<p>and btw resurgambell is not entirely correct. i know someone who never took more than 14 credits/ semester and usually took either 12 or 13 and graduated perfectly on time. not only do some schools/majors allow for this but one can take classes over the summer/winter break… either here or an approved elsewhere.</p>
<p>If you have Ap credits, it’s not very hard to graduate in 4 years. I forfeited a large chunk of my AP credits, took just below 15 credits/semester, and still could’ve graduated in 3.5 years as a bio major.</p>
<p>AP credits allow one to skip classes altogether? As in, you get X credits for getting a 5 on your AP test and you then only have to take 120-X credits at Cornell? I was under the impression that AP credits allowed you just to skip to a more advanced class.</p>
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<p>In most cases: Yes.</p>
<p>NORCAL–Can you use as many AP credits as you have, or is there a limit? Is it advisable to use them in areas that might pertain to your major, like chem if you think you might want to go to med school?</p>
<p>Depending on your college, you could have a limit to how many credits you can get from AP.</p>
<p>And it is advisable to NOT use AP credit towards classes in your major.</p>
<p>Especially for med school, they want to see how well you did in freshmen chem/bio/physics.</p>
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<p>There’s probably a limit. I know the limit is 20 credits with CAS.</p>
<p>There are a few opportunities to use AP credits if you’re premed. The obvious one is if you have AP credit for intro bio. You can either forfeit the credit and retake intro bio or you can take the credit and skip to upper div bio courses. Either way is fine. It depends on how comfortable you are with intro bio material. The second place is gen chem. You can actually get AP credits and still take freshman gen chem if you skip into Chem 215-216 like I did. That’s like killing two birds with one stone. I got 8 credits I think towards graduation plus I took gen chem to satisfy my med school requirements. The last place would be physics. I don’t suggest skipping into upper div physics courses unless you’re an engineering or physics major. I don’t suggest using calc AP credit. It’s better to just retake Calc I and II for med school than try to take multivariable calc or linear algebra.</p>
<p>hahaha i dont recommend multivar and linear in the same semester, just from current experience</p>
<p>My experience is that intelligence also varies tremendously by major. On average, though, Cornellians (like me) have above average intelligence but are not really brilliant. They still perform well through hard work. Maybe one in every seven or eight students would be considered a genius.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info, any thoughts on AP english Lit, stats, and environmental? does the lit get you out of any eng req?</p>
<p>I think it can get you out of the Freshman writing seminar.</p>
<p>norcalguy: Thank goodness for taking Multivariable Calc and Linear Algebra senior year of HS… I’ll just retake Calc 1 and 2 in college for med school and be DONE with it all!!!</p>
<p>(I hate math, and I’m going premed)</p>
<p>Calc is as bad as it gets math-wise for pre-meds 
</p>
<p>As long as you can do basic math…you’re fine for your other classes.</p>
<p>I am really, really, not looking forward to taking Calculus again in college :(. Stupid pre-med program.</p>
<p>Honestly…it’s not awful. I did horribly in calc when I was in HS…and I got A’s in both Calc I and II. I am so inept when it comes to math…it’s pathetic. </p>
<p>So…if I can get an A…anyone can ;)</p>
<p>I sure hope none of you are ever my anesthesiologist.</p>
<p>hahaha…I have no plans for anesthesiology. I’m going into primary care or peds…cough, turn, cough ;)</p>
<p>Right now, this is my #1 question about Cornell. I visited Differential Equations for Engineers this morning, and found it was way, way, way too easy. Even though I’ve had no differential equations, I could follow along without getting my mental-equivalent of a heart rate (neuron firing rate?) up just from knowing multivariable calculus, and probably could’ve followed along with some effort just using knowledge of single-variable calculus. Nevertheless, at an information session in the Engineering College an hour later, one of the students called it his hardest math class!</p>
<p>Furthermore, everyone I’ve spoken to has talked about how hard the tests are, but none of them have been able to substantiate that by giving examples of any genuinely hard test questions (namely because I haven’t gotten many examples period). One girl was just able to tell me “It’s not like in high school, where tests just ask you to apply a formula and find ten derivatives,” which doesn’t tell me much about the difficulty.</p>
<p>I really love the campus (and the Cornell-made beverages!), but, I would hate to go another for years looking down on everyone around me.</p>
<p>^^^ I am looking forward to taking DiffEq because everyone tells me it is the easiest one of the 4 math requirements.</p>
<p>the thing about diffeqs mv calc and linear algebra is that in high school it is not an ap class so the teacher basically picks what and what not to teach.that girl who ‘applied a formula and found 10 derivatives’ probably had a different high school math experience than you… or I for that matter</p>
<p>it will be like that just about everywhere… but just be thankful that that class wont be a killer for you</p>
<p>i mean if its that bad you could skip it… this isnt high school</p>