In general, the top schools in the country (I’m talking about HYPSM) are a lot less likely to give AP credit or as much AP credit as other schools, namely state schools. Let’s assume that this is an ideal world where I can go to any college I choose. Do I pick the Ivy League level education, or do I go for a more standard route in order to take advantage of this credit to earn my degree quicker along with some other useful perks? It just seems like a waste for me to spend hundreds of dollars on AP exams that I score high on just for them to be unusable. And it’s not like my alternative to HYPSM is that bad. In all likelihood it would be SUNY Stony Brook or SUNY Binghamton, both great schools that offer a whole lot more credit than those other ones. I just feel like I’d be missing out on a truly amazing education. So, what would you do?
Depends. Some people do education for the experience and don’t care whether or not they get AP credit. Some don’t need the economic advantage of spending less than four years in undergraduate school. It all depends on what your needs and beliefs are.
How about you wait until you have all your acceptances and financial aid packages on the table before you worry about this one?
Yeah, I agree that it depends on what your goals are for a college education. There are also some connections and benefits you can reap from going to a top school (if affordable) that I think are worth way more than some credits from AP.
Also, AP is not a waste if you don’t get the credits - it also prepares you really well for college by giving you a more rigorous courseload and broader knowledge. Even if you get a 3 on the calculus exam and don’t get the credit, you still know calculus a lot better than someone who never took it.
It’s a good idea to see what shakes out in the application process before you get too worried about it, but I don’t think it hurts to consider the issue to a certain degree. For example, when I talked to my son about his dual enrollment credits he basically gave me the impression that - if the majority of his DE credits don’t transfer - then the the school is off the table of options.
So . . . I’m not pushing him as hard to apply to “elites” where transfer credit policies (at least for dual enrollment) are not as generous.
If it were ME as a student - I’d leave all the credits on the table (gladly!) and go to that elite school. But I LOVE school just for the sake of going! 
My son has a more practical mindset.
There is pretty widespread agreement (and growing consensus) that the AP classes are not the same as college classes. They are advanced high school classes. For students who attend college with the goal of taking advantage of everything a college has to offer, and stretching him/her self as much as possible, the best way to view APs are as good high school classes. Instead of “getting credit” for them and skipping additional opportunities to be educated, simply use them to start at a higher level or to ensure you are prepared for a college level class in that same topic. Shaving off a year by using AP credits seems to me to be cheating yourself of an entire year of college. Wouldn’t you want to be an entire year better at what you are doing?
While the format of AP courses is that of high school (as opposed to college), the material may overlap with frosh-level college courses, depending on the specific course, high school, and college. If the college allows advanced placement with an AP score that the student has, it would be a good idea for a student who wants to continue to more advanced courses to try the college’s old final exams for the course that may be skipped to see if s/he knows the material well by the college’s standards. There is no reason to waste time and tuition repeating what one already knows well, but one should be sure that one knows the material well before going on to a more advanced course.
Remember, lots of students have tight enough financial constraints that make graduating a semester early or avoiding graduating a semester late a significant factor in college affordability. Actually, avoiding graduating a semester late may be the bigger financial factor, since semesters beyond 8 may be significantly more expensive due to scholarships ending and/or financial aid getting worse. Remember also that shaving off a year of college with AP scores shaves off the frosh-level stuff; the student still needs to complete the junior/senior level course work that is the most important part of the bachelor’s degree and where attending a four year school provides most of its added value academically (frosh-level courses are commonly available at low cost at community colleges). So a student who does use AP scores to graduate early is only losing the lower academic value part of attending a four year school; s/he will still experience the higher added academic value in junior/senior level course work.
In the absence of such financial constraints, the use of AP scores to take advanced placement in a course sequence (contingent on verification with the college’s old final exams of the course to be skipped) or fulfill side requirements (e.g. general chemistry for a non-chemical/biomedical engineering major) can allow the student extra schedule space to take free electives, which can include either additional advanced courses in his/her major (i.e. more opportunities for breadth or depth within the major), or additional out-of-major courses of interest (i.e. more opportunities to get a broader education generally, or get additional depth in an out-of-major subject).
For students with severe financial constraints it could be. Or those focused on a particular area of study that is strong at their flagship. Or on an area of study that doesn’t vary hugely college to college (seems like bio & engineering might fit that).
I understand that shaving off a year can save money. But that does not make me think it is a good idea. Using APs tl to enable students to take more advanced classes seems like a good idea to me. Using it to shave off a year does not. I am not suggesting that students re-take the material that they have already taken-whether that material was taken a as an honors, AP or regular class. Depending upon the topic, there is bound to be some overlap in content. That does not mean those high school classes were really college classes. Rather, to ensure those with no background can still study any topic, some colleges offer courses at a very low level-assuming no background. Many students will be able to start at a higher level then the very basic-regardless of how they acquired the foundation. Hopefully most students will start at reasonable levels in most topics and will strive to master as much as possible. There is a reason those better schools tend to try to ensure students attend the full 4 years of college.
My advice is to try for the really truly amazing education rather than the efficient and truncated one. If you can’t afford that, then that is another story. But that was the question asked by the OP and that is my opinion.
I agree to a large extent with @lostaccount. I am a big believer of college students following the recommended course curriculum and not skipping courses due to AP credits, especially in highly competitive schools and/or majors. I have mentioned this on my other posts as well.
An anecdotal example. My D2 is a Sophomore at GTech planning to major in ChemE. She has followed the full recommended course curriculum including taking courses such as Calc I and II. She “goofed” off her first summer break - worked at Dunkins and took some overseas trips. During this Fall Career Fair at GTech she applied for a few Summer 2016 Internships. I was under the impression that she will find it tougher to land one despite her very high GPA as her competition already had some work experience and more advanced courses under their belt. Within a week, she has landed all the 3 Internships she had interviewed for. One of the companies that has made her the offer - $25/hr, travel, accommodation and commute expenses paid and that too in Houston!
My main advise to my Ds in college - do well and enjoy college life !
How about using it to double major? Our son’s passion is cinema (writing about movies, not making them). He wants to major in film studies. He’s also very, very good at math. A second Bachelor’s in math sure wouldn’t hurt.
“… it would be a good idea for a student who wants to continue to more advanced courses to try the college’s old final exams for the course that may be skipped to see if s/he knows the material well by the college’s standards.”
Where an HYPS institution has said an AP score of ‘4’ or ‘5’ will exempt a student from two levels of study in a course of study, and my child has scored a ‘5’, I would not even consider having her take the college’s old exams, or be concerned about her fit for the level of study which finds she would now be “advanced”. I have to believe the institution has thought this process out, and has deemed it feasible.
I do hear the sound reasoning of your statement, but moving along in coursework, which then does free you to more readily explore courses within a major, or tangential to one’s major course of study, is excited and feeds the interest of the student who worked so hard to get there. They can once again be excited about study, as they feel the reward of the previous years’ work expanding the palate of options for them.
My kids got lots of AP credits, but they had no intention of graduating early. They used the “free space” in their schedules to add in classes “for interest” and for a couple of minors.
Some students do double majors, which can be a very good option if one of your major interests isn’t one that lends well to employment. So it can be a win/win…getting to major in a beloved subject, but also major in a subject that is more marketable. And if you’re really lucky, the combo can mean a career that includes both!
This is my daughters exactly.