After living in the US for ten years, I came back to Korea. I lived in America from second grade to half of 11th grade. Now, im in this international Korean high school. The problem is, although they offer a wide variety of ap classes and such, most teachers teach it in Korean. So basically, when I'm taking ap world history, the teacher uses definitions in Korean, so I really have no idea what the teacher saying. So basically, what I'm thinking of doing is just buying review books for my ap classes, and just studying them myself to get ready for the test. I don't know how effective this will be, so if anyone has any experience on taking an ap test without actually taking ap classes, please tell me whether its effective or not.

Btw, I really need to get 5's or at the very least a four on all my ap exams because in this school, the ap exams affect our gpa very heavily.

Also, I have taken an ap exam before, the ap world history test. I got a four on it, thought I could have gotten a five, but my school had to collapse and we missed school for two months. Now the teacher here wants me to take it again in may, along with ap econ.

Souma

2nd Worst City in CA8938 Posts

March 04 2011 11:09 GMT

Honestly, whatever helps you. At my Uni I generally study on my own and don't attend lectures etc. It really depends on what works for you. I'm not sure how helpful the AP Review books are, but if you aren't able to understand the lectures, then they are your best bet, or you could try ordering an AP textbook in English and study out of that.

SkyLegenD

United States304 Posts

March 04 2011 11:10 GMT

Which are the APs you are taking? WH and Econ are both easy to self-study. A prep book with dedication should suffice.

Tazza

Korea (South)1678 Posts

March 04 2011 11:16 GMT

I'm only taking those two this year, then next year, AP Eng Lit, AP Eng Lang, AP comparative government and politics, ap euro, ap us, ap stat. AP euro, AP US, and AP Stat, I have to study on my own because the teachers are Korean. Don't how hard self studying will be for those AP tests. AP Lang, Lit, and Comp G and P are by english speaking teachers

BottleAbuser

Korea (South)1888 Posts

March 04 2011 11:24 GMT

I'm gonna take a stab at this and guess you're a student at SIS.

No, I don't have much to contribute. The only AP courses I took in Korea I didn't take the tests (just for high school credit) and they were taught in English.

rabidch

United States20289 Posts

March 04 2011 11:37 GMT

AP stats should be straight forward, AP US and AP Euro you're going to have to hunker down and just study some of this stuff. Euro and U.S. History are not that hard to get 5s on but you have to know the stuff rather well and hopefully your writing skills are already good.

I took Calc BC and Physics C Mechanics self studying. My success varied (I passed both, but honestly I could've done better), but I think there are some great resources on the Internet now that I didn't know about then or maybe didn't even exist. (MIT and Khan on YouTube, etc.)

FezTheCaliph

United States492 Posts

March 04 2011 15:20 GMT

US and Euro are probably the best for self study. I took both in high school and essentially the teachers would lecture and then tell you to read the book at home. The lecture just pinpointed the highlights, whereas the book was almost about everything. I got a 5 on the US even though I missed a decently chunk of classes because it was first period and I had trouble getting up in the morning. Euro I got a two on despite only filling out at a quarter of my scantron(was circling in the book and ran out of time when filling in the scantron, dont do that =p). Euro I would say is harder simply because its an area of history you probably haven't studied as much, though taking world history probably helped quite a bit. US is fairly straightforward as it covers much less time(about 300 years with a large focus on the latter 200). Lit is an exam you cant study for, you just take it, its reading stories and writing about them prettily. By far the most fun exam I took, sat there with a grin on my face.

Basically I would study for Euro if you aren't confident on it from World History. US you can probably just look over a good review sheet before the exam and be fine. Lit is all bullshitting so just practice that and writing quickly. Don't wait to write, more words on the page means more that can be graded. I'd probably worry a bit more at stats but thats just because I'm better at history and because I never took stats so i have no idea what its like.

Key to doing well on these exams is to take practice exams. Do so many practice exams that your eyes bleed. If you learn the exam well enough you can guarantee yourself a 5.

danl9rm

United States3111 Posts

March 04 2011 15:44 GMT

I can't offer specific advice for AP classes, but I am now a college grad, yippee

and I can tell you that it is imperative to know the teacher's perspective. You're not just learning a subject, you're learning the instructor as well. You can do both (things you're suggesting) but you can't just choose to learn on your own. You'll spend too much time studying for things that won't be on the test.

