Schools that take AP credit vs Schools that don't?

ucbalumnus
Wed, 26 Apr 2017 18:55:31 +0000

You have to distinguish between three possible ways AP credit can be used at a college:

a. Credit or course units counted toward the minimum number needed to graduate.
b. Subject credit for specific course requirements (e.g. accepting a high enough AP calculus score in place of a requirement to take calculus).
c. Placement into higher level courses (e.g. accepting a high enough AP calculus score to start in calculus 2 or 3 instead of calculus 1).

Note that b and c may be division or department dependent within a given college.

A college allowing none, any, or all of the above for AP credit; it does not necessarily mean the the college is “better” or “worse” than a college with different policies (other than for the direct effect of AP policy on the specific student).

For c, if a college allows higher placement through AP credit, and the student intends to take a more advanced course, it would be a good idea to try the college’s old final exams of the course that can be be skipped in order to make a good placement decision.