Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable increase in students who are self-studying for AP exams, but what goes on behind the scenes of studying for these exams, and is self-studying worth it?
With AP exams becoming increasingly popular among ambitious students, many are opting to self-study to get ahead and work around other scheduling conflicts, as in the case of Gupte.
“(I) wanted to make room for courses that I wanted to take. And like for example, I wanted, really wanted to take AP Statistics this year. And I also wanted to take on AP Spanish and AP chemistry. And as we know there is the three AP limit,” Gupte said.
In another case, Tse said that he self-studied the AP Chinese exam to avoid taking it in college and save money. Tse also provides insight into the AP limit.
“I feel like for some people, they should be able to, like, extend the limit to like, four or five like, based on their academic history,” Tse said. “But otherwise, I think three is a good amount so that people keep a good balance of academic prowess while not stressing themselves out.”
Gupte mentions taking the U.S. history course over the summer and combining that information with online resources.
“For anyone taking AP History, we always rely on Heimler (a YouTube channel),” Gupte said. “And then also, what I’ve learned in AP World History was a resource called liveable, and they have like these AP cheat sheets and like, cram slide shows, and those were really helpful in me to just, like, get, like, a really just general gist of what, like, where the students were”.
Meanwhile, Tse relied on the Barons AP Chinese exam textbook and studied consistently over seven to eight months.
“That was the only self-study book that I used,” Tse said. “I used that book because it was like proven to help a lot of other kids, and my parents recommended it to me, so I listened to them, and it helped.”
Shah found the MIT Workbook, YouTube videos, and past FRQs helpful when self-studying for AP Physics 1.
“ I focused on the right units. I didn’t focus too much on units that didn’t show up as much on the AP exam, because they have weightages for each unit, so maximize them,” Shah said.
Gupte and Tse gave similar answers when asked to give tips and tricks.
“If you cram the last two or three months, it usually won’t end up well, so you spread out your studying throughout the entire year,” Tse said. “I would recommend, like, maybe two or three hours, just every weekend, just studying. That’s what I did, and it worked pretty well for me.”
Gupte shared a similar sentiment.
“In terms of if you’re thinking about self-studying an AP exam, if you’re really passionate about the subject, or you’re really passionate about the major one, dude, I would say, do it,” Gupte said. “But also keep in mind, do not cram the whole course in two weeks, because I did that and I still passed, but I think I could have done better if I studied like, way more in advance”.
Shah also warns against self-studying for certain exams.
“When it comes to physics? No, don’t do that to really dumb idea, but I guess every other subject you could probably (self-study),” Shah said.
The students did well on the exam with Tse getting a 5 on AP Chinese and Gupte getting a 3 on APUSH. However, these scores came at a cost, limiting the student’s free time and enjoyment with friends.
“I feel like I still had enough time to hang out with my friends during school lunches and breaks, what is usually the optimal time of hanging out with your friends, because everyone’s just talking while eating,” Tse said.
Gupte shared a similar experience of not having much time to hang out with friends after school.
“It’s not that I’m always like, in my head, down in my computer, like I still do talk to people, but in terms of, like, hanging out with people, outside of school, that’s really different,” Gupte said.