I’ve read a lot of posts here about this topic, and I couldn’t find a satisfying answer.
Every credit I’ll have is listed below with idealistic scores/grades and how much credit they’re worth at the school I’m looking at:
AP credits:
Chemistry: 5 …8
Government: 4…0
Biology: 5…6
Physics C Mech: 4…4
English Lang: 4…0
Psychology: 5…0
Calculus AB: 5…4
Calculus BC: 5…8
Statistics: 5…4
Environmental: 5…4
Physics C E&M: 4…4
Community College Credits:
Organic Chemistry 1: A…4
Organic Chemistry 2: A…4
Differential Equations: A…3
Total Credits: 53
Answers for Questions that will come up:
I’m set on becoming a Chemical Engineer, and have a very low chance of changing my mind.
I’m applying to go to Johns Hopkins. I’ve read up on all their credits and transfer credit policies, so the credits above would likely transfer (to my knowledge).
A lot of people have said that AP credits don’t really matter as much as high school made them out to be, but I’d like to know how realistic getting credit for AP classes/college courses to graduate earlier would be. Each year is worth around 30-32 credits in college, so if I tacked on some extra effort could I finish up and graduate in 2 years?
So these are my main questions:
- Does every credit transfer regardless of your degree choice? For example, do I have to retake Chemistry because it would be a core degree requirement? I’ve read that people suggest to not skip to upper level courses, but is it really that big of a transition?
- If I stay on track during college, and all the courses transfer, how realistic is graduating in 2 years?
- Colleges have “5 year programs” to get a masters degree with a bachelors. Would it be possible to have a similar “3 year program” with course exemptions to get a masters in 3 years?
- Johns Hopkins has a policy where freshmen and sophomores have to live on campus, and cannot register for a parking permit. Additionally, upper classmen have priority when selecting courses. If I registered with all these AP credits, would I enter as a sophomore? Or if I plan on graduating in two years would I technically be a junior? Or would I still be considered a freshman because its my first year in college?
The # of AP credits a college will allow is COMPLETELY up to the college. Most colleges will only give a maximum # # of AP credits, and some only allow them for scores of 4-5. So you need to go to the individual college websites and find out what their policies are toward AP credits.
NO Freshman with a lot of AP credits will be treated as anything other than a Freshman regarding housing, car polices, etc. The bump you may get due to AP credits would be to not to have to take some required classes.
It’s quite easy to graduate early with AP credits from Hopkins. However, the school does have a residency requirement which means you’ll have to complete 100 credits on campus (you can do summer terms as well). The fastest I’ve ever seen someone graduate from Hopkins engineering was 2.5 years and this kid took 20+ credits per semester for 5 semesters with exceptional course planning. If you really want to hate life and be in the library 24/7 this is a great way to achieve that.
Community college credits usually don’t transfer as well.
- Depends on the department’s policy.
- 2 years… unrealistic. 2.5-3 years probably. I would advise against doing summer terms and do internships instead; they’re going to help you more in the future (plus you make money instead of paying money so win-win).
- Again, from personal experience I would think 4 years is probably the least you can get it to.
- You’d be a freshman for most policies; however you should get priority registration since that’s based on how many credits you have (usually). The first semester you might not because of the college app/selection process.
This is based on my own research as I am in a similar position where I will graduate high school with 4 years worth of college credits (don’t ask Idk what I’m doing with my life either). I want to go into mechanical engineering and from what I’ve looked at I can get my time in college down to 2 very stressful years or 3 more relaxing years but… that’s assuming every one of my credits transfer and their are no schedule conflicts at all which is very unrealistic. 3 years seems like the sweet spot for me because I can enjoy my engineering schedule and supplement it with other subjects I’m interested in and will help me in the future.
If you have specific questions I would recommend emailing a admissions officer or possibly even the dean of chemical engineering for specific school and college of engineering policies and general trends.
Just do dual enrollment if you want to finish college faster. AP can’t give you 60 credits.
Thanks for the information. It looks like trying to finish in 3 years is the most realistic option, which I’m happy with.
@Jsteez, By “100 credits on campus” does this mean that only up to 20 credits will transfer regardless? Also where did you find this information?
@Bobbybob444555, I’m doing dual enrollment to finish 11 credits of Organic Chemistry 1 & 2 and differential equations. The combination of this and AP credits will add up to 53 credits.
I go to Hopkins and am graduating in 3 years. 100 credits must be completed AT Hopkins.
No. Generally a good number of your AP credits won’t fall into any required bucket:(
You may not want to graduate early, but you may want to:
- Do a Co-op//internship
- Study abroad
- Do a 3-2 Master’s program
- Do research
- Take lab courses
and take the 4 years.
It depends on what you want to major in…if those make sense.
My daughter graduated in 2.5 years (IB Credits + some summer courses) but then finished her masters in 1.5 years…since we would pay for 4 years of college, she got a second degree within that time. We also told her not to rush but were not going to prevent her.
If you graduate early, you will be younger than others at work/grad school…my daughter wasn’t even 21 when she started grad school. Now she is a teacher at just barely 22.
If graduating early is a priority, then look for colleges that will give you lots of credits and won’t require as much “residency” (credits taken at that school). Check out your State U.
Most colleges want you to take 60 credits at their college if you are a transfer. A top college like Johns Hopkins would want to make sure that you have the level of knowledge that they require and may not give you as much credit as your state U. What I would do is contact them with your info and ask how many credits you would get.
I’m currently enrolled in a CC and I recieved 32 credits from AP Courses and DE. By this time next year i’ll have 35 credits from the CC courses, so 67 total. I’ll most likely be graduating in 3 years- 1 at CC and 2 at 4 year.