My Daughter is a HS senior and she is current taking AP Chem and AP Literature. Should she take the AP tests for both courses or not bother with it since she may have to take them again in college as she plans to study in pre-med track.
Thanks in advance for the advices.
Look at the schools curriculum or talk to a counselor. Sometimes they can use them for elective credits.
For most students, it is better to have the AP score and the option to use it or not when one gets to college.
However, pre-med is a special case in that if the student retakes the college course after getting credit for an AP score, “repeat” must be marked on the medical school application when reporting the course. This obviously does not look good.
some colleges, like Rice, encourage students to re-take the first year premed science sequence courses. Cornell require student to re-take the year sequence Biology, even credits are granted to non-bio major.
Having AP score and credits and re-take in college is not a big deal to Med School Application.
And if one takes AP Physics 1,2, there is no point to take the AP exam as your school may require Calculus base Physics courses for science and engineering majors.
With or without AP Chem taken or score available, she may need to take placement assessment in summer ans the advisor will recommend her which sequence ( or honors) to take, or by pass General Chemistry to Organic Chem.
It is quite common in top schools.
For math, she already took AP Cal bc and AP Stats tests. Should she retake Cal 1 in college ?
Thank you all for great info.
I would recommend taking the tests. My daughter received college credit for her AP classes with scores of 4 or 5
For premed, if her major does not require higher Math, she can take Intro Stat or Stat for Bio/Psyc. Better take Stat course than rely on AP stat credit, esp she has Math credits fulfilled.
here is how Wash U St Louis Chemistry dept describe AP Chem vs College General Chem:
Fundamental concepts form the foundation for both university chemistry and high school AP chemistry. However, at a university, the concepts are explored in greater depth. The difficulty of the problems you will be asked to solve and the number of logical or mathematical steps required for the final solution are also more complex. In most high-school chemistry courses, solutions to problems are straightforward, requiring the application of an equation, formula, or definition in order to reach a correct solution. On the other hand, problems given in university courses are more typical of those seen in the real life of a practicing scientist, physician, or engineer, where problems often require a number of calculation steps, the ability to separate necessary from extraneous data, and the proper linkage of multiple concepts. In practice, scientific problems are not always clear cut. They require practitioners to have command of a broad range of concepts, to get to the essence of the problem (sometimes separating out extraneous data), and to make and execute a successful plan of attack. The emphasis at the university level is on the development of these real-world skills.
For AP Lit, some schools only give credit to AP Lang or AP Lit, not both. If she attends state univ, she may get lot of AP credits. If she goes to top elite schools, she may not be able get credits.
I knew student get 30 AP credits but still took 4 years to graduate. That translates to no actual saving in tuition.
Has she decided where to go or does she have a school in mind? You should be able to find the info and make the right decision. It doesn’t hurt to take the exams if she can get 4 or 5 for sure. Likely she ends up retake lot of science sequence courses.
Not all medical schools require calculus and/or statistics. But if one does, she can take calculus 3 to have a calculus course in college without having to repeat her AP credit or look like a grade-grubber. (Calculus 3 would presumably be required for her major anyway if it is math, statistics, physics, chemistry, or any engineering major, but not likely if it is biology or most social science or humanities (economics may require calculus 3 at some colleges).)
Statistics for sciences may be recommended or required; this is often a more advanced calculus-based statistics course, so it would not be a repeat of AP statistics.
It really depends on the college. Once you know what the colleges want and offer in return for AP credit, you can decide what the return on investment will be.
D18 took AP tests prior to senior year, but did not take AP tests senior year. One teacher told her they thought she would easily get a 5 and they let her know they wouldn’t be happy if she decided not to take it. She decided that the stress and cost outweighed any benefit offered by the schools she was accepted to. She did what made sense for her.
I’d recommend she take all the ones that she feels comfortable with. She should have a pretty good idea of which those are because most AP classes do a lot of drill with actual past AP test questions.
She doesn’t have to submit her scores to any university that she doesn’t want to. They don’t automatically get the scores you have to specifically request that they get sent. And you can do it after the fact. She is a senior so it will make zero difference on her college admissions. But she has the scores in her back pocket should they be of value to the school she ends up attending.
Thank you all for great advices.
I will ask her to take the tests (AP Chem, AP Lit) in May. She will need to talk to college advisor of the school that she will attend in the Fall. So at this point, we will just wait. 
Thanks again for all your help.
I would take the tests. Even if the current college doesn’t give credit, students often transfer to other colleges with different rules, or change majors. You never know what will be most useful.
@ucbalumnus Are you saying that just taking the AP test is a problem for med school apps, or only if the student takes college credit for the course and then also takes it again in college?
Taking the test can provide good review of the courses, that can be helpful moving into college. However, my son did not take AP Lang test since his college would not give him credit for it. Seemed like a waste of money and study time.
Page 33 of https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/8d/5d/8d5dfefb-617f-41fa-97e5-4e934cc644c4/final_amcas_2021_applicant_guide_42220.pdf says that “If you take a college-level course for which you already have been granted AP credit by the same institution, AMCAS considers the course a Repeat. For example, if you received AP credit for your AP Psychology course and took an Introduction to Psychology course at the same undergraduate institution, you should list Introduction to Psychology as a Repeat.”
I am with a few of the posters here. My DS(3) did not take many APs their senior year. The only caveat - if it is a subject that they can get full credit for at the admitted college. I would not spend the $90 nor the time to prepare if it will not get you anything in return.
As to the Medschool and repeat question - not my area of expertise. I would recommend your Daughter discuss it with an adviser at a college she is accepted to.
Thank you all for great advices/suggestions. My daughter is going to take the tests for AP Chem. and AP Lit in May. I’m sure she will need to talk to college advisor of the school she would attend to see whether she can use AP scores for credits or not report them at all.
Thanks !
take them. she may still be able to use them. plus she did the class all year, so what’s one more test.
Thanks. No harm in taking the tests then. The med school info doesn’t say that if you take an AP class in HS and don’t take college credit, it would be considered a re-take. If she has to take the college version of a course, then don’t request AP credit from the college for that course.