The last sentence is not accurate either. It really depends on whether the AP credits can help with placement and accelerate the course sequence. My D took AP Chem, Physics, CalcBC that all get her credits for pre-req courses plus other less useful AP credits for electives/IB/humanities. Skipping freshmen Chemistry, Physics, Calc 1 and Calc 2 saved her over 1 semester of work and can graduate at least one semester earlier. She could graduate 1 year early if they offer certain course every semester.
@billcsho The D who attended Mich? I was not making a blanket statement; I was referencing Brown.
^ I see what you are saying now. I missed your earlier response.
AP credit can only save money if one can graduate earlier.
Not necessarily. For example, a student with a lot of advanced placement (with or without credits) might be able to take graduate courses toward the end of college, which would shorten the time and decrease the cost associated with later obtaining a graduate degree.
A young man I know managed to get a master’s degree in engineering in a single semester because he had already taken much of the coursework required for that degree. I don’t think this would be possible for a student who started college with no APs. The student without APs wouldn’t have been ready to take those advanced courses while still an undergraduate.
Only if the student matriculates as a grad student at the same college. Grad programs do not generally allow transfer credits. They expect the FULL grad program to be completed by taking courses at their school.
My DD did the IB Diploma and got 32 credits for it at Binghamton University…she got out of many general ed credits. She graduated early.
It is really up to the college.
I see them as helpful for admissions. If she can use some credits to skip a class, great. I will probably not encourage her to ‘skip’ a class-level in college based on material taught in HS. We shall see.
I got credit at Columbia for graduate level courses I took at Harvard. (in the architecture school - they only allowed me credits for what was more than I had been required to take to graduate, but I saved almost a semester’s worth of tuition.) My older son loved not having to take two semesters of history for Gen Ed thanks to APUSH and AP Latin got him out of the language requirement. Younger son took 8 APs, but Tufts puts a cap on 5. It still meant that he could take a full year abroad without getting department credit for most of the courses - a serious beef I have with the IR department - without jeopardizing on time graduation.
Whether this is wise depends on the college and the department.
My daughter was an economics major (at Cornell). She came in with 5s on the BC Calculus test and 5s on both the AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics tests. The economics department encourages its students to skip the introductory econ classes and introductory calculus if they have even 4s on these tests, so she did. It worked out fine. She went into upper-level econ courses as a freshman and was adequately prepared for them.
At the same university, though, some of the science departments strongly discourage their students from using AP credits to place out of introductory science courses. They feel that the content of their introductory courses is sufficiently different from the AP curriculum that the student really needs to take the college course.
My son had a similar experience as Marian’s daughter. He was a math/economics major at Case Western. When he met with his advisors about whether to take the AP credit for Calc 1 (he had a 5 on the exam) his advisor told him to go ahead and skip. He got all As in the rest of the Calc classes. His advisors told him that the university has done extensive research to ensure that students who are given AP credit are adequately prepared for the next course in the sequence, especially for classes that are part of a sequence.
He got about 25 AP credits and was able to graduate with a dual major in 7 semesters. His last semester he only took 6 credits. It did save us a lot of money.
The student can try the old final exams for the courses that may be skipped using AP scores to check his/her knowledge relative to the college’s expectations. This will give a more accurate evaluation of what the student’s placement should be if s/he wants to take more advanced courses in that subject.
For example, if a student has AP calculus BC credit that allows skipping calculus 1 and 2, s/he can try the college’s old calculus 1 and 2 final exams to see if s/he is ready for calculus 3, or needs to go back to calculus 2 or even calculus 1.
Of course, if the course that can be skipped is a side requirement, where the student will not be taking dependent courses later, it would be safe to skip and have extra free elective space. For example, many engineering majors require a semester of general chemistry. If AP chemistry credit covers that, they can skip it. However, those majoring in chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, chemistry, or biology need to take more advanced chemistry courses, so they should try the old general chemistry final exams before skipping.
Several people have mentioned that whether AP credits reduce the need to take courses or pay full tuition depends on the college. From my observation it also depends on the subject. When my son enrolled at UChicago, the college did its own placement exams in language and math, required of all students even if they had excellent AP scores in those areas.
