My AP Experience
Hey, I'm Martin, and I've just finished my online AP Macroeconomics course. But like... What is AP? For those of you, who just asked that question, let me elucidate.
Advanced Placement (AP) is a college-level course offered to high-school students. When you get at least a 3 on your final exam (1 is worst, 5 is best) you can earn college credit at some universities (depending on the grade and topic). APs are broadly used in the USA and Canada, here, third-party companies can offer them, but you must study online.
Now for my experience. My choice for macroeconomics was a no-brainer since I was interested in economics even before I enrolled in the course. It is said that for AP classes, you need about 8 hours of prep time every week, but from my own experience, that is an overkill. If you're genuinely interested in the topic, and you use the right study methods, you can cut the time in half, or even more. I will talk about some study methods later.
I value taking the course not only because I can perhaps get college credit. The main thing I learned was to study and organize time by myself, this is a crucial skill if you want to manage people in the future. Unless you can manage yourself, you can't manage others. Another skill regarding macroeconomics that I acquired is the ability to understand, read, and perhaps foresee the economic activity and steps of a country. This also helps me understand the general world.
Finding a good study method that suits you the best is crucial if you want to work as efficiently as possible. My go-to method during the weekend was to start studying right after waking up, and I mean within 90 seconds. The first 15 minutes will be hard and unproductive, however, once you achieve the state of flow (productive state), you will get the work done in the blink of an eye. I'm not saying this method will work for everyone like it worked for me, I recommend you search on the Internet for various study methods and try them one by one.
To summarize, taking the AP course can be a useful and provident experience for various reasons. You can see whether you enjoy the topic, get college credit, or just learn something new. If you are ambivalent about whether to enroll or not, keep in mind that all the materials are available in the form of articles or videos. If you want to further discuss this topic with me, feel free to reach out to me via my school Gmail.
Author: Martin Machurek, VI.B