<p>Agreed. A 5 won’t hurt, but it isn’t going to help either and there are better ways to spend that time and money than on taking the AP test. The level of commitment is apparent enough from the auditions and the teacher recommendations. Different schools have different approaches to teaching theory. Some require more of it than others. Some present certain concepts in a different order than others. A one-size-fits-all Music Theory test just does not work because each school needs a test that corresponds to its own curriculum.</p>
<p>Crossposted with violadad:
Unless you switch out of a performance major after one semester, you will likely already have many more music credits than available electives to spread them over in the new major, so I’m not sure adding another semester’s worth of theory via AP is going to help a whole lot for most people who decide to switch majors.</p>