to retain the information entirely. Even with my AP World teacher who is known in our school to be one of the highest-AP Exam score-yielding teachers, I still didn’t absorb 100% of the information. I received a 5 on the exam, but it would’ve been nearly impossible had I decided to self study it. I believe the same goes for AP US History.</p>
<p>APs that are easier to self study for are probably Human Geo, Psych, and Environmental. Although there are particularly low/poor score distributions for APES, it is still a very easy science class, and the reason for such low scores is that in many schools, APES is considered to be the first AP class that many incompetent/apathetic students are ushered into. I believe there was maybe two or three kids in my APES class that regularly did homework. The rest slacked off and didn’t bother to read the book or participate in class discussions, which is why they received 1’s and 2’s. Getting a 3+ shouldn’t be that hard. This year’s exam was kind of brutal, but myself and those few who regularly did work managed all 4s and above.</p>
<p>As myself a math student… Calculus AB/BC if you’re a natural at math and can pick up the topics quickly with a couple examples and are skilled at problem solving so you don’t have to practice every problem type.</p>
<p>English Language/Literature if you already have the reading/writing skills</p>
<p>Statistics is pretty straightforward / can use common sense.</p>
<p>Like above, APES, Psychology, Human Geo, Gov’t</p>
<p>Economics is a really great course because it literally is just… Supply and demand, know the logic behind the graphs/theory, and not too many vocabulary definitions. It can be picked up pretty quickly if you’re good at it.</p>
<p>Paintallthestuff-- You mentioned that a three won’t matter as long as I have an average of four on all my exams? Is that really true? I thought getting a three would ruin your chance of getting any award…</p>
<p>Thanks, guys. I think my top choices now are APES, AP Human Geo, AP Psych.
Is AP Micro different from AP Macro? Do they each count as one AP test?</p>
<p>Yes, they each count as a separate test. In general, macro is about large economics trends and micro is about the way an individual’s actions drive the economy as a whole.</p>