My (sort-of) Self-Studying Plan: AP Psych

Welcome back everyone!

If you are taking one or more AP classes this year, you would hopefully know that the registration for the AP exams this year is much earlier than in previous years. My school required that we sign up before October 15th, but there’s obviously still late registration. This is an attempt at a cash-grab from the College Board, albeit one that will probably work well for them. Registering for exams is also a two-step process now, where you join an online classroom for the APs you’re taking and sign up for the exam, and then you do the normal payment/registration. This makes it more complicated for people self-studying and/or taking AP classes online.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you would know that I took AP Psychology over the summer since I didn’t have room in my schedule for it, and I was planning on kind of self-studying for the test- it’s not full self-studying since I took the class, but you get what I mean. I had to go to my counselor and explain the situation, and she helped me sign up for the online classroom with my school’s AP Psych teacher so I could pay/register for my test as normal.

Now that I’m locked into taking the test and I’ve been forced to think a little bit about how I’m going to study for it, I figured I would discuss my plans. If any of you are in a similar situation or have done this previously, feel free to share your plans!

Prep books – I was going to order one during the summer when I was actually taking the course, but I realized the 2020 Psych test is going to be a new and updated version, so there wouldn’t be a point in buying old books. I’m planning on buying the Princeton Review one (2020) edition (which isn’t out yet…) since I used that brand of book for my AP Human Geo test, but I might ask the Psych teacher at my school for recommendations first.
Memorization (flash cards!) – I bought the Barrons flash cards for Psych during the summer and I found them super helpful- there’s so many and I know I probably won’t end up memorizing them all, but I know Psych is a memorization heavy, definition heavy course, so I feel like it’s a really good thing to have. I got them on Amazon, and they weren’t very expensive.
Going over the tests/assignments from my course – I took AP Psych through BYU Independent Study, and I still have access to all the tests I took and assignments I turned in as well as the actual lessons until next year (access to all that expires a year after you take the course). If I need extra practice or to reteach myself a concept, I can always go through this stuff.
PRACTICE TESTS – I think this is what really helped me succeed on the Human Geography test last spring. Just drilling the info and getting practice for actual test day helps you gauge where you’re at. This is the main reason why I liked the Princeton Review book for human geo/want the one for Psych- the practice tests were great!
Possibly in-school help – My school does offer AP Psychology, I just didn’t and wouldn’t have ever had room in my schedule to take it at school. However, the benefit of them offering it is that there’s still a teacher I can go to for help prepping for the exam or if I need explanations on certain things. As I mentioned before, I think I’m going to ask him what prep book he recommends before actually buying the Princeton Review one.
Online materials/YouTube videos – Another thing that helped me with Human Geo, there’s lots of videos that can give you quick reviews of the material and/or extra tips for the exam. I’ve already watched a few Psych videos on YouTube to supplement the course and jog my memory throughout the past couple months, and it’s super helpful to hear other people explain it- it’s like being with an actual teacher.

I feel like self-studying or taking an AP course in some untraditional method seems so much more daunting with these new regulations on having to sign up so early, but we’re all in this together. In fact, the AP Psych test is getting an update this year, so that’s another thing I have to figure out how to prepare for accordingly. If you feel like reading more about my AP Psych online experience, go check out some of my posts from summer!

-Brooke