College Credit (AP)

<p>I just finished calculating my credits from using the UC Davis AP site.</p>

<p>English: 8 (Taking it in May, need at least a 3)
European History: 8
American History: 8
Biology: 8
Computer Science A: 2
Calculus AB: 4
Calculus BC: 8 (Taking it in May, need at least a 3)</p>

<p>The total would be 46 units, but since there’s a credit cap for math, it’d be 42 units all together.</p>

<p>Is this considered too few since I have friends that have taken many more AP courses/tests than I have, like 11+ AP’s total. For an engineer major when compared to my other engineering peers, would I be at a serious disadvantage? Would I also be at a disadvantage when registering for classes? I heard that people with more units get to register first. =( </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>You're kidding, right? If you came in with 42 units of AP credit, you'd be almost a full year ahead of everyone else.</p>

<p>Really? But shouldn't there be many people with same/more units than me especially if they're in really competitive majors like science/engineering? Maybe it's just at my school (Asians), but my amount of AP credit is certainly not considered a lot. >.<</p>

<p>I do know a handful of people who came to Davis with enough community college/AP credits to technically enter in Sophomore standing. However, many of these credits cannot actually be used to satisfy certain requirements in certain colleges--for example, calc AB/BC credit may allow you to skip MAT 21A and/or 21B here at Davis, by AP English credits can only be used to a limited degree (a maximum of 4 credits, I believe). So...they certainly can be beneficial, but you need to check with the registrar or your major advisor before signing up for classes. Also...it's worth considering NOT opting out of certain classes (like 21A/21B). Most people I know got 4/5 on AP Calc exams but still started over again at 21A at Davis--and have been happy that they made that decision. I also know a few people who skipped right to 21C/21D, though, and they're just fine as well. Depends on your comfort level, really, but if you have to question whether you'll be ready it's probably better to just start at the beginning and plough right through...</p>

<p>AP Chem, AP Physics, AP Bio credits: same story. If you feel comfortable using these credits to "skip" the lower classes in the series, go right ahead, but do consider that the emphasis here can be quite different than on the AP exam or in high school...</p>

<p>
[quote]
Really? But shouldn't there be many people with same/more units than me especially if they're in really competitive majors like science/engineering? Maybe it's just at my school (Asians), but my amount of AP credit is certainly not considered a lot. >.<

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Honestly, most of those students wouldn't be going to UC Davis.</p>

<p>=( Should I not go to Davis then?</p>

<p>blueyoshi if UC Davis feels like the right campus for you then of course you should go there. :) Consider having extra units icing on the cake...you will have higher priority during registration. (not for the first quarter though) Having extra units allows you to explore more with your additional classes. My son will have about 30 units coming in.</p>

<p>I'm not saying Davis is a bad school, but I would guess that many of your high school peers who have more AP classes than you are choosing schools like Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSD. My point is that you will definitely NOT be behind your peers by "only" having 42 AP credits as a freshman. What are your other choices?</p>

<p>Looking at A-G course averages for the UC's (granted this does NOT specify how many classes were honors or AP's) puts UCD in good company. What this does show is how academic the schedules of admitted students were.</p>

<p>UCB 49.1
UCLA 48.6
UCSD 48.0
UCD 48.0
UCI 47.1
UCSB 46.7
UCSC 46.7
UCR 45.3
UCM 45.1</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2008/freshman_admit_profile_2008.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2008/freshman_admit_profile_2008.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Wow, comparing Fall of 2006 to Fall of 2008, Davis seems to have grown the most out of all the UC's. Academics aren't really up to par with UCB, UCLA, and UCSD in terms of GPA, ELC, and SAT though.</p>

<p>im_blue: All the UC's except for UCB and UCLA and a bunch of Cal States (SLO, Pomona etc.) Privates would have been too much money for my family so I didn't apply to any.</p>

<p>GPA and SAT are valid measures ELC not so much....</p>

<p>collegemom16: Is your son going to college this year also? Where is he headed?</p>