What AP exams are worth taking?

abhim89
Mon, 05 Mar 2007 16:32:19 +0000

if you’re majoring in a science, engineering, or any other major where a science intro class is not required, the AP exam doesnt seem very helpful. for bio and chem, you apparently have to take another placement exam to see if your AP credit can be “converted” into real Penn credit. even if you get this credit, you still need to take the respective lab course. however, physics C will you credit for intro physics though (so you only need to take the physics lab to get credit)

you can skip out of the lab component only if your school has a very rigorous, college-level lab course (and very few do). from what i hear, its a matter of handing your lab notebook in for review, and credit is given on a case-by-case basis.

i’m considering taking the placement tests anyway because i’m worrying about graduating in four years. however, i have no idea if skipping those intro classes will hurt me in later courses. the prospect of studying for the tests over the summer also doesn’t seem very appealing… :(