<p>I am trying to nail down the answer to these questions.</p>
<p>My son has been accepted OOS. Naturally, we are trying to reduce the $50,000 a year bill as much as possible. My son has taken 14 AP classes.</p>
<p>1)Will this allow him to graduate earlier?</p>
<p>2) If not, will this allow him to take less credits each semester?</p>
<p>Overall, as a percentage of total tuition, how much tuition might be saved at UCLA if you have taken 14 AP classes?</p>
<p>For the short answer, not necessarily. AP credits can help you waive certain introductory classes. For example, earning a 5 on the AP Chemistry exam can help you waive out of introductory General Chemistry 20A (but pre-med students should not waive it because they need 1 year of general chemistry). If you’re an engineering student, then AP credits can help fulfill some General Education (GE) requirements, but if you’re in the College of Letters and Science (LS), then AP credits do nothing for your GE requirements. So AP credits can help you waive out of a few things, but nothing that substantial. And as with everything else, it depends on what scores you received, what college you got into, and what you want to do after college.</p>
<p>We would really need to know his major, which AP classes he took, and which scores he got.</p>
<p>For example if he scores a 3 on an AP foreign language, in L&S this would eliminate the language requirement. 3 classes (an entire quarter!) freed up. If in engineering, however, this doesn’t help at all since engineers do not have to take language.</p>
<p>Depending on his scores and whether he took Calc AB or BC this could eliminate one or two courses. But as phospholipase said, AP does not help for med school. And of course if your son were a history major this would do nothing to help either.</p>
<p>AP credits don’t help with GEs though, which is what I assume you’re asking.</p>
<p>Taking lighter loads isn’t going to save you money. The only solution is to graduate faster.</p>
<p>In general, AP units could help you graduate faster by decreasing the total number of units you need (though some majors have enough requirements that you won’t be taking many electives). AP units can also get you out of requirements for your major, but the amount will depend on the AP classes taken and the particular major.</p>
<p>Some majors also just have a lot fewer course requirements. If you need to graduate ASAP, that <em>might</em> be something to consider</p>