Hey, guys. So I’m pretty interested in psychology and I want to take the AP exam to add another one to my college applications. I also think I would enjoy the material. However, AP psych is not offered at my school. How difficult do you think it would be for me to self study with some review books and get a 5 on the AP exam? Is the material easy enough for me to get a 5 without an actual class/teacher? I’m a sophomore and top 10-15% of my class of around 600 students. Thanks.
For one, AP exams don’t really add much to your app. They’d rather see the class. Also, AP Psych is arguably the easiest AP class, so do not rely on it to add rigor to your app. Anyways, it should be pretty easy. It’s pretty much all terms and parts of the brain.
I’d argue than an AP exam without the class adds nothing to the application. Colleges aren’t impressed. If you’re doing it for intellectual curiosity, or for potential college credit, that’s fine.
YMMV, but as one who took a bunch of AP exams in HS, AP Psych was by far the easiest, and that’s without taking the class and studying Barron’s over a weekend. FYI, the fact that the AP Psych exam is so mind-numbingly easy is one of the main reasons Dartmouth eliminated AP credit.
http://pbs.dartmouth.edu/undergraduate/curriculum/transfer-and-ap-credit
I’m currently in AP Psych and the content isn’t challenging. I don’t think there is a reason to take the test
Reasons to take the AP test:
- You want to try to get college credit
Reasons not to take the AP test:
- College admissions -colleges don’t really take AP tests into account for college admissions…many students take them as seniors long after theyhave been admittetd to college
- Spend your time on ECs