<p>I am a senior and am planning to attend the University of Rochester.
I already signed up for US Government, World History, Calculus AB, and Psychology. Is there a point in taking these exams since those classes aren't required for Rochester? Plus, I don't think I'll need the credits because I am doing premed with a double major: biology and economics, so I think I'll have enough credits to graduate after 4 years. Should I just take two, one, or none?
btw: one of the premed requirements is a year of Calculus.
Please help me before it's too late to get the 65 dollar refund for each exam.</p>
<p>Well… in my opinion, you never know when you’ll need the credits or when they might be useful. And there’s no point not taking the exam after a year/semester’s worth of class. You know what I mean? Unless money is a huge issue for you, it doesn’t hurt taking the those exams.</p>
<p>Many kids change their majors after the first semester. You may find yourself to be one of them, and then perhaps the credits from the AP exam will help you. Suppose you decide not to major in bio, but switch to psych or chem? Or even history? (Remember that the president of Rochester started college as a chem major and graduated a philosopher.)</p>
<p>You may regret in the future not having those credits.</p>
<p>I’d second what everyone is saying - go ahead and take the tests, you never know what the future will bring or how they’ll come in handy. The only one my son is thinking about skipping is Human Geography, because Rochester doesn’t seem to give any credit for it, and it’s on the same day as the Latin test, so he may be better of begin fresh for Latin.</p>
<p>At least take the Calc. If you are doing econ, you will be required to take at least 2 semesters of calculus. Also a number of medical schools require 1 semester of calculus for admission. (Harvard requires 2 semesters.)</p>
<p>Taking the Calc AB exam will get you advanced standing if you score well enough. (4 or 5) You can skip the first semester of calc and head into the second, thus opening up space in your schedule freshman year to take something else. (And freshman year will be a busy, busy year–Bio, chem, math, econ, freshman writing. You’ll want the space.)</p>
<p>BTW, medical schools seldom accept AP scores in lieu of actual university grades on a transcript–with exception of Calc AB.</p>
<p>As for the rest–it’s up to you. But who knows what will be important to you in the future. </p>
<p>My D didn’t take the exams for most of her senior year APs (physics C, Spanish–she did take English Lang, but without studying for it) and a number of other parents at her high school called me a bad parent for not making her do so. But she was away on her senior project for all of April and only got back 2 days before the exams were scheduled. She rock climbed all over some of the best rock faces in the Rockies and got certified as lead climber. She spent 3 1/2 weeks camping without electricity or running water. (No bathing at all! That’s dedication.) She felt that those particular APs would not be beneficial to her at UR. (As a pre-med, she has to take physics again anyway.) And I supported her. </p>
<p>Would I have made her take the APs had she been home instead of away? Spanish, probably; physics, no.</p>
<p>Demonhunter, when D and I visited colleges last year, she was told by Dean of Biology of another campus that alot of graduate schools like to see you take the classes at the collegiate level even if you place out of them with high AP scores because all high schools teach the classes at varying levels even though it is to be taught at a collegiate level. I don’t know what UR’s policy is on this. If you are planning on going to grad school, you might want to investigate that with some colleges to see what their policy is. D is a physics major. She took AP exam in US History, Physics and French. She isn’t required to take any history or french courses at UR and she isn’t planning to take a cluster in them so I don’t know if the the AP credits are even worth anything. She didn’t take AP Exam for calculus or writing. D chose to take the Honors classes of calculus and physics rather than skip over them.</p>
<p>I agree with you WayOutWestMom. D was so overloaded studying for her AP classes and then AP exams that she didn’t get to enjoy her last few months of being a senior. In addition, during her AP French exam, the teacher talked the entire time on her cell phone to someone in italian, and my daughter who was sitting right in front of the teacher couldn’t hear clearly the audio from her headphones and didn’t score too high on the test. It was very frustrating and a waste of time and money to say the least!</p>
<p>Like perhaps you get to the U of R and don’t like it, want to transfer, find another school that has distribution requirements (i.e. study across the curriculum) and those AP credits can count towards those other areas of the curriculum outside your major. (This is true at SUNY schools, for instance.) Or perhaps you like U of R but fall ill and cannot complete all your course work in a given semester and would like to graduate on time anyway and can plug in an AP credit or two so you do not fall behind. Since you sat through the courses, you might as well take the tests. If you never need/never use the AP credit, you won’t be out much except the time to take the tests and the fees charged.</p>
<p>Actually, I’m pretty sure you can’t use AP credits to count towards the number of credit hours required for graduation at UR. </p>
<p>AP credit is used for placement only by most departments.</p>
<p>I know for a fact you can’t use AP credits to count toward minor or cluster requirements. And both the econ and bio departments do not allow the use of AP credits to meet departmental graduation requirements.</p>
<p>You’re usually right, WOWM, but the AP page says: “Such course credit may be used toward meeting degree requirements.”</p>
<p>My advice on AP exams is that unless you have a real need for the $65 in your pocket or think you’ll bomb out, then they can’t hurt you. You’re already in college. You may use the credits or not.</p>
<p>that’s crazy our school pays for all of our AP tests unless you sign up and don’t take it (in which case you have to pay the 65 bucks)</p>
<p>AP credits cannot be used for your major… they can be used for electives, or to be placed out of Psych 101 for example… in our high school not an option, you register for an AP class, you sign contract and are required to take the exam…for those who cannot afford the cost, guidance deals with waivers of exam fees.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes, they can be, depending on the score and the department. My d is a psych major. Not only did her 5 on AP Psych place her out of 101, it gave her 4 credits which are used both for graduation and to count towards the major. A 4 also gets you credit; a 3 on just places you out of Psych 101, but does not give you the credits.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Departmental criteria are established each year to determine how credit or placement may be granted to students who take the Advanced Placement tests which are usually given during the student’s senior year in high school. Such course credit may be used toward meeting degree requirements.<a href=“emphasis%20added”>/quote</a>
[Advanced</a> Placement Credit : Center for Academic Support](<a href=“http://www.rochester.edu/college/ccas/AdviserHandbook/AP.html]Advanced”>Advanced Placement : Advising Handbook : College Center for Advising Services : University of Rochester)</p>
<p>Does anyone know whether there’s a maximum for the number of AP credits granted in Rochester?</p>
<p>I think you’ll find this site useful: [Advanced</a> Placement Credit : Center for Academic Support](<a href=“http://www.rochester.edu/college/CCAS/AdviserHandbook/AP.html]Advanced”>Advanced Placement : Advising Handbook : College Center for Advising Services : University of Rochester)</p>
<p>I don’t think there is a maximum number of AP credits granted, but you could always call and ask the experts at the Center for Academic Support!</p>
<p>It’s not something you should be worrying about now. As I said above, unless you need the $65 or think you’ll bomb an exam, just take them and see what happens. There is no pressure.</p>
<p>Wow - AP’s are $86 in our state!</p>
<p>Oh, what the hell. I’ve decided to take all the AP exams. </p>
<p>The cost for us is also $86 per test, however, we can get a $65 dollar refund if we decide not to take it</p>
<p>It’s the same price, same policy everywhere. College Board runs the show. </p>
<p>Good luck. Remember, there’s no pressure.</p>
<p>My daughter also had a 4 on AP Psych and so placed out of Psych 101, unfortunately that did not mean that she only had to take 2 classes to complete a Psych cluster. She still needed to take three to complete a cluster. All her History AP and US Govt went to electives-could not be used for clusters either… she is graduating with a zillion credits …</p>