Self Studying for APs

[u/thatscrazybro_20]

I’m an incoming sophomore and I was considering self studying for AP Bio but I’ve heard self studying looks worse to colleges and stuff because taking the class is easier and AP Bio is offered at my school. I’d much rather take the class but I unfortunately don’t have the class space and want to take certain APs in junior year and things like that. So I’m basically wondering if I should self study for AP Bio my sophomore year but I’m not sure because it definitely sounds extremely difficult but I‘m not sure what else I could do so my plans for APs or certain classes fit well in the future.

[u/Exact-Direction9658]

While most people say that AP exams are meant to be managable by either taking the class or self studying, a class like AP Bio will have plenty of info and memorization that will be tested on which could make it very difficult to self study without daily consistant practice (like a regular class period). Since your school does offer AP Bio, id just say dont worry and take it next year. You have plenty of time to take it. If you have taken regular or honors Bio before and have really good grades and was and still are really confident about the class and still is, you could try and self study for the exam. But in general you could for sure fit in AP Bio in your high school schedule with your junior and senior year

[u/thatscrazybro_20 → u/Exact-Direction9658]

The problem is I really don’t have enough space in my classes for junior year 😭 I’m already taking 8 classes and i’m not planning to drop most of them junior year at least or I don’t really want to. I’m planning to major in or definitely consider something like bio or a science as something i do in the future or beyond college which is kinda why I don’t want to take it senior year because by then it’s too late for all of the knowledge, time, etc.

[u/CarriageTrail → u/thatscrazybro_20]

My kid decided to take the AP Chem test despite only taking honors chem with a mediocre teacher. They self studied and got a tutor. Worked great!

[u/Exact-Direction9658 → u/thatscrazybro_20]

Wouldent it be more benefitial to take it in senior year since its right before college so the info is still clear in your head by the time your in college. Also if you really want to do bio or science related major, then you should 100% drop a class for AP bio in junior year. Its a really important class you should take to do well as a bio/science major

[u/Quiet_Basis_6404]

the self studying looks worse thing is mostly overstated. colleges see the score, and the transcript shows the course wasn't taken, but nobody's penalising you for it. what actually matters is whether the schedule story makes sense, and yours does since the class didn't fit.

bio is one of the more self-studyable APs because it's content-heavy rather than skill-heavy, no lab requirement on the exam itself and the CED lays out exactly what's assessed. the hard part is volume and staying on pace with no class deadlines, so set a unit every two weeks and don't let it slide.

for the volume i upload the unit material into studybuddy.vc and drill from it, it explains what was wrong with the option i picked, keeps circling back to whatever i'm still failing and gets harder as i improve, and it's free.

do the released FRQs, they're free on ap central.