How much time will 2-3 APs save me in college?

Applying to College
1

If I write 2 APs this May (Math and CompSc), how much time will that grant me? few hours/couple of days/a week/a month?

Is it worth spending 300$ and weeks of study time for the tests?

I have already checked my schools’ websites and it states that I earn an approximate of 3-6 credits. Since I am not familiar with the ‘credits’ system, please explain what that means.

2

If you take the AP class, then take the AP exam. That’s what you would do in college in that the AP exam is a lot like the final exam. One of the reasons for APs is to introduce you to college-level courses, and to the college process. By deciding to avoid “weeks of study time” you put into question the very reason you took the AP in the first place.

What the APs “will save you in college” in regards to credits or (in some cases) no credits but the ability to take the next course in a sequence, is up to you. And it depends on the college.

3

@fogcity‌

In my school’s curriculum (CBSE Curriculum), we have already covered most of the AP topics. Indeed, I went through some AP sample tests and could easily score a 4 (without studying specially for it).

So I feel I don’t need to take an AP class.

I wanted to write the exam only if I can save some money or a significant amount of time in college. Will I be able to do that?

4

Yes, you will.

5

If the AP exam (with the appropriate score) gives you credit for a specific course that you are required to take, then you would be allowed to skip to the next course in the sequence. This may allow you to take more advanced courses earlier and may allow you to graduate early or take lighter course loads. I say “may” because it’s very dependent on the school and the major.

For example, say you get a 5 on the AP Calc BC exam. At a particular school, this might give you credit for Calc I and II, and you could therefore start in Calc III when you begin college. This may allow you to take other courses that require calculus earlier (like physics), and it may make your college schedule easier or let you graduate earlier (if you have enough of the right AP credits – 3-6 credits likely won’t make much of a difference in terms of graduation time). Other schools, however, may only give credit for Calc I or maybe they don’t give credit at all.

Most schools also have requirements for a minimum number of credits to graduate. If the AP test doesn’t give you credit for a specific course you have to take to graduate, it will still count towards credits needed for graduation.

It’s really specific to your situation whether the AP credits will save you time or money.

6

It depends on the school, although two AP tests generally won’t give enough credit to reduce your stay by a semester (although some schools charge by the credit). But if they allow you to start in a more advanced course, that gives you space for extra free electives during college.

7

The advantage of having AP credits is so that you can (possibly) skip introductory-level courses in college. I say “possibly” because, as other posters said, policies regarding which AP tests are accepted vary by school. For example, a 5 on the Calculus BC test gives you 12 units of 18.01 credit (the equivalent of a semester’s worth of single-variable calculus) and you can continue on to 18.02 (multi-variable calculus). But MIT does not accept AP Chemistry scores, for example, as a substitute for the chemistry requirement.

But usually, you are given the opportunity to place out of a certain class, so if the college does not accept AP Calculus, you might be able to test out of it.

8

Okay, so it seems from the discussion that it will be wise for me to write 4 APs.

One more question, if a student can graduate with just 100 credits (say), why should he take more electives? Why not finish the minimum credits, graduate early, and save lots of time and tons of money? Why don’t all students simply complete the minimum credits required? Is it just the passion for learning which prompts them to take the extra credits?

9

Passion for learning is one reason. Or interest in a particular course. Example: Tons of Cornell seniors take the Wines course in the Hotel school just for fun. Another reason is to graduate with more than one major. DS graduated with 3 majors; DD with 2 majors and a minor. In both cases having multiple majors helped with their careers.

10

@determined2300‌
I intend to double major, with possibly another minor, so that will take up a lot of the schedule. Also, I’d imagine some would take courses that will help them in grad school or give them an extra skill in the job market. Others who aren’t aware that they can graduate early or do not need to save money might take fun and perhaps useful classes just to fill up the slot.

AFAIK (as a high school student) college is an entire adventure in life, and unless you’re in a not great financial situation AND you’re smart enough to know how to graduate early, you would want to experience that entire adventure.

11
  1. Sometimes, it is passion for learning.
  2. Student may have a large 8 semester scholarship that means that graduating in fewer than 8 semesters does not save all that much money in school costs (although it would involve foregone work earnings if the student could start a job a semester early by graduating early).
  3. The credits exempted by AP credit may not add up to an semester's worth (which is 15-16 out of a total of 120-128 to graduate at schools that use the semester hour credit unit).
  4. The student's major has a large number of specified courses not covered by the AP credit, a long prerequisite sequence, or other requirements (e.g. a senior project sequence) that makes it difficult to graduate early even if s/he has more than enough credits.