<p>I posted this before, but I believe this question should be in a separate thread.</p>
<p>Apparently Princeton lets you skip sophomore year if you maintain a B avg frosh year and have 8 AP units. The 8 AP units can be earned by, for example, getting 5's on AP calc bc, chem, physics, microecon, and comp sci.</p>
<p>But how is it that a student can trade in 5 AP courses for a whole year of Princeton courses (typically 8-10)?</p>
<p>"But how is it that a student can trade in 5 AP courses for a whole year of Princeton courses (typically 8-10)?"
Beats me. Is this exemption listed in any of the school's official webpages or documentation? A reference would be helpful tsunashima.</p>
<p>But why would anyone want to skip a year of Princeton anyway? :p</p>
<p>"Is this exemption listed in any of the school's official webpages or documentation? "</p>
<p>I got the info from Princeton's advanced placement guide that we received in the acceptance package:</p>
<p>"1. Requirements for graduation in three years....
...
B.S.E. candidates need eight advanced placement units, among them two in physics, two in mathematics, and one in either chemistry or computer science."</p>
<p>A.B. candidates also need 8 AP units, except not necessarily in those areas mentioned above.</p>
<p>According to the AP Credit chart in the same guide:</p>
<p>Comp Sci AB (5 score) - 1 unit
Calc BC (4 score) - 2 units
Chemistry (5 score) - 2 units
Physics (4 score on both sections) - 2 units
Microeconomics (5 score) - 1 unit</p>
<p>... which means I'm eligible if I get 5's on just these 5 exams.</p>
<p>Princeton says 8 AP units are equivalent to 8 Princeton courses, but that confuses me. I don't think these exams are even nearly as hard as the Princeton finals.</p>
<p>"But why would anyone want to skip a year of Princeton anyway?"</p>
<p>If I were affluent I'd stay another year, but I have to worry about saving money for graduate school :/</p>
<p>
[quote]
Princeton says 8 AP units are equivalent to 8 Princeton courses, but that confuses me. I don't think these exams are even nearly as hard as the Princeton finals.
[/quote]
Yeah. Sounds strange to me too. You could miss an entire year based on those AP's alone?! Does anyone have a clearer explanation of this...
Or maybe you could email the admissions office and ask?</p>
<p>
[quote]
"But why would anyone want to skip a year of Princeton anyway?"</p>
<p>If I were affluent I'd stay another year, but I have to worry about saving money for graduate school :/
[/quote]
Heh. I've heard this one. Seems to be the common reason. But gradschools have aid, right? just like Princeton has aid for undergrads.</p>
<p>grad schools probably prefer students who have had a solid college education with challenging college courses (as we all know, APs may not have the same rigor) and without exemptions from the core college courses.</p>
<p>I wouldn't do it, even if I wasn't going to grad school. I don't understand the ap thing much either. grad school fin. aid is totally different, much more mimimal than undergrad</p>
<p>Looks like gianievve lost her "Information on Advanced Placement and Advanced Standing" pamphlet in her acceptance package. :)</p>
<p>Tsunashima, I think that you are better off directing this question to the Princeton adcoms. They will have information on the success/failure of advanced standing and will be able to provide more details of the difference in contents between AP courses and the Princeton equivalence.</p>
<p>Grad school FinAid is mostly loans.</p>
<p>super! then skipping a year seems to be the best solution.</p>
<p>but then you would get less time at pton</p>
<p>For some people, the benefits of saving 20K outweigh the benefits of an extra year at Pton.</p>