I was just curious if anyone could tell me how much credit I could get for the AP exams I have taken.
Human Geography - 5. World History - 3. Physics 1 - 4. Chemistry - 5. US History - 5. English Language and Compostion - 5. Physics 2 - 3. Government - 4? Macroeconomics - 5? Microeconomics - 5? Biology - 4? Physics C mechanics -4? Physics C electricity - 4? Calculus AB - 5? English Literature and Compostion - 4? The scores with question marks are the exams I’ll be taking later in May. Given that I’m majoring in Chemistry, could I get credit for these or will some of them not help? Also will i ever have to take a physics class at UT? I hate physics.
Go to this location on the UT website. You can search by class or AP test and it will tell you which credits you can take for UT requirements. Once you send in your official scores, they will be uploaded here and then you can claim the credit officially. However, I strongly recommend that you hold off on this until you have met with your advisor at orientation and specifically discussed this. There are pros and cons. And once claimed, you can’t unclaim it.
http://ctl.utexas.edu/studenttesting/ select search for exams.
@dansmoaustin, could you expand a bit on some of the pros and cons of claiming. My very faint understanding is you can claim credit, they can help against your requirements and credits needed to graduate, and they don’t count against 120 max credits you can take at UT if elect. My understanding might not be correct, so if you could help explain, I would appreciate it
Depending on major, some students choose to “repeat” a course that they could claim for credit because they don’t feel they have a strong foundation in the material. Also, there is a GPA aspect to this decision when choosing to take a course for which you may be able to claim credit. Your advisor will walk you through the various scenarios at Orientation.
Rule of thumb is if you are going to take the next level of a class, think twice about accepting credit for the first level.
In Engineering and CNS, students are advised to retake the UT versions of classes to get a solid foundation. For instance, OP will likely be advised to retake Chemistry. Engineering students advised to retake physics and calculus.
I think your S got into McCombs?
The only AP exams that are “business” related are Econ and Calculus. Getting credit in microeconomics might not prepare you for macro at UT and credit for A/B might not prepare you for Calc 2 at UT. My S took credit for both and has not regretted it. He talked to people who retook Calc A/B to fluff their GPA and found it was not an easy A. Calc 2 was no walk in the park but he got through it. There are huge review sessions at the Sanger Learning Center before the tests and UT offers individual tutoring as well. He took macro at a community college which was very easy for him.
AP credit that applies to a degree requirement, counts toward your percentage completion to degree which is how registration priority is assigned. A lot of incentive to accept those credits!
On the other hand, if a student has not accepted the credits, has a bad semester, then he could take those classes for a presumably easy (ish) A. Not claiming them is kind of insurance.
@gettingschooled, Your explanation was very helpful and makes sense…Thank you very much…Yes, S was accepted into McCombs…
@BigPapiofthree
The above is all great advice and basically what I was referring to regarding pros and cons. High School AP Calc, Econ, Physics and Chem doesn’t always compare to the UT version and we also have learned that how its taught from school to school really varies so its best to discuss with the advisors. Also, for math and chem, they have placement tests to confirm which class at UT you should start with. Specifically for kids thinking about Med School, there are Med Schools out there that will not accept AP credits in lieu of courses taken at the undergraduate institution. So you need to plan accordingly if that is your path.
My son is a freshman in the engineering school and he passed 11 AP exams in high school but only took the credit for Calc BC and ended up taking the second semester Calculus class his first semester. In the engineering school you cannot place out of a full year of Calculus. English may be the only other credit he ends up taking. Since the other AP credits aren’t on his degree plan and I don’t think his degree plan has any free electives, there isn’t any reason to take the credits other than maybe to give him a higher priority when registering for classes. There is a small financial cost for each credit you take…maybe $25?
To me AP Credit is good for “non core” type classes for your major. For example, getting credit for History (1 or 2 semesters), English, Foreign Language, etc. By taking credit for these it frees you up to have more time to spend on Calculus, Chemistry, etc. Depending on your major, these classes are crucial to your success and you want a good foundation. Classes like the 2 semester History set is a “rounding out your education” class (unless you are a history major).
