If you’re in the US (I don’t know about other countries) you can take Advanced Placement (AP) tests while in High School and then have those count for credit at many colleges. Most colleges will publish a list of which AP tests, with which scores, are accepted and the number of units/credit hours they are worth and the degree requirements they satisfy.
These tests are, in general, notveryhard for above-average high school students. If you have taken a regular (non-AP) course, it should be possible to pick up the AP test study book, review for a couple weeks, and then pass the test.
As a personal anecdote, when I was in high school, I took biology my freshman year. My junior year, I picked up the AP study book and put in 2 weeks of work on it, then took the AP test, scoring a 5 (perfect score). This was worth 8 units (2 university courses, out of 180 units required to graduate) and satisfied some other requirements.
I was so happy with this discovery, that I did the same thing for many more classes the next year and entered college with 56 units (out of 180) complete, allowing me to graduate in 3 years and save almost $30,000 dollars.
Taking AP’s on your own is totally doable. My school didn’t offer any and I took six. In my experience, as nydwracu said, AP Psych is easy. So is Environmental Science and English Lit (if you do well on the english sections of the SAT). World History is interesting, and easy if you like memorization. I’ve heard Human Geography is easy too. The AP exams of languages that are commonly spoken as first languages in the US (Spanish, Chinese) tend to be harder than the ones that aren’t (Latin, German) because native speakers drive the average up (it’s not exactly graded on a curve, but they don’t want too many people to get 5′s, far as I can tell). The language ones can very often get you out of the language requirement in college, which frees up a lot of time.
Along a similar vein, if you are in high school, look for AP italicsclassesitalics. Not only will these (assuming good teachers) be more interesting and probably allow you to earn a few credits through either the classes themselves or the AP tests, they will also help you transition from the “high school” mode of thinking to the “college” mode of thinking. If you can manage to dual enroll for actual college courses, that is even better. We often underestimate the mode switching that goes on in the mind of a student transitioning from high school to college. Better to immerse yourself in college thoughts, methods, and challenges now than when you are studying full time.
I took three dual enrollment classes in high school, which translated to five university courses when I transferred. I also spent the summer taking a dual enrollment course sponsored by my school, which gave me an additional course, so don’t be afraid to ask about opportunities outside of normal school hours. If you think you can handle it, go for it!
Right. Replace regular classes with AP classes wherever possible—and if it’s not possible, you can still get the book and self-study. Some high schools will cover the cost of AP tests, but even if they don’t, they’re much less expensive than college courses.
When I was in high school, AP Psych was considered the easiest of the tests, so I self-studied for it in 9th grade and took the test. (Even though they prohibited high school freshmen from taking AP classes. All I had to do was get my parents to ask the school to let me take it.)
Also, if you/your parents have the money for it, it’s never too early to take the SAT—you can take it more than once and only send your highest score. (Some colleges will let you send in your highest score for each subtest if you took it more than once, but I don’t think that’s universal.)
SAT-IIs (do they still have those?) are usually hard—but there are exceptions. My high school let me take up to three SAT-IIs in one day, with, I think, no added cost past the first, so I signed up for the English one, didn’t study one bit, and got a fairly high score on it. (I also signed up for the history one and bombed miserably, as well as the Latin one that I was actually there for, so I think this is specific to English. It was mostly basic grammar and reading comprehension IIRC, so if you know how punctuation works, you’ll be fine unless they’ve changed it.)
If you’re in the US (I don’t know about other countries) you can take Advanced Placement (AP) tests while in High School and then have those count for credit at many colleges. Most colleges will publish a list of which AP tests, with which scores, are accepted and the number of units/credit hours they are worth and the degree requirements they satisfy.
These tests are, in general, not very hard for above-average high school students. If you have taken a regular (non-AP) course, it should be possible to pick up the AP test study book, review for a couple weeks, and then pass the test.
As a personal anecdote, when I was in high school, I took biology my freshman year. My junior year, I picked up the AP study book and put in 2 weeks of work on it, then took the AP test, scoring a 5 (perfect score). This was worth 8 units (2 university courses, out of 180 units required to graduate) and satisfied some other requirements.
I was so happy with this discovery, that I did the same thing for many more classes the next year and entered college with 56 units (out of 180) complete, allowing me to graduate in 3 years and save almost $30,000 dollars.
Taking AP’s on your own is totally doable. My school didn’t offer any and I took six. In my experience, as nydwracu said, AP Psych is easy. So is Environmental Science and English Lit (if you do well on the english sections of the SAT). World History is interesting, and easy if you like memorization. I’ve heard Human Geography is easy too. The AP exams of languages that are commonly spoken as first languages in the US (Spanish, Chinese) tend to be harder than the ones that aren’t (Latin, German) because native speakers drive the average up (it’s not exactly graded on a curve, but they don’t want too many people to get 5′s, far as I can tell). The language ones can very often get you out of the language requirement in college, which frees up a lot of time.
Along a similar vein, if you are in high school, look for AP italicsclassesitalics. Not only will these (assuming good teachers) be more interesting and probably allow you to earn a few credits through either the classes themselves or the AP tests, they will also help you transition from the “high school” mode of thinking to the “college” mode of thinking. If you can manage to dual enroll for actual college courses, that is even better. We often underestimate the mode switching that goes on in the mind of a student transitioning from high school to college. Better to immerse yourself in college thoughts, methods, and challenges now than when you are studying full time.
I took three dual enrollment classes in high school, which translated to five university courses when I transferred. I also spent the summer taking a dual enrollment course sponsored by my school, which gave me an additional course, so don’t be afraid to ask about opportunities outside of normal school hours. If you think you can handle it, go for it!
Right. Replace regular classes with AP classes wherever possible—and if it’s not possible, you can still get the book and self-study. Some high schools will cover the cost of AP tests, but even if they don’t, they’re much less expensive than college courses.
When I was in high school, AP Psych was considered the easiest of the tests, so I self-studied for it in 9th grade and took the test. (Even though they prohibited high school freshmen from taking AP classes. All I had to do was get my parents to ask the school to let me take it.)
Also, if you/your parents have the money for it, it’s never too early to take the SAT—you can take it more than once and only send your highest score. (Some colleges will let you send in your highest score for each subtest if you took it more than once, but I don’t think that’s universal.)
SAT-IIs (do they still have those?) are usually hard—but there are exceptions. My high school let me take up to three SAT-IIs in one day, with, I think, no added cost past the first, so I signed up for the English one, didn’t study one bit, and got a fairly high score on it. (I also signed up for the history one and bombed miserably, as well as the Latin one that I was actually there for, so I think this is specific to English. It was mostly basic grammar and reading comprehension IIRC, so if you know how punctuation works, you’ll be fine unless they’ve changed it.)