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my school does not offer AP physcology (SP), but i am really interested in taking the course. how should i go about doing that? can i "self study" it on my own at home? are there certain books and materials i would need to buy? or would i take the class at a community college or something? has anyone on this board done this?
thanks

By Caramelapple (Caramelapple) on Friday, May 02, 2003 - 09:42 pm: Edit

Ummmmm... I'm not going to be much help but seeing that no one else seems to have anything to say, I'll add my two cents. There is a girl I know who's taking AP Bio even though my high school doesn't offer the class. She is a "teacher's assistant" for one of the bio teachers for a period and she spends that time studying by herself. If she has any questions, the teacher will help. The teacher got her started with all the textbooks and stuff, but she's mainly just teaching herself. You could try that method. Talk to your school to see if they can make special arrangements for you.

By Tigeruppercut (Tigeruppercut) on Friday, May 02, 2003 - 09:56 pm: Edit

try to take a class afterschool or during the summer at another school. otherwise i wouldn't see what would be wrong with self study unless you don't understand the text. and glance the book before you buy it.

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Friday, May 02, 2003 - 11:00 pm: Edit

Self-study works great for AP courses. I know several kids who have done this successfully. It's probably easier than self-study for non-AP subjects because the content is so well defined and there are plenty of materials to use which are geared directly at the exam.

By Rosejones (Rosejones) on Tuesday, May 06, 2003 - 06:35 pm: Edit

anyone else? where would i get textbooks and stuff? what books would i need? i really want to do this, but i dont know how!

By Minerva (Minerva) on Tuesday, May 06, 2003 - 06:58 pm: Edit

My school doesn't offer AP Psych either so I'm doing a independent-study with my psych teacher as mentor next year. I'll check in with her weekly for assignments but I'll mostly be on my own. I still need materials though.

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Tuesday, May 06, 2003 - 07:13 pm: Edit

Google-search "AP psychology" and you will find a bunch of sites for various courses. Figure out which textbook is mentioned most often, and buy it from Amazon.com. Then get a copy of Barron's review book. Work through Barron's, also reading the corresponding sections of the textbook. A month before the exam, buy Princeton Review's review book, and do all of the practice tests in both review books.

By Dori (Dori) on Wednesday, May 07, 2003 - 10:41 am: Edit

www.appsychology.net go there for notes and test prep.

barrons is the best book

REA is second is you have lots of time....it has SOOO much information

my book is good it's the one that site is geared towards.

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Friday, May 09, 2003 - 10:40 pm: Edit

Go to the local bookstore and library to find books geared for AP Prep. I'm sure they have a special section for these study guides. And there are a bunch of AP prep books on psychology, US history, and other subjects. I know a student from a topnotch public school in my state who took 5 AP classes but self-studied 2 additional APs. He got all 5's on 7 AP tests. I thought that was amazing. He studied all of it during his spring break, he said.

By Autodidact (Autodidact) on Saturday, May 10, 2003 - 02:13 am: Edit

Use interlibrary loan and your personal, parents', and siblings' cards to keep the book out long enough or often enough (reserve the book in advance every couple of weeks or month) to study effectively. Buyer's alert: you do not need to buy the most current addition, so check halfprice books etc.or the bargain section first--they just update the covers and the content remains the same. My younger daughter will independently study several courses next year as we were not all that impressed with the online version available and her school has very limited offerings.

By O71394658 (O71394658) on Thursday, May 15, 2003 - 10:07 pm: Edit

Yeah. I was thinking about self-studying for Euro. AP (I should've done it this year), but I already have 6 APs next year...:-( Not that hard, though. Buy a textbook on Psychology, read it, and then hit up a review book. Simple.

By Number9 (Number9) on Thursday, May 15, 2003 - 10:53 pm: Edit

Im taking Psych at college at night, then eventually taking the AP test later.

By Akaflex (Akaflex) on Friday, May 16, 2003 - 07:48 am: Edit

Do you get the same amount of credits or does it effect the GPA like it does in a class; if you do self study

By Pinkflamingo (Pinkflamingo) on Friday, May 16, 2003 - 10:20 am: Edit

yeah i did self study for AP Language and Comp and World History and I breezed through those tests, just make sure you keep up on a schedule the whole year when you're studying, don't just wait until April !

By Ashleycrombie (Ashleycrombie) on Friday, May 16, 2003 - 11:22 am: Edit

okay don't get the AP books
if you can find this book: "introduction to psychology" by ann l. weber..it's published by harpercollins college outlines.
it has everything..if you want the information. it's the most user-friendly one i've seen because it's targetted towards college students searching for a quick review. and so, it doesn't miss out on any information. if you want practice papers, you should get the princeton review book.

oh yeah, like pinkflamingo said, you have to stick to a disciplined schedule. according to the psychological process of learning, last minute cramming would harm you more than help you. =]

good luck!

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Friday, May 16, 2003 - 03:54 pm: Edit

Akaflex - credits and effect on GPA depend on your school. If this is important to you, you will want to check with them before you sign up for any distance learning program.

By Number9 (Number9) on Sunday, May 18, 2003 - 05:43 pm: Edit

Do I have to register for an AP test ahead of time, or just show up?

How does the process go, and how can I figure out where to take it if Im doing a self-study?

By Midnightdanzer (Midnightdanzer) on Sunday, May 18, 2003 - 05:49 pm: Edit

Bump

I'm curious too

so once you self study, how do you register to take the test?

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Sunday, May 18, 2003 - 06:53 pm: Edit

Sometime in early spring you have to register to take the exam at a high school which has agreed to let you take it with their students. The high school will usually have a registration window of only a couple of weeks, so you need to find out when it is early (start calling in January, registration will be around spring break). You can NOT just show up. The high school has to order a test for you. The dates of the various exams are at www.collegeboard.com but you do not sign up through college board. Exams are given only once per year, in May. They just finished for this year, but the dates for 2004 are up.

By Almostdone (Almostdone) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 04:38 pm: Edit

oh AP psych is definitely self-study-able. I just took it this year without taking the course; I made up my mind to take it at the last minute, didnt start studying until April, and just read through the barrons review book twice. still it was BY FAR the easiest of the 5 APs i took, and i took the courses for all my other APs! i think i got at least 80% of the multiple choice right. barrons is very good, read that, and i found the test to be pretty straight forward, so just get all the facts down, such as names, famous experiments, laws and theories, different branches (psychoanalytic, behavioral, cognitive, etc.), body parts and functions, and research rules, and i'd say ur pretty much set to go.

By Nessie (Nessie) on Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 07:24 pm: Edit

I decided to take AP Psychology on my own as well. I borrowed a textbook from the regular psychology teacher (Psychology by Morris and Maisto). I also heard that Barron's Review is great, although I haven't tried it. Princeton Review and Kaplan are also great resources. One problem I'm having/had, though, is keeping up. Since it's entirely independent, I let myself fall really behind and now I have only one month to catch up. Be careful that this doesn't happen to you. I gathered all of the sites I use here: http://www.angelfire.com/ult/edu_sites/Psych.html

Hope that helps! Good luck!

Oh, and yes, you do have to register, when the rest of the school registers for AP exams. If your school offers no AP exams whatsoever, talk to your guidance counselor and he/she will order the test for you. For more info you can go to http://apcentral.collegeboard.com