The research shows that students with high AP scores do well in those fields academically. For example, they do in better in second semester courses than students who haven’t taken AP classes and take the first semester course in college. Of course, correlation doesn’t mean causation, but the evidence is that it’s not just cramming but real learning that’s taking place in AP classes, and it’s standardized, which is a good and reliable thing. The research on this is pretty strong: http://collegeready.rice.edu/ap-and-college-readiness … http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/pa/documents/apr14item06ho3.pdf … https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/16/study-suggests-good-advanced-placement-scores-and-personality-traits-predict-college