Entering OSU as a Sophomore

<p>What kind of criteria does it take to enter OSU as a sophomore? I am currently a HS Junior and will have attained approximately 35 credit hours (thanks to AP tests, assuming I earn at least a 3 on each). So what’s OSU’s policy on entering directly as sophomore?</p>

<p>I’m planning on entering as a sophomore too, although I don’t have 30 credit hours yet. If you have more than 30 credit hours, all you need is a minimum 2.0 GPA and to send your college transcripts in order to eligible to transfer. For less than 30 credit hours you have to send in your ACT score and high school transcript. Other than that, I’m pretty sure there’s no other requirements to transfer.</p>

<p>just to clear up my first post: I WILL have around 35 credit hours by the end of senior year and the end of all my APs and whatnot.</p>

<p>And thanks</p>

<p>You need 45 quarter credit hours to have sophomore rank, although honestly it doesn’t make much difference. I know people who enter OSU with over 100 credit hours, and they still have to spend at least 4 years to get their degree… what kind of credit you have (what exact classes you’re getting credit for) and the degree you’re going to pursue makes a lot more difference than the number. Having sophomore rank will let you schedule before all the freshmen, but that’s about it.</p>

<p>Edit: for semesters, I think the number is 30 credit hours, multiply everything by 1/3 and subtract if you want to convert from quarter to semester</p>

<p>The above is correct- you can walk in as a first year with sophomore status just by having a lot of AP credit- and I know a few people who did. That said, your “rank” only means you schedule earlier- and you probably won’t graduate early just because of that extra credit. </p>

<p>Only so much of it will be useful to you, as if you took two AP history classes, but are only required to take one history class for your major, that second AP credit is fairly meaningless.</p>

<p>I know only some is useful, but others can be used towards like general education credits or something, I thought, or at least hope.</p>

<p>Is it possible to enter as a junior?
I don’t mean to brag, but here are my stats about my credits:</p>

<p>I have 12 semester hours from KAP chemistry, 4 from KAP statistics, 4 from KAP physics and 4 from KAP liberal democracy.</p>

<p>I also have 5s in AP US History, AP Statistics, AP English Language and Comp, and AP Calc AB. I have 4s in AP European History and AP Chemistry.</p>

<p>After this year I will most likely have 5s in AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics C: Elec and Mag, AP Biology, AP US Gov, AP Calc BC and AP Lit/Comp.</p>

<p>I am planning to major in mathematics, and so I am hoping with all my credits I can finish school early and take mostly math classes…OSU’s registrar website doesn’t have their AP credits with semesters listed yet, but does anyone have any idea of how many semester hours are given per AP credit? (I know some of those credits I listed above overlap) Right now is seems about 5-10 quarter hours per AP.</p>

<p>Also it seems that AP Lang and AP Lit are essentially the same credit at OSU…is it even worth taking the Lit test if I have credit for AP Lang?</p>

<p>Hey soccerball, sounds like you’ve already seen this but just in case you haven’t… </p>

<p><a href=“http://registrar.osu.edu/testing/currentem.pdf[/url]”>Office of the University Registrar - The Ohio State University; </p>

<p>Scroll down to APP to see all the AP tests and what credit they give. </p>

<p>Currently, you need 90 quarter hours to be a junior (Rank 3) so I’m pretty sure that’s 60 semester hours. As I’ve said before, that really won’t make much of a difference. However, as to your questions…</p>

<p>-A lot of AP credits can be used towards your GEC’s, and also to your major, depending on what it is. This really depends on what college you’re in, since every college has different GEC’s. The credit you have that doesn’t fulfill anything will still go on your transcript and will just be used to add to your total credit hours and help with scheduling earlier.</p>

<p>-Most of your AP credit will give you 3 semester credits per each, it’s 5 per each under our current quarter system. A few classes, even in semesters, will still be 5 credits (mostly all foreign language classes) but it’ll be rare. As for saying 5-10 credits per AP, this is mostly not true… there’s no class at OSU that gives over 5 credits. However, some AP’s give credit for more than one class. Example, getting a 5 on the AP Chinese Test will give you credit for 5 Chinese classes, so that’s 25 credit hours. You can look on the site for more info on that.</p>

<p>-General rule of thumb is that if a class is 5 credits right now for quarters, it’ll probably be 3 credit hours for semesters.</p>

<p>-I took both AP English tests and it did nothing for me, OSU gave me separate credit (English 110.01 and 110.02), but they overlap and fulfill the same requirement. Someone told me that getting a 5 on the AP Lit class would give you credit for English 367 (Sophomore required writing course), but I don’t think that’s true.</p>

<p>Once you get into OSU and your AP scores are sent in, you should be able to access both your advising report and your transfer credit report. The advising report, which is an unofficial transcript, will list all classes you have credit for and your total credit hours/rank.</p>

<p>Yeah i’ve seen that registrar link, but thanks. You say “As for saying 5-10 credits per AP, this is mostly not true…” I meant that on that registrar site, each AP gives credit for between 5-10 quarter hours, depending on the class, and using that link, it appears that my statement was somewhat accurate (the languages are sometimes 25 quarter hours…but Calc BC is 15 hours and Chem is 10 hours).</p>

<p>Thanks for the general rule though, that will definitely help in doing some estimates with credits. I only know about my credit through KAP because I sent in my KAP transcript in the fall to OSU, and OSU sent me a transfer credit report two days ago with my KAP credits listed and their respective semester hour credits at OSU. And yeah, I have already been admitted to OSU, but I’ll need to send my APs in after this May’s tests.</p>

<p>A friend at OSU told me that both English APs were essentially the same credit as well, so I doubt I will take that AP test, thanks!</p>

<p>Does anyone know if acquiring Sophomore status when entering would mess up any scholarships through OSU? Like the merit ones say that they are good for 8 semesters, but does that change if you are considered a Sophomore?</p>

<p>Once again, Fizban, thanks for the lengthy reply!</p>

<p>Sorry, my post was a bit confusing. What I meant to say was that most AP classes only give you credit for one class, which is usually 5 credits. As you already found on the site, there are some AP tests that, depending on your score, will give you credit for MULTIPLE classes - hence more credit hours awarded. I just wanted to make clear that there aren’t any single classes that will give over 5 credit hours by themselves. Sorry for the confusion! :P</p>

<p>If you’re already in AP Lit, it may be worth taking the test just to get the extra 5 credit hours to your name. You never know, 4 years from now you may be 5 credits short of graduating and that extra AP will cause you to not spend an extra quarter (then again, you or your advisor would probably see this happening in advance and you could just take an extra class)</p>

<p>Sorry, don’t know much about scholarships, that might be a question you’d want to ask the scholarship office (probably the Office of Admissions at Enarson Hall) since it is kind of specific. I do know that OSU is very used to people coming in with lots of credits, and the people getting those scholarships are definitely more likely to be some of those people so I’m sure OSU has a concrete system for dealing with that.</p>

<p>Okay, thanks!</p>

<p>Your scholarships will not be affected by your class rank as an incoming freshman. If you do spend four years here, your scholarship will last regardless of your rank.</p>