Hi there! I’ve recently been admitted to UCLA as an Applied Mathematics major, and I have some questions about how my AP credits will transfer and if they will be of use to me. I know that these credits will not count toward GE requirements, but I am confused about what they will actually do?
These are the AP scores I have received:
AP World History: 4
AP US History: 4
AP Calculus AB: 5
AP Physics 1: 4
AP Lang: 5
I am also taking AP Calc BC, AP Literature, AP Studio Art, AP French, and AP Physics Mechanics and E/M.
Are there any UCLA courses from which I can be exempt with these?
Any help, even partial, is appreciated. Thank you in advance!
@Ashley2019
Bad news is most of them won’t count for you.
AP World History- N/A
AP US History- N/A since the req is filled by taking the course and passing in HS
AP Calc AB- 5 gets you out of Math 31A (calc 1)
AP Physics 1- N/A
AP Lang- English Comp 3 (writing 1 req)
AP Calc BC- 4, Math 31A (Calc 1) 5, Math 31B (Calc 2)
AP Lit- Save money and don’t take cause you already got Lang which is writing 1.
AP Studio Art- N/A
AP French- 4-5 will get you out of some language classes for foreign language req.
AP Physics C Mech and E/M- General Physics no specific classes it fulfills.
Basically, take the AP Calc BC exam, AP French exam and save money and don’t register for the rest. AP credits also don’t count for advanced standing anymore for course registration. So you can’t get earlier signups with AP credits only UCLA credits count.
That sucks to hear, but thank you for your explanation!
You would get around 55 quarter credits or so towards graduation if you take all the remaining exams and get a 3+. It is probably true though that some of the 55 won’t be used eventually because of your major’s requirements.
@ProfessorPlum168 @Ashley2019 Applied Math will take enough units that there isn’t really a need for the extra AP units to graduate.
@Ashley2019 like you my D got into UCLA and UCB in applied math and has similar AP’s. (saw your post on the Berkeley site) I assume you have seen this
http://www.admission.ucla.edu/Prospect/APCreditLS.htm
My D has taken these AP’s Calc BC (5) Lang (5), US Hist (5) Chem (4) World (4). She is taking these AP’s this year Physics 1, Physics 2, Spanish, Lit, Stats, US Govt, Macro Econ. She is also trying to prioritize and strategize. Like you she will have a lot of credit. What I see is that there is a limit on Physics (8), so she probably will only take Physics 1, AP Spanish will take care of FL requirement so that is a priority. There is a limit of 8 credits in English, so Lit won’t count for any units. The others, Govt, Stats, and Econ are only worth 4 units each, so she will take the tests.
I assume it is OK to UCLA if you don’t take the AP class but not the test (from what I read on CC some school consider it not following through with your commitments) but she will confirm before she makes any decision.
@19parent Please refer to my post a few spots above for L&S actual credit. The UCLA listing is misleading because most of those “credits” are empty and have no equivalency for graduation. Like physics for ex. General physics isn’t an actual class.
So essentially, the AP credits I get if I pass Physics C (for example) will not help me in any way?
Don’t take my conclusions on this, we are looking into this just like you, but this is how I read it. I am going to have my daughter follow up on this before she makes the decision not to study. We had to pay for the tests in February, so she will probably just take all the tests, but focus on the tests that matter the most.
You wouldn’t get any additional credits for Physics C since you already got the max for Physics 1. Taking the Physics C exams and getting a high score may help with skipping out of the first Physics class(es) if you intend on taking more advanced Physics classes.
@10s4life I’m confused by the below quote. Every major will have some space for electives, in which case some of the credits from the AP pool could be used. I agree that it’s unlikely all of it can be used, but in @Ashley2019’s case I’ll bet a few units from that pool of 55 could be used if she wanted to, in case she wanted to graduate a quarter or two early.
@ProfessorPlum168 It’s cause the elective reqs must be upper division classes at UCLA. APs won’t fulfill those
@10s4life hmmm ok, I better check for Berkeley then too…probably the same, though I heard that lower div could be used for some electives. I thought I read that in the Berkeley school newspaper a while back.
Here is the article that I read: http://www.dailycal.org/2014/03/27/looking-back-ap-tests-worth/
It implies in the last 2 paragraphs that AP credits could be used towards graduation. I wonder if that is now correct or not.
It seems that this issue is more complicated than I expected. I’ll probably still take my exams, since my school allows students from low-income families to pay only $5 for each.
I appreciate all of your replies. I was wondering which UC (UCLA or Cal) would accept more of my AP credits, and it seems Cal is more open to that?
@ashley2019 they should both be the same if you’re taking the same major. I’m pretty sure AP credits can be used towards graduation as lower division credits at both places because I know plenty of people at both places taking 1 and 2 unit fun classes that I guarantee are not upper division classes and I guarantee you those units count towards graduation.
Subject credits is an entirely different matter, yes most AP classes are more or less useless in that regard. And you are running into credit limits - in your case, for example, if you never intended to take another Physics class again in your life, taking the AP Physics C exams are useless since you are already at the cap limit for Physics credit.
can anyone say if UCLA or UCB cares if you skip an AP test? Do you need to report it or do they care? I know they care if you get a D or F in a class, but haven’t heard if they care if you take the test.
@19parent They don’t care if you take the test