<p>We all know of them, and most of you have/are taking them. I’m taking them myself. They are very beneficial in the fact that they prepare students for college-level material and can possibly even give some students credit; however, I believe it is important to structure them in a way that actually helps you. For example, a student who wants to pursue a career in chemistry should not take AP Chemistry their sophomore or junior year of high school and then a gap year until organic chemistry in college. Organic chemistry is already tough. I have witnessed a lot of kids doing this to themselves. Some courses are best taken senior year. Some courses, such as AP Calculus AB are fine to be taken junior year in order to take AP Calculus BC their senior year. In this case, I believe it is fine and actually a better idea to do this. Furthermore, leave your thoughts below about this and tell me what you think?</p>
<p>I have friends who told me they just reviewed Jr. year ap’s and remembered material quite easily.</p>
<p>I personally don’t think AP classes can hold a candle to college level courses - so it doesn’t really matter when they’re taken. </p>
<p>I know it sounds lousy, but I’ve been getting by in all of my AP classes for the past three years with pure and absolute BS - I doubt I can get the same grades in college level courses at a college or university. Like, if I carried over my poor work habits from high school into college, I’d flunk out by second semester.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>AFAIK it’s generally recommended that people not use AP credits to get out of courses required for their major. The university intro course might cover more or be structured way differently than the AP course was, and it’s important to get a feel for that before you start taking higher-level classes in your major.
AP credits should be used to get out of distribution requirements outside your major. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You can do this in some university classes, or at least I have. The difficulty of college courses varies widely.</p>
<p>I don’t completely agree with halcyonheather’s statement. The AP credit can also (and in many cases, should) be used as a head start in your major. For example, I have Calculus BC credit, and I’m a math major…I would’ve seriously regretted taking single-variable calculus at MIT. </p>
<p>However, it’s usually a good idea to retake the corresponding class if you feel you have a weak background, or barely passed the AP test (e.g. a score of 3).</p>
<p>
I don’t see anything wrong with this. Any general chemistry topics required for organic chemistry are typically reviewed in the class anyway (and the textbook should have review material) and only a qualitative (not quantitative) understanding is needed.</p>
<p>
That doesn’t matter. Your grade in the class doesn’t determine whether you get credit or not - the AP exam does. If you can do well on the AP exam with what you’re currently doing, then I see no reason why you wouldn’t perform similarly in an equivalent college class.</p>
<p>With 1-2 hours of studying for each AP I have already taken (with the possible exception of APUSH)…I bet I could get 4+ on my exams again.</p>
<p>I’ve heard they dont quite compare in depth to the college level at higher universities, especially the Ivy Leagues.</p>
<p>Some schools only let kids take a course a certain year though. For example, at my school, students can only take AP Biology sophomore or junior year.</p>
<p>I took AP Chemistry my junior year in high school and had no problems with organic chemistry my second year of college. General chemistry doesn’t have much to do with organic chemistry anyway. It’s really not that big of a deal when you take it, unless you really struggled through it the first time. You can always review the subject, if you need to.</p>