gettinready14

Hey, so i know pomona has that 30 class minimum rule, but what is their policy on placement with APs. Do you have to test out in every subject, or can you earn any advanced standing by AP score results?
Thanks.

brassmonkey

You can skip into higher level classes with AP credit, if that's what you mean by advanced standing, but you can't use AP credit to graduate in, say, 2-3 years. This may seem unfair now, but when you get here you'll realize that you don't want to short yourself of the time you spend at Pomona anyway.

The advanced standing is helpful if you want to be further along in a major on case you plan to double (or triple) major, as well as study abroad, etc.

gettinready14

Thanks for the reply- do you know which classes they will let you place out of and with which scores? I heard about placement exams; which classes do you have to take placement exams in, and will AP scores excuse you from certain exams? And yeah, i know i still have to take 30 classes, which i'm fine with, i just don't want to have to re-take classes that i'm already pretty confident in. Also, i don't want to have to take my AP lit exam, per se, if they will already give me english placement for AP lang.

brassmonkey

You can take as many or as few of the placement exams you want. The most popular ones are for foreign language, math, chem and physics.

As far as the English department, the sequence of classes isn't hierarchical like say Math (where you have Calc 1,2,3,Linear Algebra, and so on), so I don't think you can "place out" of classes even if you have 5's on Lit and Lang.

brassmonkey

FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGES:
If you get a 4 or 5 on an AP, >650 on SAT2, or 6/7 on IB, you can get out of the foreign language requirement. If you didn't do standardized tests in foreign language, a placement exam will put you in the right class. (Side note: Even if you can place out of foreign language, the departments are fantastic, and you should consider taking at least one of those classes anyway)

With Econ you can skip Intro Macro or Micro if you've taken both APs

With Math, you'll probably want to take the placement exam so you have an idea of what class you should be in (A lot who 5'ed CalcBC took Calculus II again anyway)

With Chemistry: General Chemistry is usually a two semester course. If you do well on the Chem AP and take the placement exam, you can take Chem 51, which covers the same material in one semester, and makes it a little easier if you're pre-med.

Physics has a similar setup as chem, if you've taken AP Physics C, they give you a different placement exam to figure out where you should fall in.

gettinready14

Hey, sorry to keep bothering you- so for math, can you place out by AP scores alone, as in Econ/language? Is the placement exam mostly to get an idea of where you stand, and if you pass it you'll be recommended to go a level up? And does the English department have any required courses besides the critical inquiry course (random question)? How hard are the placement exams, like if you get a 5 on an AP, are you most likely going to succeed on the placement exam?

brassmonkey

You can conceivably enroll for any math class you want, but the placement exams will give you an idea of where you belong.

Critical Inquiry (ID-1) isn't part of the English department, but is a seminar course that every freshman takes. The English department is restructuring the major requirements, and I don't have the new catalog yet, so I'm not exactly sure.

The placement exams for math (and possibly some other subjects) are self-graded. They are used as an indicator of where you ought to start, but the results will not confine you to taking any specific class.

gettinready14

for the major requirements or pre-med, will calc BC satisfy the condition of a math class though? I'd like to double or dual major or study abroad if possible, so this could be helpful. I'm trying to find if there's any tangible advantage to taking the actual AP tests. Math is a particular problem since i took BC junior year and realllly don't want to take it again / not exactly sure if i remember it.

flowersunshine

That is an interesting question. I know a person who is going to med school next year, and didn't take a single calculus course in college. He took the AP Calc AB exam in HS, and his college gave him credit for that. He regretted this when it came time to applying to med school because some schools, including Harvard and JHU, didn't accept AP calc AB. I'm not sure if it would have been different were it BC instead of AB. However, he is going to a top 15 med school anyways, he just couldn't apply to some of the top schools.