<p>My daughter, a senior, is taking 4 AP classes this year. She likes the challenge and wants the knowledge, but isn't sure she will take the AP exams. (Kids who don't take the AP exams just take regular finals.) Is this going to make whatever college accepts her rescind its acceptance? Do colleges assume you're taking the AP test when you're enrolled in the course? </p>
<p>She has all As, BTW, so her GPA is still fine, and she got 5s on her AP exams last year. Most of the schools to which she has applied don't give college credit for AP courses, but some do offer advanced placement if you're interested. IOW, taking the AP tests won't make college cheaper for us! So does this matter?</p>
<p>At our school, you only get the AP designation for the class if you take the test. I would check that out. Without the designation, advanced placement in college courses might not be possible.</p>
<p>She’s taking English Lit, Bio, Euro. Hist, and Calc (combined AB/BC for those who want to take the BC test). I don’t think she cares about getting AP credit, but I’ll ask her to check on this just in case.</p>
<p>Definitely take the calculus one. English Lit. and Euro. Hist. are often one semester’s credit at good schools. Bio. can get credit, but many places don’t let you out of first year biology as the AP is insufficient.</p>
<p>What’s the harm in taking these outside of the fees charged?</p>
<p>If the college/university that she plans to attend won’t give her credit or placement for the exam score(s) that she expects to earn, or if she just plain isn’t interested in taking the exam, the only reason to shell out the money and take the exam(s) would be if her high school specifically requires that she do so. Some do. Most don’t. She needs to find out what her school policy is.</p>
<p>Many schools don’t specifically require it, but are unhappy when students decide not to take the exams because the school (and/or the individual teacher) loses points in the games the schools (and/or teachers) play with each each other. If the school (and/or teacher) are going to make her life miserable because of her decision to skip an exam, she needs to know that up-front so that she can deal with their craziness.</p>
I actually wish I didn’t take the AP Calculus exam. At my college they gave you credit for the 1st quarter of Calculus, which meant that to continue on I needed to enroll in 2nd quarter Calculus once I arrived on campus. There were fewer sections offered so I had less choices of the times to take it. Furthermore, everyone else in the class had come off the AP test too. I think the curve would have been easier in the regular class.</p>
<p>It is generally better to have the option of placing into a more advanced course than to not have the option; the student can then review the college’s final exams for the course that may be skipped to determine whether skipping is the right decision.</p>
<p>If credit units are given, they may improve class standing for registration priority purposes, so the student may get better choice of courses and times. However, there may be a few cases (e.g. possibly Texas public schools) where credit units from AP scores may be counted against credit unit limits that one can take as an undergraduate.</p>