Hey, so I am in my freshman year of HS and my school offers many AP classes. I am thinking about applying to UF (University of FL) and I looked at their AP credit policy. I am currently taking AP Physics 1 this year, and UF grants you 5 college credits for at least a 3 on the exam. Now, if I choose to major in Mathematics at UF, will I still be granted the 5 credits, even though my major may not include physics as a class to take?
colleges will never give duplicate credit. Your college class(es) would override any equivalent AP credit.
Yes you’ll get the credits for general education/science credits.
Go Gators!
First step, is to review the required/recommend courses for your major.
In this case it’s Mathematics. UF offers a BS and a BA in Math.
https://archive.catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/1718/liberalarts/majors/mathematics.aspx
You then match up your AP credits, to what’s required for your major. Then to what’s required for the general ed credits.
For Mathematics:
UF recommends the two class sequence in Physics, 2048 and 2049 (Physics with Calculus).
Now look at what AP credit that you can earn at UF.
https://catalog.ufl.edu/UGRD/academic-advising/exam-credit/#examstext
Physics 1 will give you credit in PHY 2053 (Physics without Calculus)
PHysics 2 will give you credit in PHY 2054
You have to take the Physics C test to earn credit in PHY 2048/49 (and they require 4 on the test)
You could very well end up with 10 credits in Physics (2053/2054), and still want to take the more advance sequence in Physics (2048/49). It’s especially recommend if you want to pursue grad school.
These “extra” credits at UF will have no negative impacts. It doesn’t count toward your credit limits or overage. However, if you end up with at least 30 credits (including 10 from physics), you’ll be a “sophomore” when it’s time to pick classes and will be able to select classes before “freshman”.
When consider which AP class to take, you also may want to review UF General Educational requirements:
http://undergrad.aa.ufl.edu/general-education/gen-ed-program/program-requirements/
For example, AP Human Geography will give you credit in “S” & “N”
Social and Behavioral Sciences = S
International = N
You will want to take classes that earn you GE credits, if possible. In the end, you likely will earn some AP credits that may be surplus, but that’s ok. Just taking AP classes, raises the rigor of your high school class load, which increases your chances at being accepted by UF.
Good Luck!
My four- year plan for my HS also states that in my junior year, I will be taking Physics C.
Thanks so much!
I’m confused, I thought you were asking if you took the same equivalent class in college, would you still get the credit? And the answer is that an equivalent college class would override your AP class that you took in HS. In the case of Physics 1 your credit would probably keep because presumably there’s no Algebra-based Physics class you would take in college. However, many people choose to retake Calc 1 and/or Calc 2 in college which would override any AP credit you would have from taking an AP Calc class.