DarkOptik

452 Posts

March 04 2011 15:53 GMT

I've never had the experience of taking APs for a second time (I didn't even know you could do this) and why it matters. To be honest, unless you're going to HYPS (or actually, even if you get in they might not take your credit) it doesn't really matter if you get a 4 or 5. But I suppose since it affects your GPA so it would be good to retake it

AP Eng Lit, AP Eng Lang, AP comparative government and politics, ap euro, ap us, ap stat.

AP English Lit/Lang are total bs classes in my opinion, in that a teacher won't really help you all that much. Assuming you know how to write decently in the first place, all the work that goes into those two classes are in reading a lot so that you would have books to act as reference during the test. So in terms of self-studying, these two are probably the easiest to do. Just read a lot!

AP Comp. Gov. and Politics, I'm not really sure. I never took this one myself, so I don't have much experience with it. I took the U.S Gov. and Politics one though on my own, and all I really used was a review book to get a 5. The things you need to know are very, very specific in my experience, and so while it's great to go through the textbook if you have time, I don't think it's necessary.

AP Euro was one I took in class, and basically it was all textbook-whoring: I would say that most of these history classes you could do by yourself.

AP Statistics is not very hard, but I think you might need a teacher for this one. There are a few concepts that are much easier if you have someone to talk to or lecture to you about. Some of the things you could learn is pretty unintuitive in that respect. A lot of it is intuitive though, and memorization: there are a plethora of terms, definitions, and formulas that you may need to remember (I forgot if you get a formula sheet, but I don't think you do), so I think that in terms of studying, this might be your "newest" course. That being said, I didn't think it was very hard although I did take the AP course at my hs and had a phenomenal teacher.

Like the guy above me said, practice exams are always the best way to go through it. College board gives you all those FRQs for free download for a reason: it's really that helpful so you should try you best to get through all the ones since 2000.

aznboi918

United States70 Posts

March 04 2011 17:09 GMT

#10

The books will definitely help but don't depend too much on them.

redoxx

United States333 Posts

March 04 2011 22:19 GMT

#11

As someone taking APUSH currently, I can say that it's definitely not necessary to have a teacher, as long as you do the work, but it helps a lot I think. In class, we read various primary sources and have discussions that really further my understanding of the material. By no means do I need to know about all of the court cases and speeches made, but I think the classroom knowledge prepares you more for the DBQs than the book alone. That being said, I highly suggest that if you are planning on doing this class without a teacher/class, you do practice tests because DBQ skills are very, very important for the exam.

AyeH

United States534 Posts

March 04 2011 22:22 GMT

#12

On March 04 2011 19:49 Tazza wrote:
After living in the US for ten years, I came back to Korea. I lived in America from second grade to half of 11th grade. Now, im in this international Korean high school. The problem is, although they offer a wide variety of ap classes and such, most teachers teach it in Korean. So basically, when I'm taking ap world history, the teacher uses definitions in Korean, so I really have no idea what the teacher saying. So basically, what I'm thinking of doing is just buying review books for my ap classes, and just studying them myself to get ready for the test. I don't know how effective this will be, so if anyone has any experience on taking an ap test without actually taking ap classes, please tell me whether its effective or not.

Btw, I really need to get 5's or at the very least a four on all my ap exams because in this school, the ap exams affect our gpa very heavily.

Also, I have taken an ap exam before, the ap world history test. I got a four on it, thought I could have gotten a five, but my school had to collapse and we missed school for two months. Now the teacher here wants me to take it again in may, along with ap econ.

how do AP exams affect your gpa when your gpa will be calculated when the semester ends and the AP graders wouldn't have even touched your ap exam packets yet?

Neverhood

United States5388 Posts

March 04 2011 22:29 GMT

#13

It is possible to do well on the history exams just by studying the review books but you really need strong writing skills to get a 5. Most of the facts and historic patterns for the multiple choice part will be from the review book but its the writing practice from actually taking the classes that help you do well on the free response part. I recommend putting emphasis on writing practice essays in the review books and then studying their sample answers.

As for physics/math AP's you'll be fine as long as you do a lot of practice problems because they only test main concepts, pretty much know your formulas and know when to use them.