<p>Regarding skipping courses with AP credit… check the recommendations of the school and your major department. If the AP credit covers a peripheral requirement that you are not planning to take more advanced courses in, then accept the AP credit and take a free elective in place of the requirement. If it is something that you want to take more advanced courses in (e.g. math), check the college and department recommendations. To be extra sure, see if old final exams in the courses that you can skip are available and use them to check your knowledge of the subject matter from the college’s point of view.</p>
<p>It is very common to skip freshman calculus with AP credit, and many students who scored 5 on the AP calculus BC test do fine doing so. Repeating freshman calculus is often a waste of time for such students, though it may be more worthwhile to take an honors freshman calculus if one wants more theory. But check the old freshman calculus final exams to be sure.</p>
<p>Regarding how admissions committees will look at choosing AP chemistry instead of AP physics, no idea how much of a difference that will make.</p>