adventures of a typical high school student

Good morning everyone!

The day that I am writing this post (August 12th) is the day that I officially finished my online AP Psychology course! Now that I have completed the entire class, I wanted to give one last update on my experience doing so (I’ve posted about this topic twice already, go check out those posts if you haven’t already). If you haven’t read my other posts on this subject matter, here’s the situation: I took AP Psychology this summer completely online through BYU’s Independent Study program, and the only time I ever had to complete an assignment in person was when I took each semester’s final. I successfully finished both semesters with solid As, and I found the coursework pretty straightforward. AP Psych is known for being one of the easier APs, and it probably made it even easier since I was taking it in this format.

I took my Semester 2 final exam today and it was the exact same format as the first semester’s- 100 multiple choice questions, taken online with a proctor in-person. I found a Quizlet online that helped me prepare for it, so it actually didn’t take that long for me to finish the test. One of the most important things to consider when choosing an online class to take is making sure it’s with a well-known and accredited provider; this is important not just for making sure you get actual high school credit for taking it, but also because there will be more online resources/study materials available. Since it was an online exam, I could immediately check my email in the car and see what I got- I got a 92%, which I was pleased with.

The final exam was the only part of the course where you actually had to study and work hard for the grade; the essay assignments were pretty straight-forward since they were recycled AP test questions, review session attendance was a part of your grade, and the only other graded things were open book unit quizzes. The online portal that the class was on (Buzz) was easy to navigate so I easily breezed through all the lessons and could complete the assignments within short periods of time as well. I think Psych is a good course to take online because you’ll already have some form of background knowledge on some of the subject matters and the concepts aren’t as complex as other sciences.

If you have the drive and self-motivation plus the extra time on hand, I think you could take any class online that you wanted (AP or not!). It’s a great way to get ahead on credits and dive into a new subject matter that you may not have time to put in your standard school-year schedule. BYUIS’s flexibility was what sealed the deal for me; I would highly recommend using them if they have the class that fits your needs- they were also more affordable than some of the other online providers I looked at such as Apex and FLVS. I would like to take advantage of these programs again in the future; I may have to take another course or two online at some point during my high school career if I want to have room for more electives.

Overall, I would say my experience taking an online class went very smoothly and was a pretty stress-free experience! This was definitely due to the specific course I chose to take and that it wasn’t a necesssary requirement (if for some reason I hadn’t done well in it, it wouldn’t have really mattered) for my actual school. I would recommend taking classes online if it fits your needs and can benefit you in a similar way; the only catch to taking an AP online is that you’ll need to pretty much self-study for the test in May. I’m a little worried about that for Psych, but I know it’s one of the most common tests for people to self-study without previous knowledge, so hopefully I’ll be fine/better prepared since I’ve at least taken the class online.

I hope sharing my experience helped you guys out and possibly inspired you to take a course online, AP or not. I’ll revisit this topic and how the online course prepared me for the AP test once I take it in May. This post was shorter than the other two I wrote regarding this class since not much had changed since the last post about it, so go check those out if you want more detailed information. Let me know if you have any questions about AP Psych or the process of taking it online, in addition to any requests you may have for future posts. I’m always writing new content for you guys, so keep an eye out!

-Brooke