Do colleges favor people who self study if their school doesn’t offer the ap class? My school only offers ap Chem, which I will take senior year, as this year I have a schedule conflict. I am a rising junior, and my school only offers hs level environmental science, and they got rid of physics. Should I buy a book and study for apes? Will colleges also see ap classes in senior year? I will take psych, Chem, and possibly stat that year. My school did not offer ap classes for 9/10 grade, until now. (Last year they had world, but you had to start as a freshman). I know colleges see your schools profile, but I’m sure it’s still a disadvantage when there’s so many applicants who get many 5s. When I graduate, I will have taken 5 out of the 7 aps offered.
If you do well when self studying an AP it does show dedication and the ability to focus. However it by no means makes or breaks an application. APES is a very popular test to self study for and it’s one of the easier ones. Just make sure you scour the APES self study threads on CC.
It’s not a disadvantage. As you said, colleges will have your school profile. They will expect you to take the most rigorous course load that you can handle based upon your HS’s curriculum There is no expectation from any college that you will need to self study AP’s, and as I’ve said many times here, they will not be impressed if you choose to do so.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19863334#Comment_19863334
As @skieurope said, they won’t be incredibly impressed (like it won’t make or break your app), but if you’re taking environmental science and find the material easy and enjoyable, I personally (though others will disagree with me) think that it is a good idea to take the AP.