<p>I recently looked up Princeton's AP and previous college credit policies. While Princeton is quite generous with their AP credit, they say that you have to take test out exams to get credit for any previous college courses. I have taken quite a few college courses and am not sure that I would want to take that many tests. Is there any process by which Princeton would automatically place me into higher courses based on what I've already done (without me having to take the tests)? Also, is there any advantage to accruing all this credit up front? Is it advisable to take a year abroad, get a master's in four years, or graduate in three? Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>"Is there any process by which Princeton would automatically place me into higher courses based on what I've already done (without me having to take the tests)?"</p>
<p>As far as I'm aware, the answer is no. </p>
<p>"Also, is there any advantage to accruing all this credit up front?"</p>
<p>It is if you're looking to take more advanced classes earlier in your college career. </p>
<p>"Is it advisable to take a year abroad?"</p>
<p>Always. You learn things out of the classroom while you're abroad that you'll never learn if you play it safe and stay home. And Princeton realizes this -- there are high-level discussions going on about how to guarantee that eventually, every Princeton undergrad will have some sort of international experience. </p>
<p>"get a master's in four years?"</p>
<p>I may be wrong, but I don;t believe this is possible at Princeton.</p>
<p>"or graduate in three?" </p>
<p>Unless staying for four years would be an unbearable financial burden -- unlikely at P'ton, because if this were the case, your FA package would be pretty great -- why on earth would you want to give up a year with this peer group and these resources at your fingertips? This wouldn't make any sense to me. It would be complicated, too, because of the required junior and senior independent work.</p>
<p>DD took Multivariable calculus at the local U her senior year in high school. She also took the AP Calc BC exam. She had the transcript sent and her Princeton advisor gave her the option of taking Math 201 or Math 203. She chose math 203 and I think had a few regrets. Her assumption is the only people who take 203 as freshman are really smart math majors and really stupid engineering majors :). </p>
<p>You can have transcripts sent and evaluated by your advisor for placement purposes. But make sure you investigate course content and pace as courses at Princeton, even with similar titles, move faster and are much harder than many community (or bigger) colleges.</p>
<p>You can easily get into whatever class you want, whether or not you've taken the ap tests/the college classes. Princeton believes that you can tell what class you feel that you are ready for, it is up to you to make sure that you don't get in over your head. For example, I took Calc AB in high school and got a 4 on the AP exam, technically placing me out of Mat 103. I should have had to take Mat 104, but I took a lot of physics my freshman year, and so I decided to take Mat 201 (multivariable) instead, skipping Mat 104. Prereqs are just guidlines, saying what prior knowledge will be expected of you. </p>
<p>For actual credit, however, you are unlikely to receive it unless you've taken the AP test (or IB). Unless you want to graduate a semester/year early, it shouldn't matter at all.</p>
<p>I don't think that there is any way to get a master in 4 years, as the vast majority of princeton's graduate programs are not masters programs, but rather phd programs. Also, you would have to write your jps in your sophomore year, and your thesis your senior year, which is not easy. Studying abroad would be fun though</p>
<p>Is there any reason NOT to use AP credit? Like are the lower level classes at Princeton more in depth than high school courses? Or do people ever just feel like they need to review the course before at the Pton level before taking higher level classes?</p>
<p>Well, it depends. If you took an AP exam in freshman year, and if it was in a topic that you don't really use very frequently (art history, for example), you may not remember everything you learned, thus making the higher level course much harder than it would normally be. </p>
<p>Not all AP classes are as in-depth as we are led to believe. Many people have told me that college psychology and AP psychology are very different. Then again, I don't know any of this from personal experience, but I think it's highly possible.</p>
<p>Thanks! Yeah that's why I was wondering if not using the credit might be a good idea; I'm scared that college classes will be much more intense. Although if the credit goes towards your major maybe it is more beneficial to get ahead in taking your required classes.. I don't know.</p>
<p>OH and I have a question about languages. I don't think I will place out of the language requirement (I couldn't fit AP Spanish into my scedule this year and I'm only in Latin III) so I guess I'll have to take a language... but how many semesters will I have to take? I would like to continue Latin, but I've never heard anything about Latin classes at Princeton (even though I've heard about Chinese, for example). there is Latin at Princeton, right? thanks!!</p>
<p>Kraor,</p>
<p>Latin falls under the aegis of the</a> Classics department.</p>
<p>As to the language requirement, see the undergraduate</a> announcement:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Foreign language study is required through successful completion of courses numbered 107 (or 108) in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, modern or classical Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Persian, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, or Turkish if taken at Princeton, or through demonstration of an equivalent level of competence. When an undergraduate begins a language at Princeton, three or four terms of study will usually be necessary. If continuing a language begun elsewhere, the student is placed at an appropriate level. At the end of any term beyond the first, a student may take a departmentally administered test and may thereby fulfill the language requirement.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>ahh I see. thanks so much! Did you take a placement test? I'm wondering how hard they are/how many classes at Princeton I'd have to take before I'd be prepared for the test.</p>
<p>I'm a member of '11, like you, so I'm afraid I can't tell you much about the placement tests.</p>
<p>Ohhh whoops sorry... I definitely knew that... you applied early, right? congrats haha :D and thanks for all the info</p>
<p>Thanks. No problem.</p>
<p>The language placement tests are extremely easy to sign up for. You'll get directions over the summer. Most include an oral interview with the department.</p>
<p>If you go to Princeton and start a new language, it's typically takes 4 semesters to fulfill the language requirement. Now there are many variations. Some people take these courses over two years. Others take two courses freshman year and then finish their language requirement by studying abroad over the summer (Princeton in Beijing, Princeton in Russia, etc.)</p>
<p>sry, i'm confused. you can get actual credit for scoring well on the AP/IB exam? i thought good scores simply place you into higher level courses. for example, i scored 5s on AP Calc AB and BC. i could use that to take more advanced math courses, but do the AP scores rid me of having to fulfill my math requirements if i do not want to continue taking math at Princeton?</p>
<p>Sarah,</p>
<p>You get advanced standing credit from AP/IB scores, enough of which could allow you to graduate early (in 3 or 3 1/2 years). However, with two exceptions*, the distribution requirements remain the same no matter how much advanced standing credit you receive. So your math scores will grant you credit toward early graduation, but you will still have to satisfy the quantitative reasoning distribution requirment.</p>
<p>*The foreign language requirement, as noted previously in the thread, can be satisfied by AP credit. Some AP science credit can also modify the science distribution requirement, allowing you to take one lab science (ST) and one non-lab science (STX) rather than two lab sciences.</p>
<p>nice to know. I don't have to stress over aps. : )</p>