<p>bmwguy – I understand your frustration. I had the same problem with my daughter and felt the same frustration – we were able to arrange for reduced fees with the school – but then we also later found out that my d. was eligible for credit at her college for an exam that we thought was “wasted” money…</p>
<p>My main point is to tell you that if you can afford it, please take those AP exams. My son went to a college that would not give him credit for the AP exams, but he did not complete his education at that college. He withdrew from college #1 after 2 years, worked for 3 years, then transferred to college #2. Because of differences in undergraduate degree requirements, my son would have had only sophomore status and would have needed another 3 years to graduate from college #2 (5 years total) – but for the fact that college #2 had a very liberal AP policy. It took some digging – the College Board couldn’t find my son’s then 7 & 8 year old score reports – but his high school did have them – so my son got both the credit and the waivers from specific undergraduate requirements from those old AP’s. </p>
<p>You never know what will happen down the line that may lead to a transfer to a different college. I agree with you that the exam fee is pretty high and it is tough when your family is facing all the other expenses of college, but this really is an investment worth making. </p>
<p>Think of it this way: you have done the work of taking the courses. Those AP exams are a way of preserving the record of your accomplishment for the future. If you were taking a course in community college, would you willingly waive the college credit at the end of the year simply because it turned out that the credit was not transferable or that the course was not required for your intended major? Or would you want to have the credit just “for the record”?</p>