<p>My son will be an entering freshman and will have a number of AP credits. Will that put him in any better position to enroll in "hard-to-get-into" classes?</p>
<p>I had 37 credit hours at SOAR and they didn't really care one way or another what classes I wanted to take, heh. It's first come first serve at SOAR. There are many routes to take with trying to get those classes though, and petitioning the prof + waiting lists are supposed to work wonders. </p>
<p>I wanted to take Econ 111 (as an honors student) but got stuck with 101/102 instead... even though taking 101 + 102 INSTEAD of 111 will delay my ability to apply to the business school by an entire semester.</p>
<p>So in my personal experience, it'll get you into some higher classes, but if they're full tough luck.</p>
<p>When your son registers for the spring semester, the AP credits will kick in and he'll register at a higher level than other freshmen, therefore, earlier. My son had 42 AP credits last year and another 20 from taking classes at UW during his senior year. When he registered for the spring semester, it was as a junior. So earlier than other freshmen. But for first semester, nothing counts.</p>
<p>I was just at SOAR 2 weeks ago. Unfornately, you son almost 100% won't be able to take higher level courses first semester, after having placed out of them in the AP. Courses get filled very quickly. Tell your son not to worry and be ready to choose his spring semester classes right after the spring semester spots open to register. good luck.</p>
<p>Like robinlm said, having any extra AP/IB/college credits don't help you out at SOAR; it's simply first come, first serve, and you have to hope that they'll open up more sections for full classes.</p>
<p>However, having extra credits helps a ton for registration later on, as he'll have sophomore or junior standing when other freshmen are still registering as... well, freshmen. This gives him about a week or two advantage, depending on his registration time, as long as he plans his schedule out before hand. This will aid him only in enrolling in freshman or sophomore level classes, however.</p>
<p>Thanks for the helpful replies. My son so SO looking forward to starting school at Wisc. He describes it as an "amazing" place, and that's quite a response from someone who usually understates everything.</p>