@Boeing77W - really good advice on this thread. Absolutely wait to meet with an advisor before claiming any AP credit.
BTW it is $6 an hour = so a 3 hour class will cost $18/ 6 hours- $36, etc… when you get to that point & claim credit they will put the charge on the “what I owe” section of your portal. Make sure you pay it within the set time frame.
I should have been more clear above regarding McCombs students. It might be easier to list it out- assuming a 5 on the applicable test because 3s and 4s sometimes result in different credits):
APUSH fulfills the 6 hours of required American History
APLanguage fulfills 3 hour Rhetoric requirement (as does a high enough SAT/ACT verbal score)
AP Literature fulfills 3 hour humanities credit
AP GOV fulfills 3 hour Gov class (first of 2) (you have to take an additional TX gov test to claim this credit)
AP Psych fulfills the 3 hour psych/anthropology/sociology requirement
AP Micro fulfills the 3 hour microeconomics requirement
AP Macro fulfills the 3 hour macroeconomics requirement
AP Calc A/B fulfills the 4 hour Calc 1 requirement
AP Calc B/C fulfills the 4 hour Calc 2 requirement (you MUST make a 5 for this)
AP Sciences fulfill the 6 hours of Science and Technology Part 1 requirement plus 2 hours toward the free elective/ non-business elective requirements
AP Computer Science fulfills the Science and Technology Part 2 requirement
AP Art History or AP Music Theory fulfill the 3 hours Visual and Performing Arts requirement
AP Stats fulfills the Statistics 309 requirement
All other AP credits would count toward a free elective credit or the non-business credits which will vary by major within McCombs (finance has 9 hours required, accounting has 8)
Your school (CNS) has a policy for AP credit. I recommend you go to the website and look it up. As an engineering graduate, I personally do not “buy” into wasting time re-taking a class for which you have credit, just to take “their” version or boost a GPA as some may suggest. Yes, I suggest as others have that you talk to your advisor to ensure if he/she knows of a potential gap you fill it in with maybe a bit of independent study, but don’t get “scared” into taking it again and loosing the opportunity to take something new. Case in point - you have a Chemistry 5 and an Calc BC 5, which you certainly should claim whatever credit you are entitled - especially as a Chem major. That way, you can use the extra timeslot to take an additional advanced elective later or get a minor that will broaden your knowledge.
@gettingschooled, thank you very much for that thorough explanation. If you don’t mind, I seek one small explanation. It is in regard to the sciences…What would AP environmental count towards. That is only AP science my son took. Science and tech part 2, or the first half half of the two part physical science track?
AP Environmental is equivalent to GEO302P. https://learningsciences.utexas.edu/studenttesting/exams
It can count toward either the Science 1 or 2 since it is on the list for Part 1. If he takes the next GEO class, he would count it toward Part 1 and then take another unrelated Science for Part 2. If he would prefer to take 6 hours of another science for Part 1, he could use the AP credit toward Part 2.
https://ugs.utexas.edu/core/requirements/current
If he was a strong physics student, it might be worth taking the SAT Subject test for physics. UT gives 8 hours of physics credit for a 600 on that test. There are also UT department exams for Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Those are good options for kids who have good science backgrounds but went to schools without as many AP options.
Update to this thread: UT has made a couple of updates to its AP credit site. Biggest change is to APUSH which is now only 3 hours instead of the full 6.
The other thing about claiming AP Credits at UT that can be an issue? You cannot have AP Claimed credits (or classes taken outside of UT for that matter) fulfill Flag requirements. They can fulfill core classes just not flags. Be mindful of this by looking at your degree plan as every college builds in certain flags into their required degree plans by major and some of the AP-claimable classes carry a flag. If you claim the AP credit, you have to find another class to get your flag. This is especially annoying for Cockrell majors since they require the most credits for a major and have built in flags for some of the basic classes that you might want to claim AP credit for. Sorry if this is confusing. Just read the details at each schools online catolog websites and make sure you use the correct catalog. Rules change.