Should I Self-Study AP Senior Year?

nhdmaniac
Thu, 11 Jul 2013 01:25:41 +0000

Don’t self study if you plan to go to a college that won’t accept the AP credits. If you have a serious interest in one of the subjects, I guess it wouldn’t be too bad to take it. (I love government, and I found the AP gov test really fun. I even drew a cute picture of Ruth Bader Ginsburg after I finished the multiple choice.) I mean, if you really like it and the test is fun and your college won’t take the credits, take it if you don’t mind blowing $89 for a fun couple of hours.

Regarding biology, I’d advocate against doing so. No one really knew what to expect of the new test, test prep book companies included. There aren’t really any good prep books and just reading Campbell’s Biology won’t suffice. A lot of people who were confident and got great scores on other tests got 3s, which probably won’t be the score you want. (Of course, you may be different, and I’m just speaking in general terms.) Bio is even more of a problem considering that there aren’t a lot of FRQs to practice from.

I can’t speak about stats or CS, but I will affirm that psych can be easily self studied. It’s basic rote memorization and basic scientific processes.

Bottom line: don’t self study anything unless your college will give credit for it or if you have a strong interest in the subject.