Help w/ AP Credits

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>Hi, could someone please let me know which classes these scores waive? I've been trying to decipher the PDF and examination credits page to no avail.</p>

<p>Bio: 5
Calc AB: 5
Stats: 5
US History: 4
Euro History: 5
Micro: 5
Macro: 5
English Comp: 5</p>

<p>I am trying to waive as many Core classes as possible for financial reasons. </p>

<p>If I were to theoretically get 5's on AP Chem, AP Physics C: Mech and E&M, Calc BC, and a 3+ on a foreign language, what else would I be able to waive?</p>

2

<ol>
<li><p>Why haven’t you talked to your advisor?</p></li>
<li><p>I think you have </p></li>
</ol>

<p>-- one quarter of core Bio (but if you take the 3-course AP5 sequence you will get credit for two quarters of core Bio)
– two quarters of core math (one calculus, one stats), but you won’t meet the math requirements for any course anywhere, or the math requirements for your major if it has math requirement
– three quarters of elective credit</p>

<ol>
<li> If you get 5s on those other tests, you would have:</li>
</ol>

<p>-- two quarters of core physical science credit
– satisfy the core language competency requirement, but no credit (note that some majors have language competency requirements in excess of the core requirement, that cannot be met with APs)</p>

<p>So at the end of the day you would have satisfied your math and physical science Core requirements, and half of your bio Core requirement, and you would have met the foreign language competency requirement. For the Core, you would still need one quarter of bio (unless you took the AP5 bio sequence), 3 of Sosc, and 6 total of Hum, Civ, and Arts. </p>

<p>You would have 8 course credits (out of 42 needed to graduate), so you would be in a pretty good position to graduate in three years. Most people take 11-12 courses/year anyway. However, you might be severely restricted in which majors you could choose, because you would not be in a position to meet any math or physical science requirements a major might have, and maybe not foreign language. Taking and passing Chicago placement tests could get you some additional credit, including credits you could use to meet major requirements. In any event, you could probably still graduate in 3 years even if you had to take some math or phy sci for your major.</p>

<p>Note that if you are already enrolled at Chicago, and you haven’t taken those additional AP tests yet, you can’t get credit for them if you do take them. You would have to take the Chicago placement tests instead.</p>

<ol>
<li> Really, talk to your advisor. Some are mediocre, some are great, but this kind of thing is what they do, and even the worst of them can give you good advice on this.</li>
</ol>

3

<p>I am sorry, I did not mention that I am taking a gap year. Thank you for that wonderfully informative post! </p>

<p>I am an economics major; do you think graduating in three years is likely? I’ll probably self-study for AP Chem and Calc BC.</p>

<p>And it looks like AP Chem and Physics both waive the same Core requirements, correct?</p>

4

<ol>
<li><p>You may be able to talk with an advisor now. (Now is probably a great time – their down period.) Call and see if you can get someone to talk to you. Because ultimately they really understand the system, and I’m just reading carefully.</p></li>
<li><p>You have doubtless looked at the Economics Department page(s) – and if you haven’t, you should do so immediately. It is tremendously informative, and dense. I’m not going to look at it for you right now.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Anyway, based on what I remember, the small issue with your plan is that they really want you to take a lot of math, they don’t recognize APs (but do recognize the University’s own examination credit), and they have really strict sequencing requirements. So taking math APs really does very little for you. It would get you out of the math Core, but not meet Econ major requirements, and not even satisfy the prerequisites for some courses you need for the Econ major. It also sort of depends on your own goals for yourself – do you want to take a math-lite track through the Econ major? Other than saying “I am an Econ major,” what skills do you want to have? </p>

<p>I think the Econ and Math faculties would probably tell you to take the whole 160s Honors Calculus sequence as the best preparation for Econ math. The faster way through is to place into 153 your first quarter. But you have to start the main Econ sequence either in the spring or the fall. I think they won’t even let you start as a first-year unless you pass their placement test, and in any event if you go the 153 route they may want you to finish that before you start the core Econ sequence, so you don’t even save any time that way, just a couple of math courses.</p>

<p>The main message is: forget about math APs, but find out what you need to know for the Econ placement test, and how to place into math 153 (or higher).</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Yes, Chem AP and Physics AP are substitutes for one another if all you care about is getting out of Core requirements. The language AP would probably be really valuable to you. Even though you wouldn’t get any credit for it, getting out of the language competency requirement saves you 1-3 quarters of time-intensive language study, and the AP tests are reportedly much easier than the Chicago alternative examinations.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t know if they will give you credit for gap-year AP tests. You may be stuck with the Chicago exams.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Good luck.</p>