<p>I looked on the Yale website and it outlines which AP tests (with scores of 5) get credit at Yale. My student has 7 credits according to that chart in everything from Biology to Math to Lit.. My question is how do these credits get applied? Does he have to take the next level up in order for those credits to work? </p>
<p>Also, Yale gives no credit for History, Psych, Micro/Macro, Stats AP's which he's taking this year, so do we save the money and brain damage and not have him take those tests? He already is the highest level AP scholar, so what is the point of paying money for tests that won't be recognized anyway?</p>
<p>HI
hopefully an expereince Yalie parent will chime in</p>
<p>I read through those AP listings as well…as I read it–your student will need to take the upper level course and if successfully completes said course–gets acceleration credit?</p>
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<p>I should think someone in the academic offices might be able to advise your student if taking the AP test is worth the $85 per test…if there is no direct benefit–then again perhaps just knwoing your student did well and will have excelled in the coursework and passed the tests with 5s might be worth the investment.</p>
<p>Yalemom: from what I can recall, APs can be turned into acceleration credits which can be useful if say, your son decided to take one semester at a program in Lisbon. But instead of 4 or 5 classes, he only takes two. When he returns to Yale, the shortfall by his having taken only two the previous semester can be filled by those acceleration credits. </p>
<p>In a nutshell, acceleration credits allow him to take fewer classes at Yale but still graduate in four years. This is a dilemma because one of the biggest complaints is that people can’t get enough of Yale classes.</p>
<p>As for placing in higher classes, even if he doesn’t take an AP exam, he can informally petition the instructor which in all likelihood, will let him in.</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d save the money unless he really wants to take the exams. To be blunt, Yale’s use of student’s 5 AP scores isn’t very useful in most circumstances.</p>
<p>***** If anything I’ve posted is incorrect, please update this thread!*****</p>
<p>“so do we save the money and brain damage and not have him take those tests?”</p>
<p>D is in a similar situation. She is currently taking 5 APs, but is already a National AP Scholar and has already been accepted (not to Yale, but to MIT) to a good college with no hope of getting “credit” for anything but AP Physics M and AP Calc BC. So, we decided that she is going to take the two AP exams that she may get credit for, but skip the other 3, for a savings of over $300.00! (Ds school charges $92.00 per test, plus they “recommend” the kids buy the Princeton Review book as a study guide).</p>
<p>OP: Check your high school’s policy before making the decision: Some high schools require students in AP classes to take the corresponding AP exam.</p>
<p>Getting a 5 in AP Spanish (or other foreign language) will place the student in an L5 class and allow that student to fulfill the foreign language requirement in 1 instead of 3 semesters. If you don’t get that 5, you can still take the placement test and try to place in L5 so it is not required to take the AP exam if you are trying to save money.</p>
<p>this kind of happened to me last year, only 2 of the 7 tests I could have taken would have gotten me any credit at Yale. I took the 2 I could get credit for and cancelled the other 5, it saved my parents a a couple hundred dollars and no, Yale did not revoke my acceptance. </p>
<p>HOWEVER, if your child is considering taking econ at Yale, know that in order to skip introductory micro/macro classes, he/she MUST get 5’s on BOTH the econ and the Calc BC exam. If you get a 5 on econ but not calc, you can still skip to intermediate after passing a Yale calc course. I was not aware of this, and cancelled both my econ exams, this means I had to take the introductory courses. OTOH, I feel like I’ve learned a lot in those classes that my hs didn’t cover. I’ve also heard the intermediate courses are very difficult and my suitemate who placed into it ended up dropping down to intro. </p>
<p>I realize that this may not matter at all if you’re not interested in econ, however, if you do have a specific subject you want to go into, it is better to look at the departmental website to double check. sometimes you get no credit(as in the case above) but the test is used for placement.</p>
<p>Me personally, I don’t regret not taking those tests. I got to enjoy senior year and I don’t feel as though I’ve lost much by having to take these classes at Yale. They’ve been wonderful.</p>
<p>Thanks so much to everyone for their thoughts. Ecanzdb8er, your insights are particularly appreciated as you are a current student. If there are any other current students who could share their AP credit maneuverings through the Yale system I’d appreciate it. Also the suggestion to visit individual department websites is great, and I’m going to do that right now!</p>
<p>To put it as simply as possible, most people find AP acceleration credits worthless. The main benefits come from graduating early or being able to take less classes to graduate, but in reality, most people at Yale don’t want to graduate early or dilute their experience. I personally just took the tests (post-acceptance, that is) that allowed me to place out of certain classes (i.e. math, chemistry, biology, english, etc.) and that was it.</p>
<p>What about using acceleration credits to advance into graduate level courses as a junior or senior? Is that possible? If so, can you get a head start on graduate coursework (without missing out on Yale undergrad)?</p>
<p>You don’t need the acceleration credits themselves to do that. For instance, you can get a BS/MS in chemistry (and other disciplines ) in 4 years by (simply put, at least) completing the intensive BS and taking 8 graduate courses, 4 of which count toward the BS. I’m under the impression that you don’t need to reach the total credit requirement to be able to take the graduate courses, so therefore acceleration credits are not useful there either. To complete the degree you simply have to be far enough ahead in the curriculum to complete those courses in the necessary time and achieve the necessary grades.</p>