<p>From son’s perspective and GC advice, the number oF AP’s you have when applying to colleges, can only help-not hurt you. GC advice was that even if you did not have any APs, you would still be considered for admission to colleges, in other words, you would not be denied admissions based on how many APs you had attained. Son had AP credit, which was sent to colleges. However, he ended up only using 1 or 2 credits (Eng major-did not want to be bumped up into a soph class; he wanted the solid foundation in Math, Chem, etc.). And, we later found out that it really was of no use to have sent the scores separately as part of the admissions process–he still had to re-send the scores to the college he ended up attending. (They told him that they received reels of tape with scores for possible admits–they needed verification when he was actually enrolled and ready to use the credit!). So, I guess that we learned that AP credit is helpful, but not to the extent that one take 8 or 10 AP tests for credit. Colleges do not seem to be admitting students on AP credit. It appears that grades (GPA) and test scores are the first check for being considered.</p>
<p>I would suggest that students carefully consider which AP tests to take. If you are an eng major for example, you might want to take the AP tests for composition (1st yr), history or philosophy and the Math or Science. You will find that not having to take that First Year Composition or History will make your freshman and soph years a little easier if the college accepts the credit/if it is required at your school.</p>