Dd number 1 right now is Clemson. Assuming she gets 4/5 like she did In Jr year AP classes she was will have 36 ge credits so that she will go into Clemson a essentially as a sophomore.
I have been having a similar conversation with my D regarding AP math and physics credit. Just because you can place out doesn’t mean it’s the best option. She’s going to a competitive school, and I’d rather her feel a little ahead than behind. I am still not sure what she will do yet.
Jumping back in after a bit of an absence to let everyone know S18 was accepted into Mechanical Engineering at Cal Poly SLO today! Thanks for all the support after we realized he didn’t fill out his application correctly (forgot to add his middle school classes that were at a high school level). It’s a big sigh of relief over here today!
I think it totally makes sense if a kid can use AP credit to get out of a class that is the last in the series a kid will need to take in college (so if AP calc credit gets you college credit for the highest math class you need to graduate in your major, us the AP credit). Less clear if the AP credits just get you out of one or more classes in a series but you need to take more classes in that series anyway. To me, I think it makes sense to look at the kid and the class. If they are very strong in the class/subject, use the credit. If not, consider re-taking the class in college.
Some colleges will not let you use certain AP credits for major classes. My son had to take intro chemistry as a chemical engineering student even though it was a waste of time. He later found out he could have just sat for the finals without taking the classes and gotten credit. There is some revenue protection element of those policies.
Re: AP
Something my DS and a few of his friends discovered when they went to Grad school was that some of their classes (mainly in the sciences) that they skipped due to AP credit, were required for Grad school and a few were scrambling their senior yr of college to get their requirements done to move on to their Masters/Doctorate programs.
I don’t remember specifics, its been too long and I know that AP credits have become a bit more fluffy in how they can be used but if your child is planning a route where graduate school comes into play, take a close look at the grad school requirements when choosing where to apply AP credits.
@RoonilWazlib99 My son won’t check his portal for SLO! It’s killing me to wait, I wish I had his password. We’re instate so may have to wait until tomorrow anyways. Congrats on your S’s acceptance. Is SLO his 1st choice?
My D16 took Biology in college instead of going for AP credit. Said the AP classes she took (no Calculus) were nothing like the college level courses. The one HS class she mentioned helped her in college classes was Anatomy and Physiology - all the memorization stuck!
May be wise to take the college placement tests for major courses, if not sure. I agree revenue protection plays a role at some schools. For example, D16’s LAC will not take outside credits for required language classes if you do not place out with their test.
As a CS major S will need a very good grounding in math and of course CS. He will use his chem, bio, English, history, econ, government, etc to fulfill whatever he can of the gen ed requirements but for math and CS he will probably not use those AP credits. His CS honors program has an honors version of intro CS anyway I think, so I’m sure he will get plenty out of that class even if some of the material is a repeat. If he decides to minor in something like bio, biochem, chem, or biotechnology he will probably retake the relevant intro courses there as well to make sure he’s properly prepared for the rest of the minor.
DS will have over 60 hours at either UK or U of L. He doesn’t plan to use credits in biology or chemistry (likely major is biology and/or neuroscience), but will likely use all others (calculus, stats, social sciences, English, etc.). Graduate in three years, study abroad or double major.
@homerdog and @SnowflakeDogMom thanks for letting us know how the use of APs impacted your older kids and their friends, I didn’t even think about the grad school issue.
My D’s college doesn’t give AP credit but it can be used in some subjects to satisfy prerequisites. I’m thinking the same as all of you, that if it’s for a topic that she will be building on, she needs to get in touch with people at the college (probably students there) to see how well this works at this school. In talking with her, though, she said that she only gets to take 8 classes a year, so I can see why you’d really want to use the AP credit to free up your schedule so you can take some classes that you’re more interested in.
@RoonilWazlib99 Congratulations to your son! You said previously that he really, really wanted this school, so that’s terrific! Is he done now, or still thinking about others?
