This is a helpful perspective, thank you!
You may want to look at AP, IB, and CLEP credit (particularly subject credit) policies on the tests that the student may take after this course, for several typically considered colleges (e.g. state flagship, other state universities, likely privates, etc.).
No point in taking the AP exam if it would just duplicate the credit from the IB exam, or if the most likely colleges would not give useful subject credit anyway.
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Will they take the IB History test? One of my kids took APUSH, AP World and IB History HL and ended up with more history credit than he could count for his degree. No need to duplicate a bunch of testing. Next kid didn’t do APUSH and still had too much credit. The general ed credits are often in different groups and you don’t use 12 history credits. The others are just extra that don’t count for the degree.
It’s early but pick a handful of schools and look up their credit policy and what would actually count.
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My daughter had 30 or 33 credits, and only 9 were used. To your point, lots of classes provide the same credits.
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No. As a tenth grader in IB MYP there is no IB test equivalent. My daughter was an IB DP student in 11th and 12th grade and received 32 test credits. Of those, she only took both AP and IB in Spanish and Calculus, and then only because our school structured it that way. She also happened to receive dual enrollment for Spanish. Interestingly, in that case, she received Spanish 101 and 102 for DE and 201/202 for IB or AP. For calculus, she did well so it did not matter, but AP would have given credit for a lower score than IB, so our school encouraged all students to take both. For biology, she took only IB and received an elective credit, but AP would have gotten her out of classes required as a pre-requisite for her major had she taken it. Interestingly, for history, one of our state schools gives up to 6 credits for a 4 or 5 AP and another gives only 3. CLEP is 6 credits at either school. So, in short, no duplicate credit is received but sometimes different types and amounts of credits are awarded. FWIW, she was able to use all her awarded credits and could graduate early if she chooses. Definitely not the case everywhere she applied though.
I went back and read the OP again. So he’s not going the DP route. I’d probably go with CLEP and have it if it’s taken at the college he ends up at then. It wouldn’t be much extra work and he could do that prep in the summer if he wanted. I had 2 DP kids and neither would have wanted to do more work to study for AP tests. They were involved in other activities, writing all the DP papers, etc. Plus, scheduling IB and AP tests is difficult. My friend’s daughter could not take either the scheduled or the make-up day AP Chem test because they both fell on IB test day/times and IB offers no other day.
My oldest son went to Bama with 53 credits, 32 of which counted for his degree. Some gave credit for unneeded classes (non-calc physics) and some were duplicate (so many history credits!).
I feel this. My son sat down to do practice essays last night (apparently the teacher did not even do an AP Style essay at all this year) and he decided maybe CLEP is better after all, lol. He can write well and has learned a lot in the MYP, but time to move on. My daughter was the HL history kid and loved it, but my son can’t wait to take the AP math and science classes next year (with AP teachers). Very different kids. Seeing your post, though, I wonder if maybe the school doesn’t fuss about the AP tests in world history and APUSH (which our kids take in 10th and 11th grade) because they max out credits with HL anyway. The kids seemed to be prepared do well in the DP.
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So now I am genuinely curious. When referencing 9 out of 33 or 32 out 53 credits applying, I am not sure I am understanding how that works. For example, with my daughter’s Spanish credits, her AP score alone would have awarded her 8 credits (201 and 202). Her IB score alone also awarded 8 credits, but for the same courses (201 and 202). Her Dual Enrollment awarded her 8 credits (101 and 102). So in all, she was awarded 16 credits, testing out of 101, 102, 201 and 202 even though 8+8+8=24. Is this what you mean? Or is it more like a situation where the school says we won’t award credits but will waive foreign language or there’s a cap on the total number of credits that can be earned by test?
Some schools we applied to awarded no credits for SL classes, so the total she would have received would have been a lot lower than the school where she attended. In contrast, my daughter’s university (U Arizona) allows up to 60 credits by exam and was very generous with applying to gen eds., etc. What would you advise looking up regarding credit policies when the time comes? All insight from different schools is very appreciated!
It could be that the AP, IB, or other test could give credits, but they count as only general elective credits or unspecified credits in a subject, rather than a specific course. Or they may be listed as equivalent to a specific course that is not useful for fulfilling the student’s degree requirements. For example, AP physics 1/2 or IB physics may be given credit for the physics-for-biology-majors course, but that is not useful for subject credit or advanced placement if the student is a physics or engineering major.
AP, IB, or other test credit could be some combination of the following:
- Credit units. Mainly useful if the student wants to graduate early, or avoid graduating late after taking lower course loads.
- Subject credit. Useful for fulfilling specific course requirements that subject credit is given for. How useful this is can depend on the student’s major. May allow for extra free electives in place of the fulfilled course requirements.
- Advanced placement. Useful for starting at a more advanced course than the student would otherwise start in. May allow for extra free electives in place of the lower level course that is skipped.
Different colleges have different policies on which test scores give which of the above.
Example: for a 4 or 5 in AP US history, University of Arizona awards 3 credit units and subject credit for HIST 150C3 (“US society and institutions since 1877”). It also fulfills one Building Connections general education requirement (but multiple AP history scores cannot fulfill more than one Building Connections general education requirement). See Credit by Exam | University of Arizona Catalog
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Because certain classes count for the same class - for example an AP Seminar or Research may count for the same class as an AP English Class, etc.
