<p>I guess covers <em>up to</em> 5.5 years full time is more accurate - my plan is to graduate on time which I can do with either 4 or 5 classes this semester. Considering that time or money isn’t really an issue in this situation, I guess my question has to do more with difficulty/transitioning into college and whether or not it is necessary to take only 4 classes if I want to ensure a smooth academic transition into college and respectable grades. </p>
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<p>Consider the B student in high school who goes to college with no AP credits and can only handle 12 credit semesters of college work. Also note that many students need to work part time jobs to be able to afford school, so they 15-16 credit semesters may be too hard to schedule for them.</p>
<p>The bulk of college students overall are not the A students with lots of AP credits from high income families that are overrepresented on these forums.</p>
<p>One does not have to come from high income family to take AP classes. AP Calc will replace 2 math courses in college and that’s’ what she’s ahead. Mine has never taken 16 units, a little less but not 12. She took a gamble and did not take the introductory courses for her major, because of that she was able to skip 2 classes and took the harder one for students with more experience in computer science. She ended up with a sophomore class in her last quarter. Next quarter, she may take 16 units but I still see a lot of slack in her schedule going forward. </p>