<p>Hey, I have a quick question. I'll probably be going to Yale next year. I'm a bit confused about how Yale handles APs that they don't give credit for. I'm thinking of taking Stat, Psych, and Econ this year, but it'd save me tons of time and money if I didn't (well, $180 can buy you a lot!) Yale's site says they give no credit for it. But would they put me in a more advanced course or look happily upon me taking the tests? I took 6 APs last year, many of which will get me credit. I want to major in cognitive science, so psych and stat are somewhat a part of that. I'd like to start off with more advanced courses for my major, but maybe they'd think the opposite - that I should get the core teachings of my major from Yale? Hmm. Advice?</p>
<p>I don't know the specifics about psych, but some AP classes allow you to skip the introductory classes that are a prerequisite for the major or sequence. For example, if you're pre-med, you have to take organic chemistry. In order to take orgo, though, you have to take 1 semester of intro chem, unless you have AP Chem credit. So taking the AP Chem test would save you one semester-class of work.</p>
<p>That's sort of true, you can place into harder classes, so you don't have to repeat stuff you know and get bored.</p>
<p>But you still need 36 credits, and APs can't make up for any single credit. The credits can only be fulfilled with classes at yale. So expect about 9 credits a year. Fun! I've really lost motivation for APs.</p>
<p>However, there is an interesting exception. I think that if you place out of enough, say a semester or two, you can graduate early (accelerate). Only under those circumstances can your APs count toward your credits. LOOPHOLE (kind of): If you go abroad for a semester or year, and issues arise about transferring and so on, you can actually decellerate, act like nothing happened, and still graduate in four years. Sneaky people can use this to get out of classes, so I've heard.</p>
<p>You can accelerate with a lot of AP credit so that you can get into the smaller classes designed for people in that major earlier on. Really small classes would usually start in junior year, but with AP credit, you can take these smaller, more advanced courses in your 2nd year at Yale. Then, you can decelerate by your 3rd year so that you're a junior for the 2nd year in a row, and you can still spend 4 years at Yale (which most people would want to do).</p>