<p>My situation: I excelled in high school on my standardized testing (including APs). My schedule is already made up. And due to this, I will not be in any of the intro classes for my major. Instead, I'll be in a higher level (sophomore/junior) class. </p>
<p>Has anyone here had experience with getting out of the intro classes and going into a harder class? Is it bad? Should I not use my AP credits towards these classes?</p>
<p>The only thing is that if I don't, I'll be bored out of my mind in these intros...</p>
<p>I don’t know if these math courses mean anything to you, but I took linear algebra (usually a freshmen or sophomore college class) in high school and started right with abstract algebra (usually taken by sophomores or juniors) as a freshman - I think it was the best decision I could have possibly made, even though I received advice from the math department to take multivariable calc (another freshmen/sophomore course) and some electives like transitions to higher math, elementary number theory or differential equations first.</p>
<p>I had already taken economics in high school and opted to take the intro class again in college. Big mistake. I already knew all the concepts and was so bored in class that I didn’t go to class at all for 4 weeks in the middle of the semester without a negative impact on my grade.</p>
<p>In less conceptual classes like English literature or art history it would probably be less repetitive to take the intro classes because the college classes would most likely have a different focus than the AP classes. But it might not be necessary if you have a solid background in [literary analysis/…]. Be aware though that some humanities are approached differently in college than in high school, and intro classes might offer a little bit more hand-holding and explicit instructions on how to approach assignments. (For example, how frequently have you worked with original sources in your high school history classes? Have you written 15-page papers with 10 primary and secondary sources before? Higher-level classes may assume that you can handle assignments like this.)</p>
<p>I would say it depends on a whole bunch of factors like what high school you went to, which subjects they are, what college you go to, what your major is, who is teaching the classes in the fall, etc. I say your high school and college matter because some colleges will be a lot more rigorous than your high school, and some will be less rigorous. In some cases you are better off getting out of a large intro class with a killer curve. In others you really should retake the class to get a stronger foundation in the subject to make future classes easier.</p>
<p>If you APed out of math, I would say 9 times out of 10 to go to the next level. I repeated calc 3 in college after taking it in high school. The professors weren’t so great, the tests were incredibly hard, and I thought I knew it all before starting. I ended up with a B, but should have gotten an A if I put in the extra work. The next level had better professors, was notoriously easier, and a lot more interesting.</p>
<p>My friend APed out of physics as an engineering major at a top engineering school. He took AP Physics C as a junior. He couldn’t remember half the material when his friends asked him for help on intro E&M. He’ll see how it works for him as he goes to higher levels as an EE major, but needless to say he got out of a very tough E&M class.</p>
<p>I APed out of chemistry but opted to retake the class in college. They added on a bunch of material that was not on the AP exam and it was pretty interesting. I got an A too. I had friends skip to orgo at other colleges and do really poorly. My school is really against APing out of chemistry and makes you take a placement test. </p>
<p>It just depends on the department, the school, the professors, etc. There is no correct answer because each situation is different.</p>
<p>There used to be a thread on this.. I can’t seem to find it.</p>
<p>It’s really recommended for people to take math placement exams if they’re offered. For science, it’s worth looking into re-taking the courses because the professors might have different metholology. Generally, chemistry courses are set up very specifically so that the profs in the upper level courses know exactly what you’ve learned.</p>
<p>For others, it varies, especially in economics and political science. I opted not to take the intros in my history department for my major just because I felt confident as I had always been a solid history student. I did just fine- especially that some of the courses weren’t even related to the AP. By skipping intro classes, you might find yourself that you need to do a bit of extra reading in order to understand the material that you might’ve missed out in the intro courses.</p>
<p>Talk to the students and professors and see what they say. A professor at Smith told me that even people who got 5 on their AP econ exam routinely fail their placement exam and wind up re-taking intro to econ. Students tend to be better prepared to take on the next levels.</p>
<p>Intro level social sciences are typically fine to skip if you’re familiar with the material. (That is: skipping intro Poli Sci, History, or English is usually no problem. Skipping intro Anthropology or Linguistics might be difficult since it’s likely you’re skipping an introduction to unfamiliar concepts and terms.)</p>
<p>I second that you ought to speak with your professor. Some classes have prereqs for good reasons and some are simply perfunctory.</p>
<p>^ I would be skipping 3 of one of the courses mentioned that would be classified as ‘no problem’. I’ll definitely talk to the professor about it. But, the upper-level course I would be taking in its place is also on a topic I’m fairly confident about–and doesn’t really involve (in depth at least) the topics mentioned in the 3 courses I’m skipping.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your helpful feedback. I hope this helps others too. :)</p>
<p>One thing to worry about is the writing level and reading ability you might need in upper level humanities courses. Upper level courses expect you to have had experience in college classes and write and read at a higher level than an intro class. You might be overwhelmed as a freshman being expected to read more and write more, a lot more than in high school.</p>
<p>If you are skipping out of History 1, US History and then taking HIstory 2, Chinese History, you will probably be fine. If you are skipping HIstory 1 for HIstory 400, Seminar in America in the 1920s, you might be in for a much tougher class that is a lot smaller with a lot of upper classmen.</p>
<p>Venkat89 is absolutely right. I forgot about that. Not only that, but the reading demand will be tougher. In my intro courses, we had maybe one or two book to read but a lot of articles whereas with my upper level courses we had more books and MORE articles to read to supplement our books!</p>
<p>So I would just kick it up just a little, not don’t dive right into upper levels in your first semester, at least. You’re also being graded against more experience students but if you’re lucky, the prof might give you a benefit of doubt.</p>