<p>colorado_mom - getting credit for IB SL classes is still hard, but it’s getting better. Many schools give credit for SL classes if a student has earned the full IB diploma (often with a minimum score required) and some are starting to offer credit for SL classes even without the diploma. You just need to check it out.</p>
<p>Somewhere…I put together a list of schools accepting SL classes. If I can find it, I will post it.</p>
<p>My son’s experience with AP credit bears no resemblance to that article. He took 8 AP classes and scored 5’s on all exams. His university has a very easy to follow chart which outlines for each AP test with a 4 or 5 what class(es) you get credit for. So, he entered as a sophomore with 28 credits. The immediate benefit is that he was able to register for classes one day early - he picked with the sophomores rather than the freshman and he was able to skip freshman English and calculus. He will always be able to register for classes with the higher class and thus will have fewer issues getting the classes he wants the whole way through.</p>
<p>Now that he is in his 2nd year - he has more flexibility in his schedule due to the extra credits. He typically signs up for 5 classes - but if he doesn’t like one - he can drop it without worrying about falling behind in terms of credits needed to graduate. He also will have plenty of flexibility should he decide to study abroad for a semester or double major or graduate early. So, for him it was completely a worthwhile experience with no drawbacks whatsoever.</p>
<p>You take the most challenging courses at your h.s. so you can get ADMITTED to the most challenging colleges. If you get some credit, that is a bonus. If you are unhappy with that, pick another college.</p>
<p>Mixed bag on AP credit here. S2’s college gave credit for 2 of 7 APs. He seems to be well prepared for college however.</p>
<p>rockvillemom - as I stated earlier - I think the title of the article and the various issues raised in the article are very far removed.</p>
<p>My son also scored 5’s on his AP exams, but because of his particular major and the fact that between AP and dual credit classes he had most of his Gen Ed classes fulfilled…scheduling was a bit of a problem. </p>
<p>gildo- I agree. We always approached AP/IB classes as college “prep” and only took advantage of the credits that made sense.</p>
<p>idad- agreed! We always viewed AP classes as college prep. Any placement credit taken would be taken in courses far removed from DS’s major.</p>
<p>S1 had twenty-some usable AP credits at his big state u. He never had any trouble with scheduling. NROTC required extra classes added to his regular course load every sem. The AP credits really helped him fit everything in and grad. in four years.</p>
<p>AP credits gave my S some wiggle room to double major and/or graduate early. He chose the former, feeling that it was a privilege to attend his Ivy school and why wouldn’t he want to take as many courses as possible?</p>
<p>One negative in his case was that despite having taken AP Calculus BC and scoring a 5, he was still not completely prepared for the math in his very first econ. class and it definitely hurt him (and his GPA). He should have taken calculus again in college, but why would he think he needed to do that for a social science major? So yes, high school classes may not cover all the necessary material and thus can give the student a false sense of mastery. We are having D re-take calculus in college before she starts on her econ. major.</p>
<p>Secondly, the AP credit can bump the student to a higher level than s/he can handle as a freshman. English was my best subject, and my 5 put me in higher level literature class. Whilie I probably didn’t need the freshman writing class, I don’t think I was adequately prepared to read 12 novels for one class and write a bizillion papers my first semester of college. Sometimes the preparation gap is too big.</p>
<p>D’s school barely takes any AP credits, and accepts only 5’s in math and science courses. If it weren’t for what happened to my S and to me, I might have been disappointed at their stinginess.</p>
<p>To quote Marian:</p>
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<p>To me that would have been the worst case scenario. Anything else would be gravy.</p>
<p>No IB at our high school when my kids were students there. Both had CC credits (dual enrollment) and AP credits. All transferred.<br>
DS finished college a year early (thank you for the tuition savings!) DD will be able to fill all the requirements for multi subject and single subject teaching credential along with undergrad degree in four years and still have time to spend a semester abroad.</p>
<p>Forgot to mention both kids got better housing than some other kids because housing numbers are done by credits.</p>
<p>When I started college (back in 1974) I entered with 40 AP credits and 30 units from a CC. The subjects were all over the place, and I think only 10 or 20 units were applicable to anything I needed to take for my Physics major. I skipped a couple quarters of Calculus, and got credit for one gen ed class I think.</p>
<p>But the school gave me 70 units of credit right off the bat (I can’t remember if this was automatic or something I had to sign off on). Most of it was useless.</p>
<p>Two years in I considered transferring, but the place I wanted to transfer wouldn’t even look at my application because they said I couldn’t complete a degree without exceeding some maximum number of unts. I think they called it “academic progress.” So I stayed at my first school which was okay. Eventually I graduated, with over 200 credits or something like that. I think the typical degree required around 140 (I could be a little off).</p>
<p>Anyway, I don’t know if there was a way around this or if this is still a problem anywhere. It may also have had something to do with the major I wanted to transfer into. But that was my experience.</p>
<p>Re: Post #19 - Zoozermom - Harvard (as of a couple years ago) did * not* give any “credit” for IB courses, HL or SL. Advanced placement was given for very high HL IB scores (6 or 7). If you score high enough on AP, IB, SATII or Harvard’s advanced placement test, you can opt out of the foreign language requirement and may be able to opt out of the math requirement. In neither event are you given academic credit for the classes, you merely can fill the academic requirement with something else. The only exception that I am aware of was that a high IB Diploma score (42+?) gave you credit for Freshman year, but then you had to graduate in three years.</p>