At my daughter’s school - looking at the chart - AP Research gives you ENGL 101 as does English Lang & Comp and as does Seminar.
But then you also have some that get accepted - my engineer started as a 2nd year - except he still needed four years - because of the course flow, etc.
So you might have credits or not but if you have them, depending on the major and the school will impact how “impactful” they are.
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Makes sense. Thank you! IB DP was such a different experience for us because there were only so many options to fit in each year’s schedule and the exams were required. AP planning is very different. I was a small town girl with only a few AP options back in the day, so I still have a lot to learn as I navigate all the options available to my kids in their large high school. I appreciate the perspectives.
If your student is a prospective engineering major, the likelihood of usefulness of various AP scores would be as follows:
- Calculus AB: usually subject credit for calculus 1, and placement into calculus 2.
- Calculus BC: usually subject credit for calculus 1 and 2, and placement into calculus 3 and linear algebra.
- Physics 1 and/or 2: none, although it counts as a high school physics course in preparation for college calculus-based physics.
- Physics C mechanics: possibly subject credit for calculus-based physics 1, and placement into calculus-based physics 2.
- Physics C E&M: possibly subject credit for calculus-based physics 2 (less likely than for mechanics).
- Chemistry: possibly subject credit for general chemistry.
- Biology: possibly subject credit for general biology if needed for major (most engineering majors do not need general biology).
- Statistics: none (if statistics is required, it will typically be calculus-based statistics).
- Computer science A: possibly subject credit for introductory computer science for computer science or computer engineering majors (usually not for computing for other engineering majors).
- Computer science principles: none (though may be a useful course in high school anyway).
- All humanities and social science subjects: possibly for general education requirements, depending on school (note: ABET accredited bachelor’s degree programs in engineering must have general education requirements). Foreign language usually gives placement into higher level courses.
If a prospective engineering major chooses to do the IB DP, the preferred math is A&A, preferably HL. IB DPs that only offer math A&I are not really suitable for prospective engineering (or other math-heavy) majors (math A&I is supposed to be for prospective business and social science majors).
This is really helpful. I am venturing a bit off topic so please feel free to say so if this post should go elsewhere. But it seems relevant now, so If you happen to have experience, would you mind sharing a follow up question regarding AP STEM? My child will take AP calculus BC and possibly AP Stats as a junior. I believe he has already covered the topics of AP computer science through a dual enrollment certificate program. I believe the school only offers one level of AP physics, which he will take. As a senior, the school offers Calculus III, but there is no dual enrollment. We are wondering whether we should consider enrolling him in Calc 3/Differential Equations at the local university or community college as a senior. I am guessing a high school calculus 3 course will hold no real weight and might need to be repeated at university even if he does well. It seems like the high school course would be mostly useful if he wants to make transition to university easier or just wants to take a small class with a couple other math kids for the enjoyment of it as a senior. We will see how Calculus BC goes first, but I don’t anticipate a struggle since he is already working ahead just for fun. So far, he mostly wishes he was more challenged. His senior year is flexible and can be structured as a half day, as he will have already completed most core graduation classes through a combination of accelerated and summer programs. Sorry if I’ve wandered off into the woods! The info you have already shared will definitely help with our planning. Thank you.
High school calculus 3 will not be granted credit or subject credit, although a few colleges may allow subject credit by exam on the material. Better to take it at a college if getting credit is a concern.
Thanks for weighing in.
Note that some colleges (usually more selective private ones) have restrictions on dual enrollment credit, such as not giving credit for dual enrollment on the high school campus or used to meet high school graduation requirements. So be careful about assuming acceptance of dual enrollment credit until you can verify each college’s policy.
Additionally, unless there is an existing articulation listing (most common between community colleges and same-state public universities), colleges often do not determine transfer subject credit for previously taken college or dual enrollment courses until after matriculation.
Thank you! The tricky part for me has been knowing what questions to ask. Dual enrollment is becoming more common at our school due to college affordability issues for many students, but we have found it a little hard to get direction on issues outside the straight path from local community college to local university. When we transition to creating a targeted college list next year, this information will be helpful.
Each college will have a different transferability list whereas the local CC via your high school will likely be aligned with your state’s publics.
You’ll hear opinions both ways, but many, including students on a panel we attended, will say to repeat major related classes and sure enough my son with a 5 or for in AP Calc AB bombed Calc 2. Others say - get the final exam and if you do well, keep going.
About half of engineers don’t finish the major according to published figures. So you need a strong base.
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You always advocate repeating AP credit, even though many students move on to the next course without issue. If what you say is true, then should those students who complete calculus in 11th grade (as the OP’s student will) repeat calculus at a college or dual enrollment in 12th grade (rather than taking a more advanced math course at a college or dual enrollment in 12th grade)?
What I say is the student panel at School of Mines said this -and my son should have listened. He’ll tell you he just had a bad prof. But it was said by engineering students.
I balanced it with noting your opinion. So I didn’t say an absolute.
It’s just info OP to look at it in whatever way they want to.
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