<p>So I intend to do pre-med at UMCP, majoring in either bioengineering, cell biology & genetics, or biochem (I am aware of the LEP status of some of these). I would like to skip as many CORE classes as possible and only take courses that are directly correlated with my field of study (sorry, I'm narrow-minded like that). How far could I get ahead/skip with these AP scores:</p>
<p>Comp Sci AB: 5
English Lang: 4
Calc BC: 5
Spanish Lang: 5
World History: 5
US Govt. & Politics: 5
Physics C: Mech - 4
Physics C: E/M - 5
Biology: 5
(and one's that I'm taking this year, hoping for all 5's)
Chemistry
Psychology
Macroecon
Microecon
English Literature
Enviromental Science
European History
Statistics</p>
<p>I think you will still have to take some classes for CORE but taking all of those will really help if you want to get into courses related to pre-med earlier. here is a chart that tells you what APs give you CORE credit [Transfer</a> Credit Center | Advanced Placement Exams (AP)](<a href=“http://www.tce.umd.edu/apchart.html]Transfer”>http://www.tce.umd.edu/apchart.html). I hope that helps</p>
<p>UMD is really good about AP credits, but once you go through the chart that zman posted the link to, you can really get specific. There are only a few that don’t transfer, and with some, they are very generous about what you get…it took a lot of pressure off D last year to realize that getting a 4 or a 5 on a couple of her AP exams senior year didn’t matter… she would get the same credit either way.</p>
<p>My son has signed for Orientation on June 7,8. His AP exam reults would not be known by then. Since he is supposed to sign up for freshman courses on Orientation day, he would have to sign up for courses which he could skip if he met UMD requirements. </p>
<p>He doesn’t want to go to a later Orientation as that would mean would have fewer choices.</p>
<p>When I went to Orientation, I didn’t know all my AP scores yet. What happened was that my adviser and I went through and I did my best guess on what scores I would get, and didn’t sign up for courses that I would probably test out of. When I met with her later in the fall semester, we checked what scores I expected versus those that I received.</p>
<p>What if you’re in honors/gemstone? Do people in those programs have to go to earlier orientations for good courses, or do the special programs guarantee them spots in classes?</p>
<p>the honors courses will have slots open all summer, your orientation date won’t matter, however, the rest are first come first serve … </p>
<p>Also, you mentioned you were pre-med. Even though UMd is very generous with AP credit, this says nothing about medical school. Some of them have course requirements that do not include AP credit …</p>
<p>@AKABANROSH: Have him sign up for Core requirements that he needs but won’t get AP credit for. DS did this and squared away a lot of Core like his diversity requirement. His AP were pretty much all science and math so this worked for him. Also if he’s in a special program, he’ll have some classes already determined, like the LEPs have their requirements plus he’ll have University 101.</p>
<p>Rishi, go to the Honors College website to check which courses have H-versions.</p>
<p>Also, if you go to an early orientation before you get your scores, you can pick your classes, and then once you get your scores, you can change your classes from home without consulting an advisor if things change.</p>
<p>No, I’d say stick with the earlier Orientation. If he tests out, he can always change his classes in the first two weeks of school. That worked well for my son both semesters. He can also qualify out of classes based on his SAT scores, I believe. Even in Mech. Eng. he’s going to need to take Core classes like Diversity and he’ll be able to register for those early which is an advantage for the most popular classes.</p>
<p>^I’m pretty sure he will be able to sign up based on his score predictions, or simply go for signing up for those classes that aren’t affected either way.</p>
<p>Haha, yeah, I’m going to have to agree with the first post. Go to the website and see what courses you test out of. Then compare that with your CORE requirements (also online).</p>
<p>I had less AP credits and only took 1 CORE class I believe. I was ahead by about a year. However, the CORE requiements have changed for incoming freshmen.</p>
<p>Additionally, depending on your major, you may not be able to count your AP credits - ex. if you are in engineering, AP physics doesn’t mean anything and you have to take physics again anyway. If you are in engineering you may have to take more humanities/social sciences based CORE…I did not because I was a humanities major so those CORE requirements just overlapped with major requirements.</p>
<p>Actually, Engineering will not allow you to sign up for math classes based on score predictions (I was an engineering OA), BUT you can just go home (or to McKeldin) and change it after Orientation. Don’t tell them I told you that. </p>
<p>Also, AP Physics does count if it’s AP Physics C (the one with calculus)–I got 8 credits and was allowed to take PHYS271, which is Physics III. Physics B gets you nothing.</p>
<p>^Mmmm…yeah the people I know took AP Physics C. I’m specifically thinking of an electrical engineering major who is a junior now…are you in a different major or did the requirements possibly change?</p>
<p>Hm yeah looking at the website it seems to count for 260…Hmm…I’ll have to ask her to get to the bottom of it. She also mentioned the engineering major only allowing her to put a certain number of credits towards the degree, and she went over, so perhaps she applied other ap credits somewhere and not physics? Though that doesn’t make much sense.</p>
<p>I’m going to be staying in the US for the summer and working, but I’ll have evenings off. Do you think it would be a good idea to maybe take a course at the local community college to try to get something from CORE out of the way (like an English or history class that is not covered by my AP’s)? Or something like Multivariable Calc or Differential Equations (I took these in my high school in junior year, so I was thinking of taking them in the CC to get college credit and for review, plus some med schools like students who know some additional math). Your thoughts?</p>
<p>excellent idea, Rishi. As long as you are not a math major, a lot of people say that taking the required math classes at a CC is a good thing. It seems like the majority of math courses at UMD are a lot of work. For some, the material may not be difficult, it’s just that you ALWAYS have math homework. On UMD’s website for transferring credit, there is a way to tell if the specific course that you’re considering at a specific cc will transfer (and what corresponding course # at UMD matches).</p>