I am aware that some credits for HS AP tests (depending on the score one receives) will not count for UCs.
If I transfer to CC out of HS, will my AP test credits transfer to CC so that they will count when I get to UC?
I am aware that this may seem unclear, so I’ll explain it in another way: If I get a 3 on a certain AP test that UCs don’t accept, can I bypass this by going to a CC and then transferring to a UC. For example, a UC doesn’t accept a 3 in Calc 1 and I’m an engineering major, so I transfer to CC and take Calc 2, 3, 4. Will I need to retake Calc 1 at CC to transfer to a UC?
Calc 2 will resolve the Calc 1 issue as math is a validation subject - meaning Calc 2 implies you know Calc 1, so even if you didn’t take it, it is assumed you know it. So if you get into Calc 2, you’re good to go.
You will get the units for the AP course regardless. It’s just that it doesn’t always fulfill the subject part. For instance, if you completed precalc and the dept says AP Calc needs to be a 4 to fulfill Calc 1, you won’t have fulfilled it with a 3. But if you take Calc 2 anywhere it validates Calc 1, so the issue is irrelevant.
Page 18 of that document is under the “Freshman Admission” section, not the “Transfer Admission” section.
For transfer students, it is rather likely that the UC will want to see a high enough AP score by its own standards to be exempt from the course in question. If you are not sure, contact the UC and the department of your intended major.
I actually know the UC will honor the lower AP score accepted by a CCC for Calc 1 because my brother had this very issue. (Berkeley required a 4, he had a 3 required by CCC, and Berkeley accepted it.) But he went further up the Calc ladder.
And according to the UC’s own matrix, Calc 2 validates Calc 1 “even if not taken.”
Page 18 of that document refers to high school math courses, not college math courses, and in the context of “Freshman Admission”, not “Transfer Admission”. The OP should ask the UCs and the departments of his/her intended major to be sure.
Another thing the OP should check is how ready s/he really is to take the advanced placement. If AP credit allows skipping an introductory course, the OP should try the college’s old final exams of that introductory course to check his/her knowledge. Examples of old final exams at UCB: https://math.berkeley.edu/courses/archives/exams (1A is often allowed to be skipped with a 3 on AB or BC; 1B is often allowed to be skipped with a 5 on BC, but it depends on the major).