<p>If I read you correctly, you’re saying that a student can use the acceleration credits if s/he wants to do a semester abroad and still graduate in 8 semesters. But isn’t a student who does a semester abroad still “enrolled” in the semester s/he’s abroad? According to Yale’s rules, the acceleration credit can’t be used to reduce the number of courses you take if you “enroll” for eight terms. I know that at my D’s college, a student who took a semester abroad was still “enrolled”; we did not pay the (approved) abroad program directly. Instead, we paid ordinary tuition to the university. That’s SOP at many schools, I believe.</p>
<p>wisedad, your son can only use APs to meet distributional requirements if he chooses to accelerate. And a semester abroad does not necessitate accelerating, because he can receive Yale credit for the term abroad. I got a 5 on AP Calc BC, but still had to take 2 QR classes, I got 5s on multiple science exams, but still had to take two natural sciences, etc. </p>
<p>Even on foreign languages, it’s not that the AP exam gives you distributional credit, it’s that being placed into L5 in a language means that you only need take one class to meet the language requirement. The AP exam is simply one way to demonstrate your readiness for L5 - it is presumed that someone who did very well on the AP exam would be able to place into L5 by taking the placement exam. Basically, APs get you very little if you don’t choose to accelerate (and I recommend against accelerating - I wouldn’t want to cut down my time at Yale by any amount).</p>
<p>its.been.real - Because I’m a history major, there aren’t really any classes for me to skip on account of AP credits. But I did take a 200-level biology class without taking the intro level classes, and I thought my Bio AP prepared me fine. Remember, you can also use shopping period to help determine if a class is at the right level for you.</p>
<p>Sorry it’s taken me a while to get back to this thread.</p>
<p>Not all students who study abroad arrange that through their college (if you do, then you will usually pay your regular college tuition) or try to get college credits for the studies. </p>
<p>It gives you more flexibility in making out-of-college educational choices if you don’t try to get college credit for studies pursued elsewhere. Intensive language training, for example, may not be offered by the kind of school or program that a college will give credit for but might still fit with the overall educational goals of a student.</p>
<p>AP credits can give a student the opportunity to think outside the box about education and career while still moving the student along toward a bachelor’s degree. Even Yale sees the value in that. So while the rules are a little complicated (and the school is happy to review them with you), Yale is flexible enough to accommodate college students who want something different from the straight 8-semester march toward graduation.</p>
<p>As a parent, however, I concur with the school’s emphasis on graduating in four years!</p>