<p>I know AP test scores are used for placement. What exactly does placement mean?</p>
<p>They can give you credit at college and are often used to put you in the correct level of course (even if you don't get credit). For example, I got a 5 on the AP BC Calc exam--when I go to college, I don't want to have to take 1st/2nd year calc over again. For classes like English, AP credit can allow you to avoid dreaded 101 lecture classes--classes that have 500+ kids and are (sometimes) just a rehash of what you already did in HS English. If you do end up at a college that gives AP credit, you can sometimes even graduate early, saving yourself big $, if that is your goal. It can pay off to check the AP policies of the colleges that you are interested in--if, for example, you find that a certain beloved college does not even recognize X AP exam, that's a pretty good indicator that X AP course is maybe not the first AP exam you want to run out and take.</p>