Should Colleges and Universities limit the number of APs for college admisson?

Parent Cafe
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<p>marite,
thank you. you were able to put into words what i was having a hard time doing.</p>

<p>from marite....."But if a student wants to be sure of getting AP credit at some as yet unknown college and has limited space in his or her schedule, it would be wiser to take an AP in a core academic field--provided that the student has the aptitude for it--than something that many colleges will not grant credit for, eg. AP-American government."</p>

<p>it would seem to me also that it's the core subjects where there can sometimes be the most boredom, especially if there are state assessments. going over and over the material, again and again, and not moving at a faster pace, can be a real frustration for some high ability students.</p>

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<p>There is another consideration. Depending on the major, students may not find any value to having the AP credit even if available. S has putative AP credit that serves him no good end. His concentration combined with premed and some other interests means he needs more courses not fewer, and does not want to use AP for electives. Course wise, he will have enough credits to graduate at the end of his third year, but he is now fretting about how he is going to fit everything in he wants to study in four. Having the credits, and using them to good end, is something else that needs to be considered.</p>

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<p>Most med schools will not accept AP credit (chem, bio)unless you go on to take another year and lab on the same subject. Son's advisor strongly suggested that he not use AP physics credits (5,5)towards his major in physics.</p>

<p>However he was extremely well prepared for the college courses because of his AP classes and cruised through much of freshman year. High GPA and time to get adjusted to college were the benefits. Although he got a 5 in Calc bc and 800 m SAT he retook calc 2 and was really glad he did.</p>

<p>He was very happy to use AP credit to do away with a number of general ed. requirements though and it allowed him to complete the foreign lang. requirement before stepping into college. Now that was a huge savings.</p>

<p>So they all came in handy even if he didn't use them all when he got to school.</p>

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<p>^^^
Sax,
This is the approach my daughter's taking. She's a sophomore now. Her major will need the science courses, so she won't use the AP exemptions as she wants to take the college bio, chem, etc. However, after having high school bio, chem, physics, and AP Bio, Chem, Physics, Calc ... we hope this makes her classes much easier at the university. She's taking the AP psych, World and US history and art history ... to help fill in around the edges for gen ed requirements. If she doesn't take these classes, she's not taking the most rigorous available at her high school, and we figure ... it can only help her, plus ... the district pays all AP fees for students who've taken the classes.</p>

<p>Zebes</p>

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<p>Good article on the "Muddle on how to value Advanced Placement tests"</p>

<p>Here is a bit from the last part of the article:</p>

<p>
[quote]
....David Hornyak, director of advising for the Honors College at the University of Pittsburgh, said most of the time students with AP credits use them for flexibility to add other majors, not to get out of college early.</p>

<p>If a student is eligible for credits, it can be a tactical decision on whether to take them.</p>

<p>"If they are going to be a science major, I do not recommend that [taking the credits] to them," said Adele Selinger, who teaches AP biology and environmental science at Fox Chapel Area High School.</p>

<p>She said the first-level biology and chemistry courses are "where they set up their procedures, how a student is going to write a lab report, where you get the lab equipment, all the basics. If you take the second-level course, your professor is going to assume you know all the foundational stuff."....</p>

<p>Mark McCloskey, who teaches AP European history at Mt. Lebanon High School, said that for his history class, the college course may be redundant. "It's better to take advantage of it and get on to more focused studies."</p>

<p>Carolyn Stewart, who teaches computer science and calculus at Franklin Regional High School, said some students want to take the course in college anyway so they have one easier course on their plate and can keep a high grade point average.</p>

<p>But for her students in her calculus class, she said, "I would feel sad if they didn't skip at least one term of calculus because they've had so much and they're so good."

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<p><a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07126/783826-298.stm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07126/783826-298.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>I stumbled across this on the College Board site today. This index links to the A.P. credit policies at a large number of colleges and universities.</p>

<p><a href="http://apps.collegeboard.com/apcreditpolicy/index.jsp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://apps.collegeboard.com/apcreditpolicy/index.jsp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Hope this is of help.</p>

<p>But, as many people have noted in this thread, college credit and/or placement is just one of many reasons students should consider taking A.P. classes.</p>

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<p>mom2sons,</p>

<p>thanks for finding that link and sharing. i think it will be very helpful to many here on cc:)</p>

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<p>The school I may attend accepts 24 credit hours of AP's. The AP's count for graduation credit but do not replace requirements (that stinks). As a double major candidate that really will not help me much. The only true advantage for me is that I can take a more interesting class for example zoology instead of Bio since the AP does qualify as the prerequisite.</p>