Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Self-study AP exams

For those of you who have kids who have self-studied AP (advanced placement) exams:
1) What exams are reasonable?
2) What grade level do you do them?
I was thinking of having my child try one in 8th grade.

For a student to self-study in preparation for taking an AP exam (rather than taking an AP course prior to the AP exam), the following steps may be helpful:

1) Choose an exam to sit for:
- Research the complete list of AP exams available, based upon the current AP course list by College Board
- Look into the credit and placement policy for the colleges/universities to which you plan to apply.
- While any exam in a child's areas of interest may be appropriate, in general, the AP exams for which a score of "5" is granted the least amount of college credit are the easier exams. These may make a good first exam for a student interested in self-study. One example might be AP Environmental Science. Exploring the college board website will uncover many curriculum and exam preparation tips and ideas. Course overview, course details, and course description/resources are also provided on the college board website. You may wish to print these. Lists of recommended text books may also be found.
- Contact local exam sites and verify that the particular AP exam is offered locally, and that a homeschool student may register to sit for the exam. Allow sufficient lead time (up to one year) so that your timely exam fee payment assures you a seat.

2) Organize and plan your studies:
Gather your printed materials into a project box, ring binder, or other organization method you prefer. Using these as a checklist or guide, you may wish to make a calendar and set goals for progress through the material.

3) Learn and Practice:
Read the recommended text books, perform the activities, take the practice test(s) online. Purchase study guides if desired. These may be current year publications or prior year editions, purchased as used books at a significant discount.

4) Immerse yourself in the subject:
Read any other material on the subject you can find, including magazine articles and online resources. Seek out and participate in related topical seminars at museums, libraries, etc. If you find a free online college-level course (MOOC) on the subject, you may wish to enroll. Leave no stone unturned in your quest for knowledge on the subject.

5) Be sure to bring appropriate ID, pencils, etc, to the test, and NO disallowed materials:
Parents of young students without a photo school ID may wish to look into helping their child obtain other ID listed as acceptable by the college board, such as a picture pass port (this two-syllable word was separated into two monosyllabic words to avoid the spam filter removing the two-syllable word.)

Best wishes to your child with self-studying for an AP exam!

AP exam pass rates conditional on PSAT scores can be found in the
AP Potential Expectancy Tables. So if your child has taken the SAT or PSAT, these tables could indicate what is reasonable.

AP courses are often not the first courses students have taken in a subject. Besides SAT/PSAT scores, a student's background in a subject may predict his/her success in an AP course and on an AP exam. SAT Subject tests are taken after 1 year of study in a subject at the high school level. You could buy the book "The Official Study Guide for ALL SAT Subject Tests, 2nd Edition" and see what tests your child can do well on, scoring 700 or higher. Someone with a score of 500 or below may not be ready for an AP course or exam in that subject.

Just a FYI. Something to check is where your child would take the AP exam. While officially college board doesn't require you take the class, not all testing locations (ie High Schools) will let you sign up if you aren't enrolled at the school or enrolled in their class. It's not like the SAT's where you sign up on the College board web site, you sign up through the H.S. where the tests are given. I know of a recent student who self studied for an AP exam who was having difficulty finding a testing location.

Good point, bluemagic. Perhaps it is more common in certain locations. I have heard about difficulties finding testing sites, too.

I don't know about homeschoolers, but for kids enrolled in our hs, all you have to do is sign up for the exam (online) and the school will order the exam and give it. You do have to attend one of their per-administrations sessions, but that takes just a few minutes. Our guidance counselor suggested it is not uncommon for kids here to take some APs this way. The school does offer a fair number, but many kids' schedules are pretty packed, and I suspect it is a way to fit in more than the typical schedule allows.

I imagine it is also a good way to extend the curriculum in a less rigorous class- DD is planning on going this route in some classes, studying additional material with the goal of taking the AP exam if she feels she has adequate preparation. (She has found herself studying additional material anyway beyond the scope of her honors courses, just out of curiosity and need for knowledge, so this probably won't be a stretch, and if she find she hasn't had time or the inclination, she doesn't have to take the exam).

That's particularly true if you need to test with accommodations.


Finding a seat leaves you in a sort of no-man's land there-- testing sites aren't REQUIRED to seat you, and College Board isn't required to FIND you a seat, either. You can see where that leaves students with disabilities.