I have already read through the available information on Duke’s website regarding AP credits, but I have a more specific question about credit for English courses. Duke states that AP English exams (both Lit and Lang) do not exempt freshman from introductory writing. I got a 5 on AP English Lit last year and was wondering if there is a point taking the AP English Lang test this year. I already have other AP credits to drop the total requirement from 34 to 32. I do not see any point in taking it, but would like to double check with someone who is more knowledgeable. Help would be very much appreciated.
Well you could still take the AP exam, but it just means you would have to take a different class to fulfill the ALP (arts, literature, performance) requirement.
The writing class is a requirement for all Trinity students regardless of what ALP requirement you take. Duke only allows transfer of credit for 2 classes. So the benefit of taking the AP test is that you could skip to a higher level class instead of taking an intro level class.
The credit you get at Duke for AP English Lit and Language are English 20 and English 22…which are not courses at Duke and simply say “AP Lit” or “AP Lang.” So, they don’t let you skip anything to go to a higher level class. You just get credit for AP English and can use it to fulfill requirements if you so choose. So, yeah, if you’re going to choose other AP credits over the English, then no point…unless they all appear on your transcript and you like the visual of it? (I don’t think they do though). As a Pratt student, all my AP credits showed up on the transcript, but there is no limit of credits in Pratt. And not like employers/grad schools will be impressed by seeing AP English on your transcript anyways.
Thanks for the clarification! I managed to get in contact with a current Duke student through some family friends and he also told me there was no point in taking the AP English test if I will fulfill the 2 credits with other classes.
On a similar note, the website states that getting a 5 on AP Stats for Trinity students (I am Trinity) gives credit for STA 30 and places me into STA 101 or 102. Wouldn’t I be placed into STA 101 regardless of whether or not I got a 5 on the AP Stats test since it is an intro course? Thank you very much for all the help.
https://advising.duke.edu/sites/advising.duke.edu/files/placementguidelines_0.pdf - see page 10 specifically for stats.
In the past, there used to be a placement exam in order to register for Stat 101 and 102, but if you got a 5 on the Stats AP, you didn’t have to take the test. The placement exam, I heard, was really basic and was more to prevent overqualified students from taking Stat 30 for an easy grade rather than keep people out of 101/102. According to the PDF above, it seems like that’s no longer the case and the AP test won’t really benefit you.
The 1 caveat I would put here is if you are pre-med, it is possible for medical schools that require statistics to accept that AP credit later on in the road, but it’s hard to think that far. As far as pre-med reqs go, stats is not a hard pill to swallow at all, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.