<p>I think Ap's are really overrated! Everyone tells you how many hours you can get and everything, but I am going to be an engineering major and very little will fit. I cant use my World History Credit, they wont accept AP stats, music theory is no good, and english 4 cant be used either...and beyond all that they say even if you get a 5 on BC calculus they say to take it in college so you don't get thrown in CAL III where maybe you missed a little detail from the other Cals and get behind! And of course AP Chem wont work either. Maybe some majors can use more AP classes than engineering, but right now it is looking down :( Sure there are a few AP classes that are good to use, but overall they don't help as much people think! So I had big plans this year to take 5 AP tests, but now it looks like only Calculus AB.....goodbye Microeconomics, STATS, Calculus BC (yes I know has AB in it, but can only use AB credit), English IV, and Music Theory.</p>
<p>Or maybe I'm wrong and someone else can tell me what I'm missing and how to use them more effectively! I probably doing Industrial Engineering at Texas A&M.</p>
<p>Yeah, APs are not equally useful for everyone. The one "edge" they may give you is when colleges look to see if you have taken the most challenging courses available. But it's a good reminder for students to look at their specific college/career goals and see what makes sense for them. </p>
<p>My oldest took all the APs he could, and got credit for most of them at UPenn. Some of the AP credits did not allow him to opt out of that class, but Penn did allow him to use the credits to fulfill some elective requirements. He could have graduated early, and saved big bucks. Instead, he opted to take a bit lighter courseload, and add a couple minors.</p>
<p>My second took only a few APs. He knew he didn't want to work that hard; he's a musician and wanted time to practice. Only two of the colleges he applied to would do anything with them, and Juilliard, where he is, took none. Once he knew he was going to Juilliard, he took the AP exams (since he'd paid for them already), but didn't study for them, and didn't have the scores sent anywhere. But they were valuable to him for the academic knowledge (what an idea! Taking courses to actually learn something....) His music theory class, for example, made his college music theory much easier.</p>
<p>And that is where I think some of your coursework will help. Yes, re-take that calculus, for example. But when your classmates are all struggling through freshmen year, you may have it a bit easier.</p>
<p>My degree (nursing) didn't require a lot of math, but I was good at it and enjoyed it, so I took the classes for "easy A's." Sometimes in college it's nice to get a break.</p>
<p>I feel ya, but it depends on where you're going and what you want to do. I'm going to be an arts major and love 'em. My APs will allow me to start off at sophomore level with all but a very few GE cores out of the way. Why would anybody want to sit in 101 level classes with 100+ other students to listen to professors who would rather be doing something else pretty much tell you what's in the book? Instead, I'll finish up the few GEs I have left first year, concentrate on my major, and fill out my schedule with upper level courses outside my major which interest me and are taught by professors of my choice from second year on. No more icky, high-maintenance math and science for me! Sweet deal in my book. :)</p>
<p>UIUC gave me 47 credit hours for my AP exams, so they were surely useful for me (I was in Engineering as well). I only had to take 1 GenEd class and a technical writing class.</p>