Questions about the AP Credit/Freshman Course Placement

psywar
Sat, 06 May 2017 05:13:37 +0000

@labeezy since you are going for COS, yes you should place out of the AP courses, especially Chem. If you are rusty with your Econ or Calc, just brush up over summer.

POS of skipping ahead
More interesting classes, sooner
Classes like physics / ChemE require time consuming labs
Skipping ahead means more flexibility with later classes, making it easier to earn more certificates.
More classes with sophomores, making friends with older kids = easier bicker if you want a non-sign in. Eating Club.

NEGS of skipping ahead
If you don’t remember material, you need to review more before classes
Skipping to higher level classes could hurt your GPA til you calibrate to Princeton rigor.
Some higher level classes are filled by the time freshmen register (last group register classes)

My son (Class of 2020) skipped everything and doesn’t regret it, except that he has 3.5 GPA, which we wish was a 3.75. He says retaking basic ChemE or physics would have been a waste.

Totally agree you should visit real-talk Princeton (a tumblr blog) for better info!

Cheers,
Psy