Can I use my AP credits to skip a semester at SDSU?

Colleges and Universities A-Z San Diego State University
1

I’m a senior in high school and I have some college credits that I got from ap testing.
These are my scores

  1. Psych: 3
  2. Human geo: 3
  3. Ap lang: 4
  4. AP comp sci principle: 3
  5. Ap gov:3
  6. Econ: 3
  7. Stats: 4

Are my ap credits enough to skip a semester in college?

2

Every college has different rules about granting credit and skipping courses. You need to look at the rules at the college you are planning to attend. For example, some colleges give credit for 3s, some require 4s or 5s for credit, some give credits for some APs but not others, and some don’t give any credit at all. There is no consistent method.

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3

I’m planning to attend SDSU. I visited their website and they accept all of my scores. Does that mean I can skip a semester??

4

You haven’t gotten ANY college credits yet. Your college will look at your AP scores and determine IF they will award you credit for any of your AP scores.

Depending on the college…you might or might not get course credit for scores of 3. Many (if not most) colleges do not give any credit for a score of 3.

Your 4 scores might get you college credit…but that doesn’t mean those courses will apply towards your degree requirements.

And…some colleges don’t give any course credit for AP scores.

5

Most students don’t intentionally “skip” a semester at their colleges because why would they add another semester of work?
Did you mean that you want to “waive” having to take those courses?

You need to contact your specific college to see what level of scores they will accept and how it will impact your schedule. Some universities may waive prerequisites using your AP courses, but you would still have to take Psych 101, Geography 101, at the college level. There is NO guarantee that the university will accept your AP scores. Each university is different.

My children, as well as my former students, received “elective” credit for their AP classes and these scores were at “5” levels. Which means that the were given credit to increase their class level status during registration. Prerequisite courses were usually numbered like so:

Beginning Psychology Principals 50.
Beginning Statistics-50.
vs.
Psychology 101
Statistical Review Methods 100

Our students still had to take university level courses, in similar subjects, and it helped that they had previously taken those AP courses in high school.

You wont be able to “get out of taking” required GE courses in the major. Additionally, I know that at least two of our local universities will NOT give credit for 3’s.
A score of 3 indicates that you understood the material and “passed” the course.
A score of 5 indicates that the student is “extremely well qualified” to receive college credit.

6

This is college dependent. My Boston University kid didn’t have to take a full year of English in college (two required GE courses) because he got a 5 on the AP English Literature exam.

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7

I am not familiar with SDSU but from what you say it may be possible. You should ask your advisor once you get one assigned. It also depends on your major and if you have sequenced courses that aren’t affected by your AP credits.

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8

Some colleges will not allow AP course credit for courses required in your major.

9

Depends on the college.

10

This is on the College Board website…but I would definitely verify with the college.

“ San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

San Diego State University grants credit toward its undergraduate degrees for successful completion of examinations of the Advanced Placement Program of the College Board. Students who earn a score of 3 or higher will be granted college credit.”

11

Agree.
OP you need to contact the Registrar’s office and find out if they will give you credit.

12

University Policies - San Diego State University - Acalog ACMS™ has a table showing which AP scores are allowed as subject credit for which courses at SDSU and how many credit units each gives.

Whether they may allow you to graduate in 7 instead of 8 semesters of normal course loads (15 units per semester) depends on whether you need to take more than 105 (= 7 * 15) units of other courses to fulfill graduation requirements, assuming that you get more than 15 units of credit from AP scores that you will not repeat.

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13

SDSU does give you AP credit for a score of 3 to meet the minimum competency requirements for the math and writing.
I consider these scores to be prerequisites for entering the math and writing courses at SDSU:

I. Freshmen Competency Requirements: Mathematics and Writing

All students are required to demonstrate competency in basic mathematics and standard written English. Incoming freshmen must demonstrate competency in written communication and mathematics/quantitative reasoning based on multiple measures of academic proficiency.

Competency requirements are required preparation for a number of specific courses identified in the Class Schedule. No student may graduate until all competency requirements are satisfied.

  1. Score of 3 or higher on the College Board Scholastic Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus AB or Calculus BC examination, Computer Science Principles, or the Statistics examination.

  2. Score of 3 or higher on the College Board Scholastic Advanced Placement (AP) Language and Composition or Literature and Composition Test.
    Graduation Requirements for the Bachelor’s Degree - San Diego State University - Acalog ACMS™

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14

What is your intended major at SDSU?

Here is the AP credit SDSU awards and you will be given a list of courses that your AP classes will satisfy as part of your Freshman orientation package. University Policies - San Diego State University - Acalog ACMS™

You also have to see if the credit you receive are for classes that are needed as part of the GE or major requirements.

My son whom is a SDSU graduate did get AP credit for 5 classes when he attended which is 1 semesters worth of classes however, he ended up taking lighter class loads in his Junior/Senior years so he can do some internships during these semesters instead of graduating a semester early.

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15

Depend on SDSU and your major. You may waive general Ed or you may not. Some classes might equal the same requirement. My daughter got out of three classes even though had nine qualifying scores.

My son had 33 credits but his major still takes four years.

You should be asking your question to your advisor when you have your first session b4 you register.

Good luck

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16

@roundglasses74 in March, you wrote the following “Hi, I’m currently a junior in high school and my dream universities are UCI, Boston College, and San Diego State university.”

Are you currently a HS senior (like you wrote in your first post on this thread), or are you a HS junior?

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17

I’m unclear what a GE course (Gen Ed) in the major is. Pretty much by definition, GenEds are outside of the major.

Is this a SDSU-specific constraint. My daughter’s AP’s have satisfied the vast majority of her GenEd requirement and she’s reviewed a study plan that would easily allow her to graduate in three years.

18

You should work with the school to look at earned credits, how they impact your plan of study, and how required courses/sequences may constrain early graduation. One semester worth of credits does not mean graduating one semester early.

Engineering is typically an example of this. No matter how many AP credits you have, you still need to take Statics, Dynamics, Thermo, Materials, Fluids, Thermo 2, Controls, project courses, etc., etc. and these all have dependencies on each other. Engineers with many AP credits often have more free space to take electives, but can’t accelerate the critical path.

Other majors are easier. My daughter will start with 61 credits, officially a Junior, but will require at least 6 semesters to graduate.

19

For the AP credits that I got in high school, am I able to use all of the credits I got? Or can I only use the credits that are related to my major and the classes that I am going to take in college?
I have no background knowledge about this so I was curious.
If I have AP biology credit and I am not going to take biology in college, is my AP bio credit useless?

20

It depends on which college you land at. Each one sets their own AP policies. In general, state schools are more liberal in accepting APs than private colleges, but that is by no means universal.