My son was able to “place” into a higher level/more sophisticated (series) of math courses but not to reduce the number of math credits he would have to earn. But in language he was able to totally “place out” of needing to study foreign language at UofC, and thus did save credits. In the end he could have graduated a quarter early, and thus saved some tuition his senior year. But he chose not to do this, spent his junior year abroad, and graduated with his class the next year.
EDIT to ADD: This link shows the variety of subjects in which advanced placement might occur at UofC. It also explains the purpose of the exams. When my son enrolled, these tests were given during orientation. Now, it appears, the tests are done on-line prior to the student’s arrival on campus. http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/examinationcreditandtransfercredit/
For the students who are planning to apply to medical school, I’ve read on here that most colleges recommend not skipping the intro Bio, Chem and Physics (maybe even calculus?) classes using the AP credits (even with a 5). If that’s the case, I am not sure if taking the AP exams on these subjects are even worth it for such students (unless they change their mind in college). I have talked with my S about this, and he still wanted to take 4 AP exams (Bio, Env Sci, Government, Eng Lit) since he is not completely sure about the med school track (he is also interested in business). He chose not to take the AP Calc BC exam if he has to take the calculus again in college (he is not a math-loving kid, although he gets mostly high Bs (85-92 is a B in his school)). Would you recommend that he take the AP Calc exam or not?
Re: #32
For pre-meds, many medical schools do not accept AP credit in place of pre-med course requirements, although more advanced courses in the same subject areas can be substituted. Many pre-meds repeat their AP credit, thinking that it will get them an “easy A” for grade-grubbing purposes (since they need very high college GPAs to have any chance of medical school admission), only to find that their classes are full of other pre-meds doing the same thing.
He should take the AP calculus BC exam. It is better to have it and possibly discard it later than not to have it and therefore not have the option of using it. Note that business and some other majors require calculus, so if he drops the pre-med, the AP calculus credit may be helpful. Also, if he is not sure about pre-med, he can defer the decision on retaking calculus (or taking more advanced math) for pre-med requirements until he is sure about pre-med, while having the AP calculus credit available for any major that accepts it.
If I were a student, and my parents told me that I would not be allowed to take an AP test because the results wouldn’t decrease my college costs, I think I would be angry. I would be especially angry if it turned out that because of the lack of an AP score, I had to retake some boring course at college instead of having an opportunity to take a more advanced course in the field or an interesting elective.
Is $90 really so much that a family can’t give up something non-essential (like a couple of restaurant meals or trips to the movies) so that the child can take the test?
@Marian Why do you assume that I told him not to take the test? I said we simply talked about it and HE opted to not take the test (since he does not want to study for it). He knows that he will most likely have to take Calc again in college so it was HIS choice, not mine. As I said, he wanted to take the other 4 AP exams. Therefore, I was simply asking for advice to see if this was a good idea since many on CC have gone through this and give good suggestions. And who said anything about not spending $90??? Please don’t be so quick to judge. Geeze…
@Anamgol Her comment did not appear to me to be directed at you.
Most med schools will accept AP credit for Calculus (one of the few that they will get credit for).
Getting credit for 1 class will not, by itself, reduce tuition, however, if combined with the other AP’s he can graduate a semester early, or avoid graduating a semester late, then it will save you on tuition.
By having Calculus credit he may be able to accelerate courses that have Calculus as a prereq. taking those classes a semester early, which may allow him to take other classes a semester early. The further ahead he is, the less impact unforeseen problems will have on his ability to graduate on time - higher semester standing allows for earlier registration, earlier registration makes getting shut out of desirable sections or popular classes less likely.
@Anamgol, I apologize.
I didn’t intended to criticize you, but I can see now that my post might have been interpreted in that way.
I was just trying to add another viewpoint to the discussion. But I could have done it more tactfully.
@Marian No problem, and I appreciate your comments.
My post about not taking the Calc exam was more about reducing the stress of my son. It was not about reducing the tuition cost or graduating early since none of these would be accomplished by taking the AP Calc exam. BTW, he has taken AP Calc AB last year and got a 4 as a junior. But he did stress about that AP Calc test since math is not his strongest subject. This year he has signed up to take the 4 AP exams in May and I was ‘thinking’ more in my son’s perspective as in, “if I am required to take Calc again in college, why should I stress about taking the AP Calc exam?” Maybe I am getting old and lazy.
Edit: I should add that my S is not interested and will not take anything more advanced than Cal 1 and 2 in college. He definitely is not a math kind of a guy.