Yes, students and parents need to be aware of the difference between credit units and subject credit (and advanced placement). For example, some public universities are very generous with credit units, but much less generous with subject credit.
I got 5s on both AP English exams, and I’m eternally grateful to have had to take English 101 in college because I definitely wasn’t ready for the kind of reading and writing required of me in college and that class was amazing. Oh, and I ended up majoring in English Lit.
(I also make a living helping kids cram for those tests, but hey.)