Apologies if there is an old thread on this but I couldn’t find one. DD is Rice class of 2023 (ED admit) in Engineering (likely Mechanical). She is trying to understand what AP credits go towards if the course is not part of her major or a distribution credit - and then decide whether or not to bother with the AP test. We have found the Rice AP Credit list for 18-19 and assume it will be similar for next year.
For example, a 4 or 5 on the AP Macro test is listed as receiving 3 credit hours for Econ 113 - but it does not have applicable distribution credit. So would these credits get her anything?
Great question! My D was also admitted ED to the class of 2023, and we are very curious about how AP credits work.
Hopefully one of the very knowledgeable parents or students can answer, if not, we will be asking the school. Although my D will take the AP tests no matter what, but we’d love to know the pro/cons of applying the credits and how the whole thing works.
Students get credit hours for all of the AP courses listed in which they make a 4 or 5, but not necessarily distribution credit. By having the credit, it may be possible to double major, take more courses of interest, or take fewer hours in a semester. For example, my daughter got credit hours for Spanish APs, but the Spanish didn’t count towards distribution… In contrast, AP Biology counted towards hours and distribution credits. Because of the AP credits, she can double major and only take 12 hours/semester. https://registrar.rice.edu/students/ap_credit#rec_ap
One thing I have noticed is that Rice requires quite a few credit hours for graduation. For bachelors degrees, it is 120 credit hours. Generally this translates to at least 15 credit hours a semester (many classes are 3 credit hours, but others are 4), which means on average 5 classes a semester. The generous AP credit policy gives students a buffer if they decide to take 4 classes in any given semester, or if they need to drop a class. Coming in with a lot of AP credit allows students to graduate early if they want to do so and can fulfill all of the requirements.
For the B.S. degrees in the Engineering Department, the total course requirements come to 128 to 134 units, although AP credits in math, science, and distribution can contribute toward this total.
15 units per term is a standard load at most universities, and 17 units per term is standard for engineers. However, everything depends on the work load expected for each class, which can of course differ across universities.
Thanks everyone - I still don’t understand if the credits from AP classes that don’t meet major requirements or distribution requirements apply to anything… I think I’m inferring that they don’t?
AP classes not counting for the major or distribution should apply to the 120 (or 128 to 134) total credits needed for graduation, if any are needed beyond the major and distribution requirements. For more details, you should go to https://www.rice.edu/majors-programs and look up the undergraduate requirements for your major of interest. You mentioned Mechanical Engineering, and there is a B.A and a B.S. option. For the B.S. degree, 94 credits are for the departmental major, and 38 are for the university. Of those 38, 1 is required for Lifetime Physical Activity Program, 3 for Writing and Communication, 9 for humanities (group I), and 9 for social sciences (group II). (A Mechanical Engineer will easily satisfy the science distribution or group III.) So that accounts for 22 of the 38 credits for the university requirements. Therefore, the AP class for economics can count toward the remaining 16 credits for the university requirements.
Ah ha thank you @mdphd92! I should have done the math - I assumed the departmental major credit requirement plus the distribution credit requirements added up to the total credits required for graduation.
Your student should send all of his/her qualifying AP scores to Rice. Once the student enrolls, the credits will show up on the student’s transcript. There is a program called Degree Works which will calculate how many credits are needed for various majors and graduation. Your student can visit with the Office of Academic Advising to come up with a 4 year plan that takes advantage of the AP credits.
She definitely will - as she was signing up for April’s AP tests, she was debating if she wanted to bother taking AP Gov or AP Macro - and one input to that decision was whether or not she could get any credit at Rice if she received a 4 or 5.
She would get 3 hours credit towards graduation for either AP Macro or Gov, but neither would satisfy a distribution requirement if the lists of course credits stay the same for next year.
Unlike some of its peer schools, Rice does not limit the number of AP credits a students can get. For example, Emory is changing its policy this year to only allow 12 credit hours for AP.
As of now, based on Rice’s 18-19 rules, she will receive 20 credit hours plus the potential for 17 more based on spring AP testing. Thankful there is no limit at Rice!
Hello, I am trying to figure out how to map my D AP credits towards CS major coursework schedule. She finished AP Stats(5), Cal BC(5), Computer Science (5), Eng lang(5), US History(5), World History(5), Physics (4), and will write AP Gov, Macro, Chemistry, Biology, Psychology and Eng Lit in April. She got 4-5 Seminar and Research but it looks like they won’t count. She is pretty clear on CS major and a minor in business. This sample CS schedule https://csweb.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs1251/f/BS-DegreeReqs-r1.pdf is using different course numbers than AP credit mapping courses. I wish there is a sample CS schedule that shows/marks typical AP courses that CS schedule gives credit for. Any help is much appreciated.
In your daughter’s case, here are the relevant AP courses for Computer Science:
AP Statistics: Will get credit for Stat 280. Elementary Applied Statistics. Will give her 4 units and D3 distribution credit (which won’t be necessary for a Computer Science major, though). However, she will still need to take a more rigorous statistics course, such as Stat 310, Stat 312, or Elec 303 to satisfy the Computer Science major.
AP Calc BC: Math 105. AP/Oth Credit Calculus I, and Math 106. AP/Oth Credit Calculus II. Will satisfy the requirement for Calculus and give her 6 units. If she elects to take these credits (in other words, if she does not repeat Calculus), her next math course would be Math 211, Math 212, Math 221, or Math 222.
AP Computer Science: Will get credit for Comp 105. AP/Oth Credit in Computer Science. This will not substitute for any of the Rice Computer Science courses, but will give her 3 units.
AP Physics: (depends on whether it was 1, 2, Mechanics, or Electricity and Magnetism. If Mechanics, then can place out of Physics 101/103. If Electricity and Magnetism, then can place out of Physics 102/104. These physics courses are needed for the B.S. degree in Computer Science, but not for the B.A. degree.
Some of the student’s other AP credits will count for hours credit but not necessarily for distribution or major credit. These AP credits can replace some elective courses a student would otherwise have to take. All freshmen have to take a writing seminar notwithstanding any AP credit.
Rice sometimes tweaks the AP credit list from year to year. The new list for 2019-2020 should be published soon. Send all of the AP 4 or 5 scores to Rice, and the hours will show up in her transcript and in degree works. Once your student arrives on campus, there are many forms of academic advising available.