This is what Barnard says:
“Students entering Barnard in fall 2016 and thereafter will receive points of credit for AP work, as below, but there will be no exemptions from general education requirements.”
I’m not sure what that means though…
What good are the points of credit for AP work? I thought people took AP classes just to exempt classes.
It means you’ll get the credits, so like 3 Barnard credits for AP calculus for example, but you won’t be exempt from completing the math requirement. You cannot get out of your general distribution requirements no matter how many APs you take, but you can get credit for them.
Which is very similar to the policy at many top private colleges - if they give AP credit, in many cases, it can’t be applied to reducing gen ed requirements.
The AP credit count towards your graduation and may count towards ELECTIVES (which in a way, would eliminate the need for taking extra courses), but they can NOT be used in lieu of general education courses that EVERY Barnard student has to take, or in lieu of courses towards your major.
I just had this conversation with my daughter. Her AP courses and dual-enrollment courses prepared her to enter at the highest level Spanish course, or to fulfill the prerequisites for a certain courses in other subject areas.
So although you can’t necessarily “avoid” certain subjects altogether, it may effect WHICH courses are open to you.