For college that have registration periods based on credits earned Priority registration is a nice PERK of having many AP course credits on your transcript
Darn, nothing in the mail today about either scholarship.
@LOUKYDAD Arrrrrrgh! Hopefully tomorrow, then.
It’s in his top choice bracket, but he hasn’t visited and we told him he couldn’t accept an offer of admission without visiting a school. So he needs to schedule a visit and see if he still feels strongly about it.
I think whether your kid uses their AP credits to start in calc 2 or 3 really depends on your child. For some, it may be a good idea not to jump ahead and they might want to go ahead and retake calc 1 and physics as they may struggle on the college class and it may be nice to have an “easy A” to retake calc 1 and physics. For my DD16, she is very mathematically inclined, it was a very easy choice for not to retake the classes she had gotten AP credit for, she is double majoring in Electrical and Computering Engineering, so she kept her 68 AP credits and didn’t retake anything and didn’t struggle, she also tutored electrical engineering students her freshman year 2nd semester. It was a personal choice which AP credits she accepted, Guidance counseling asked her and she chose to accept them all, UTD allowed them all, but I guess all schools are different. She made sure it didn’t impact her scholarship first because she has a full National merit out of state scholarship. But she doesn’t regret skipping any of her major classes. She has a 4.0 in her 2nd semester of sophomore year and she takes 18-20 credits each semester and she’s working a 15 hour per work internship this semester. But again, that’s just what she chose and what was right for her, but might not be the right thing for others.
I think whether your kid uses their AP credits to start in calc 2 or 3 really depends on your child. For some, it may be a good idea not to jump ahead and they might want to go ahead and retake calc 1 and physics as they may struggle on the college class and it may be nice to have an “easy A” to retake calc 1 and physics. For my DD16, she is very mathematically inclined, it was a very easy choice for not to retake the classes she had gotten AP credit for, she is double majoring in Electrical and Computering Engineering, so she kept her 68 AP credits and didn’t retake anything and didn’t struggle, she also tutored electrical engineering students her freshman year 2nd semester. It was a personal choice which AP credits she accepted, Guidance counseling asked her and she chose to accept them all, UTD allowed them all, but I guess all schools are different. She made sure it didn’t impact her scholarship first because she has a full National merit out of state scholarship. But she doesn’t regret skipping any of her major classes. She has a 4.0 in her 2nd semester of sophomore year and she takes 18-20 credits each semester and she’s working a 15 hour per work internship this semester. But again, that’s just what she chose and what was right for her, but might not be the right thing for others.
I mentioned this before but since the topic is AP/DE credits, make sure your child doesn’t lose his/her freshman status for housing because of AP/DE credits. This happened to my friend’s daughter and because the housing is impacted at the school, she had to live off campus in a single apartment - not optimal to say the least! Just verify with your school that the incoming credits don’t supersede their ability to get guaranteed housing if that is something you’re looking at.
I haven’t seen the issue with respect to coming in with a lot of credits being an issue with housing but something to check into verify.
One benefit I have seen is if a school gives scheduling priority based on class standing, you may be able to schedule classes sooner if you are entering with enough credits to have sophomore or junior standing. My daughter scheduled classes a couple weeks before many of her friends because of her class standing.
All something you have to check specifically with each school. What AP classes and scores will be accepted for what credit. What impact (if any) does class standing have on other issues such as housing or scheduling.
Good advice! It didn’t matter at UTD for DD16 because AP credit didn’t transfer until about 4 weeks after she started as she had to sit down with guidance counselor and have a meeting to agree to what she wanted to count as credits. So she became a junior by credits about 4 weeks after she started school. It was complicated when she registered for classes because she didn’t have “credit” for the AP classes yet even though we sent the AP reports in. For example, The guidance counselor had to register her for calc 2 instead of her being able to electronically register because her prerequisite of calc 1 (AP credit) didn’t show up.
@bearcatfan- have you gotten into housing application for UCinci? We haven’t gotten in!