APs, important?

<p>Hey guys, APs are coming up next week. I have to take AP Gov, but I was wondering if it would work against me if I happened (haha) to get a 1 or 2 on the test. the only reason I ask this is because I will be majoring in chemistry, so i'm not sure if getting a 4 or 5 on the Gov test will mean anything (if I got a 4 or 5, which is enough to get credit, would it do anything for me since i'm in chemistry??). any help? thanks a lot!</p>

<p>i am taking a language AP and math also, which I have been studying for since it makes sense that if i got a good grade on those, it would help towards Tufts' requirements, etc.</p>

<p>I mean, I never really considered that APs would be useful - it was just kind of like, "I'm going to take the most challenging classes, and these happen to be APs." When I got to Tufts, however, I was thrilled with how useful my APs were. My 5 in AP English got me out of two semesters of college English - so instead I could take two courses I was actually interested in. That type of thing. </p>

<p>A good grade on the AP Gov exam may actually help you as a chem major - it would, I believe, take care of one of your Social Sciences distribution requirements (I think it's the equivalent of Intro to American Politics in the Poli Sci department), and it would save you from taking a social science class if you didn't want to.</p>

<p>But if you did take two courses at Tufts that filled your Social Science requirement, a good grade in AP Gov would still count as a CREDIT. You need 34 credits or so to graduate, so even if you fill your distrib, foundation and major requirements you may still need to take additional classes to get up to 34. Having an AP Gov credit saves you from taking an extra class, so if you wanted to graduate early or have a lesser workload in the semester it would come in handy. Without APs, I believe, a liberal arts student would theoretically have to have six semesters taking four classes and two semesters taking five classes. With two AP credits, you'd never have to take five classes per semester. (Not that that's necessarily bad, I took 5.5 last semester and got the best grades I've gotten yet, but for someone taking orgo it may be trying.)</p>