<p>My school offers virtually only 2 AP classes in Junior year… all others are forbidden unless you are a senior. The result? A senior year filled to the brim with any and every AP class imaginable. And the outcome is that you really can’t take more than 8 AP classes your entire high school career.</p>
<p>Which is why, this year, I’m planning on self-studying for 6 AP exams. I’m taking 2 already through the courses in my school, but I won’t be able to fit in these 6 in my schedule next year.</p>
<p>The 6 I’m planning on taking are:
Biology
Physics
Environmental Science
Art History
Comp Gov & Politics
Human Geography</p>
<p>I took biology H freshman year, and am currently in Physics H. The other four don’t seem to be that difficult to do on my own.
My question is:
for which classes should I buy actual textbooks and for which can I simply rely on review books? I don’t want to spend so much money on buying both a textbook and review book for each course…</p>
<p>Uh… I wouldn’t recommend self-studying for Bio and Physics. They are probably the worst to pick. Art history is supposed to be pretty hard. Comp Gov and Human Geo are definitely manageable, so is Env Sci. But it’s your choice, so I’ll just answer you question.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t think you really need to buy a textbook for any of them. Bio and physics may be helpful if you had a textbook, but it’s not necessary. Apparently Cliffs for Bio is supposed to cover everything and more for the exam. Art History may be another class to buy a textbook for. Human Geo, Comp. Gov, Env Sci really don’t require a textbook. You can just get a review book and you should be fine. Although, I have heard that EnvSci does not have very good review books out there. I’m sure you can find something though.</p>
<p>I hope I sort of helped. I’m a senior and actually haven’t taken any of the exams you want to self-study for. I’ll only be taking one of them this year. (I took 1 AP soph year, 5 APs Junior year, and now 6 APs Senior year w/ possibly 1 Self-study).</p>
<p>I hear Biology isn’t all too difficult as long as you’re prepared to work hard. Physics, on the other hand, is probably going to be the hardest… but since I’m taking the Honors course I’m not too worried. I’ll buy a review book soon and just build on what I’m already learning.</p>
<p>Biology is probably the easiest science (besides EnvSci) to self-study. It is basically all memorization, but physics is more difficult. Some people just get physics and find it easy, and it seems like you may just well be one of those people. I say go for it if you can do it. Being in an Honors Physics course will definitely be a plus. I took honors Physics last year only because it’s mandatory to take before the AP course at my school. I learned a lot of what I needed for AP in that course.</p>
<p>Also, which Physics exams do you want to take? The B or C exams? This could make a difference.</p>
<p>B exam. I haven’t had Calculus yet, so I don’t think I’d be prepared for the C exam.
Yes! My school too - the Honors course is mandatory before I can take the AP, but I don’t have room for it in my schedule for next year :/</p>
<p>I think you should definitely go for it! It will be tough even though Biology isn’t exactly hard, but it requires a lot of effort. I got a 5 but I’m not sure if I would have if I didn’t have the textbook. Campbell. I can’t tell you anything for Physics yet, but you should definitely borrow the Campbell book from someone. It is the unofficial AP Biology Bible. Cliff’s is not enough, trust me, unless you manage to literally memorize every last word in it. I self-studied Environmental Science and got a 5, and it’s really easy. Just have some clue of all the pollution and global warming stuff that’s going on today and you have a 4. Then, just read through Barron’s and you have a 5. (Barron’s is really superflous though, so be careful. Don’t just rely on PR though bc it sucks). I’m self-studying Human Geo this year with Barron’s so good luck to the both of us! (even though I heard it’s crazy easy)</p>