When weighing costs of colleges, would you rather go to a single-digit admit rate college like HYP or an excellent (but not as readily recognized) LAC/prestigious, top tier university when you know you could get credits for high AP/IB/CLEP/Dual Credit scores/grades?
Are you looking for credit units which may help you graduate early or avoid graduating late (possibly due to cost constraints), subject credit to fulfill specific course requirements, or placement into more advanced courses?
Mainly credit units, specifically for financially disadvantaged, and maybe double majors, or people who have a wide variety of interests and want to take a lots of differnt courses.
Also, I realized that the title has a terrible typo. Can a mod please change ‘Important’ to ‘Importance’?
Until you have been admitted to both types of institutions with enough financial aid (if you need aid) to make them equally affordable, this question is moot.
Make your list. Include both types of institutions. Include at least one dead-on affordable absolutely safe admissions option in your list. When you find out where you’ve been admitted, and what is affordable, chances are your decision will make itself pretty quickly.
For making it easier to do a double major or take additional electives, subject credit that fulfills lower level requirements is typically the more important aspect to consider.
@happymomof1 Who says that no one out there has to face this problem? For that matter, what about someone trying to decide where to apply to and trying to figure out whether they would LIKE going to a college like HYP with heavy course loads instead of a lesser known place where they could take fewer courses per semester and still graduate on time? There are plenty out there with little money to burn, and eliminating a college before applying is much more helpful when spending money they don’t necessarily have, especially if they have a larger family and live in an area like San Francisco or New York City where the cost of living is much higher.
@ucbalumnus I assume that you’re talking about placing out of things like Intro to Econ and Psychology to take higher level classes…
What about those who need financial aid, but still have a higher EFC than can actually be paid? What about those interested in a lighter course load, or just want to pay less?
@IrishShadow - You make some important points. I was overly glib in my response. Yes, it is reasonable to consider whether or not placement by exams will make enough of a difference in overall costs for a student so as to influence the choice of institutions on the student’s application list. And yes, it is absolutely important to run the Net Price Calculators at each website and determine whether or not the college/university can be made affordable for a student.
However, if the applicant has a profile that makes the truly top institutions viable as admissions targets, and the NPCs indicate that they are likely to be affordable, my basic recommendation still holds. The student should go ahead and apply to some of those top institutions as well as to some institutions that are more generous with credit by exam, and see what happens. The top institution may well work out to be the most affordable - even if there is no credit or placement for exam scores. Or the institution that awards the most credits for exams could work out to be the most affordable. Or something in between. Unfortunately, except for those institutions that guarantee admission and aid based on stats (such as this list http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ ), all too often it is impossible to know in advance whether the student will get in and whether the institution will be truly affordable for the family.
All of the students I have known who enrolled with boatloads of IB and/or AP credits have elected to stay at their colleges for all four years, and have carried full academic loads each of those years. I think this is more common than taking lighter loads or whipping through in fewer years. The credits they were awarded for those exam scores meant that they could double major, or get into advanced coursework sooner, or take a full year abroad rather than just a semester. Even credit for one exam can make a big difference if the student can get out of a Gen Ed course because the schedule is freed up for other things. I’m a huge fan of the CLEP exams for that reason. In many cases provided the student takes the CLEP before the last semester of college, the credits can be used toward graduation. Happykid took one during winter vacation and graduated from her CC the next May.
Thanks @happymomof1, I appreciate it. And yes, I was interested in taking a lighter courseload, takig plenty of classes, or double majoring. I think Gen Ed classes would definently be the ones to get out of the way first.
I know that the institutions have no guarantee of aceeptance, but this is more a hypothetical that makes you decide between brand name prestige and saving money with lesser known reputation.
I think at this point apply to both kinds and see where you get in, how much aid you get, and then decide.
My DD had credits from IB diploma and graduated an year and a half early from SUNY Bing. As we said we would pay for 4 years of school we paid for her Master’s as well which she finished within the 4 years.
Some people like to double major or study abroad or take less classes /semester and do research.
I think you may need to adjust your priority. First, you should check which school fit you most, not just competitiveness or fame. Second, you should take IB/AP based on your ability and interest instead of whether you may get credit or not. If you are accepted early, you may then decide whether or not to take the AP exams based on your admission. There is no guarantee to get into which school before you register for your senior classes. At the end, you are likely choose the school you like to go more rather than graduating 1 semester or two earlier. In addition, you may not even graduate 1 semester earlier for certain programs/majors disregarding how many credits you get from AP/IB/CC/DE. My D got 33 very useful AP credits for her major (all are counted for required pre-requisites and electives) and yet she may not graduate in less than 3.5 year due to course sequence. Her friend forfeited dozens of DE credits to go to an OOS flagship for a specific program she wants. Of course, this is solely up to you and no one can decide for you.