Taking An Online AP Course: My Experience (so far)

Welcome back everyone!

Today I have some more school-related content for you guys! I’m going to be explaining why I chose to take an AP course online (during the summer!), how it’s going so far, and my recommendations/tips regarding the subject. I am currently taking AP Psychology through BYU Independent Study online, and I want to share my experience with all of you guys!

You may be thinking, why would you put yourself through extra AP coursework, especially over the summer? Well, I’ll tell you a number of reasons. First, AP Psychology is known to be one of the easier AP classes (lots of people self-study and take the test without taking the class!) and it was a subject I was very interested in, which overall makes it much easier to do. My school offers it and I knew I wanted to take the class at some point, but I wouldn’t have room for it in my schedule any other year so I resorted to looking at online options.

In addition to not having room for it in my schedule, this is due to my elective slot being taken up by yearbook. Yearbook is a CP class and all of my other classes for next year (besides Spanish) are honors or AP and therefore weighted, so yearbook is going to bring down my weighted GPA; however, taking AP Psych over the summer will boost my GPA again and make up for that. I also loved the flexible schedule of BYU’s online classes, so it made it much easier to commit to. Lastly, lots of my friends were planning on taking courses over summer through our school (namely chemistry, so they could move on to the diverse and more exciting science offerings at my school/AP science courses), but I could not do this since they started right away when I was on my trip. If I wanted to take a class over summer it had to be flexible and/or almost completely online, so that’s why I chose the one I’m taking!

So far my experience with the class has been great. BYU Independent Study uses this portal called Buzz for the online classes, and it organizes everything really well and is easy to access. You can view your grades there and it’s also where all the assignments, online quizzes, and readings are. The classes are split into two semesters (often called Part 1 and Part 2) and currently I am studying for the midterm after finishing unit 3 of Part 1. I have been taking the class for a little under a week, so it’s definitely easy to get through if you put the time in.

The structure of the class is straightforward: lessons have a reading and then a self-check quiz that doesn’t count towards your grade, and at the end of each unit there’s either a discussion board or essay assignment in addition to a multiple choice unit quiz. There is also a multiple choice midterm and a multiple choice final. Everything is completed/taken online except for the final which you must find a nearby proctor location for and go take the test there. My only complaints are constantly having to log back in since the sessions time out pretty quickly, and that the textbook wasn’t included- I should have figured, but I assumed there would be an online link or something.

Here are a few of my recommendations and tips if you would like to take a course (AP or not) online as well:

Choose a subject you’re interested in– this makes it so much easier to stay motivated and learn, especially if you’re taking it in the summer
Research different online providers and compare the specific classes– there are many good online course providers and it can be hard to narrow it down, so go by your own criteria (which has the best ratings for your specific course, which is the cheapest, or which has the best schedule for you, etc.)
Buy supplemental prep materials online– if you’re taking an AP course and planning on taking the exam, you will need these anyway; buy a prep book and possibly some flashcards (like the Barron’s ones) so you have extra resources
Unless it’s your favorite subject or an easier class to take online, don’t take a “core subject” class- I picked AP Psych because it was interesting to me, but also because it wasn’t a super intense course or a main subject like math or English. If you’re a math whiz then taking AP Stats over summer might be easy, but you should know your limits and if you’re concerned about the demands of a certain course, go for something with an easier reputation that will still be enriching.
Don’t procrastinate!! Schedule out time for your coursework– this is self-explanatory, but seriously try to stay on task and do your work. It doesn’t have to be stressful, but it will be if you have to do a bunch of work last minute. Stay on top of it and create a schedule if you’re having trouble taking the time out of your day to work on the class.
Use (but don’t abuse) online resources if you get stuck– if you’re using a popular provider, there will most likely be Quizlets for the course and other study guides or resources online. These can be super helpful for studying so I would recommend looking for them, but make sure you’re still doing the work on your own and actually learning.
If you need help, contact the teacher- just because it’s an online class and you’re doing the work independently doesn’t mean you’re completely on your own! If you’re struggling in any way make sure to email the teacher so they can clarify any confusion and help make the course work for you. My course has a special place where you can make a digital appointment to talk to the teacher- if yours has something similar utilize it, but if not email works just fine.

That’s everything I can think of for now! Personally I have found my course very easy so far as long as I pay attention to the readings, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in psychology or taking a course online. I will continue to update you guys how the course is going as I move through it. Feel free to ask me any questions about it or online courses in general; I did quite a bit of research before settling on this one. Hopefully this helped!

-Brooke