<p>To the OP - My son graduated with an IB diploma (with some AP courses) and scored well enough on the IB tests that he could have skipped his first year at his private college (and graduated in three years). (I am not sure how exactly that worked, but I believe that he would have been exempt from some of the “core” classes.) He chose not to do that. He scored well-enough on his college placement tests to exempt him from Math or foreign language classes, but he wanted to take additional foreign language classes anyway.</p>
<p>I have certainly heard of students at public unis who have been unable to take upper level classes because they are full, but this is not limited to AP or IB students - it is often sophmores and juniors. It has been a topic on several boards here on CC, especially regarding the California publics effectively taking 5 years to graduate because of this problem.</p>
<p>Having said all that, it bothers me that many of the students are upset that they may have to take classes which are not specifically required for their major. If they cannot see the point of taking classes to learn something other than their relatively narrow major interests, they should be in a trade school.</p>