I’m a high school senior and I need to sign up for AP exams this month. I can take both the AP Microeconomics and AP Macroeconomics exams in May and place out of the intro to Macro class and intro to Micro class at Northeastern if I get a 4 or 5.
I want to place out of those two classes so that I can take other fun classes instead. However, my intended major is business with a concentration in finance.
Could I end up missing a lot of important information not taught in high school AP Economics if I don’t take those two intro classes in college?
I’m no expert on the differences between the two classes, but for your current decision, I would take the exams - you can always decide later. I don’t see much downside in the grand scheme (paying to take the test / time).
Just like PengsPhils, I don’t know much about those classes. Hopefully someone on here with a Business/Finance major will be able to respond.
I get the impression that those intro classes can kill GPA with the wrong professor, so AP’ing out may be a good idea. Another tid bit, though, Professor Catalina Herrera Almanza teaches a section of micro, and she’s one of our more impressive faculty members, so that might be fun to take a class with her if you’re interested in the economics of gender equality.
But yeah, I’d go ahead and take those exams if it’s not too much trouble. Just to have the option, and then ask your advisor once you get here (lots of Q/A at orientation).
My daughter is an econ major. Her HS did not offer AP econ. I would suggest taking the test (nothing to lose). My daughter’s experience was in honors sections of both Micro and Macro. They were small classes and covered a lot of material - pretty high level for intro classes. These econ classes in college are calculus based (don’t know if the AP ones are) and so the material can be challenging (even in the intro classes.)
She has friends who are University Scholars (not econ majors but doing business or other degrees) who said Micro Econ was the hardest class they ever took!
Check out the required classes for the majors you are interested in - if you will need to also take advanced micro and/or macro you should take the intro at NEU so you are prepared. If not, maybe go for the AP credit.
Hey! Current sophomore finance/acct. major here at NU. AP’ed out of both macro and micro. Do not think it has affected me whatsoever, and it was a grade sink class for a lot of people. Highly recommend getting the credit from AP.
The main reason I was reluctant to AP out of the intro classes was that I thought taking introductory economic in high school only instead of in college would make me less prepared for my business classes, especially compared to the other students. So @novafan1225 it’s very resassuring to hear that it didn’t seem to put you at a disadvantage for your business courses.
I’ve decided to take the AP exams and do some review of the material during the summer so I don’t have a terribly lacking understanding of introductory economics.
Thank you everyone for your responses–you’ve all been very helpful!
Let’s be honest. It doesn’t really matter if you skip it or not, cause dat sh*t be easy af. But seriously, Intro to Macro/Micro Econ are probably some of the easiest courses offered at any university. You’ll be fine if you do well on the AP tests.
@kiddie Maybe they’re hard in the “oh no I have a C” sense, but the material itself is very simple. It will all be covered by the APs, so it really shouldn’t be a problem.
@jenmejli, my son had both micro and macro economics in HS taught by an excellent teacher. His school does not offer AP classes so there was no “testing out” unless he wanted to study for the test on his own which he did not. He took both micro and macro at Northeastern his freshman year.
There certainly was overlap in the course work especially in the beginning which made the classes feel easy at first. Ultimately they moved on to more in depth subjects and he got something out of both micro and macro at Northeastern. Both courses were taught by excellent professors. He did well in both classes partly because of his HS foundation which to tell you the truth, can feel pretty good the first year in college while you are settling in and learning to study on your own and pace your work without homework and other things that high school demands of you to make sure you are doing the work.
So I’d say it’s up to you. Chances are if the classes you took in HS were comprehensive and well taught, and it’s a subject you have aptitude for, you’ll be fine testing out. My son did not regret repeating micro and macro and having a subject that he felt strong in his first year at university. All the best.
@suzyq7 Yes, I received credit for both, and all business majors are required to take both, so that satisfied that requirement.
While there may be some new material in the NU course vs. AP, I do not think it’d be worth the extra money to retake a class you are already proficient in. Macro and micro together is half a semester, or a whole summer semester-- that is a lot of time and money saved.