question about ap exemption in college?

Question

i will finish 3 ap courses (history, bio,chem) by the time i graduate. so when i'm in college, will i be forced to take much more advanced courses specializing in history, bio, and chem or will i be given a choice to pick any course i want? and will i be saving thousands of dollars in the long run because i took ap courses in high school? thanks for taking your time.

Answer 1

It depends on where you go to school and what your scores are. Sometimes AP classes will get you out of requirements, but some schools won't give you any credit. This may impact your college decision. It is easy to find out ahead of time what the AP credit policy is.

I had 5 AP credits and finished college in 3.5 years. In my case, the AP credits counted towards general requirements that I had in particular areas. Probably the most helpful was having AP credit in a language- it got me out of fulfilling the language requirement, which got me out of more than one class!! My alma mater gives out a lot less AP credit now than it did 10 years ago when I started college. AP classes that I got credit for back then (Calculus AB for an example) now get you zero credit, and in most cases you have to get a 5 to get credit at all.

If you want to be pre-med, (I am guessing from the sciences that you are taking), the AP courses might not get you out of the classes.

In general, though, an AP class is never a waste of your time. If nothing else, it will make your application more competitive because you have taken hard classes.

Answer 2

You wouldn't take the specialized courses right away. You'd just cut out the first one or two that are pretty standard before specialization. However most History courses are specialized so whatever form of history you're taking (European or American) you will get out of in college. Doesn't mean you'll be thrust into advanced courses, just not have to take those. You always get to pick the courses you want, but it wouldn't make sense to retake Chem 100 or whatever if you've got AP credit for it. I honestly don't see 3 AP courses saving you thousands of dollars in college. Depending on where you go, it could help cut out a semester or cut down your hours each semester. If you go anywhere like I did, you paid tuition to go to the University whether you took one class or 6.

Also, this is all predicated on you getting the scores necessary (usually 4 or better) on the AP tests to get the credit to begin with. Good luck though, AP Chem tests suck.

Answer 3

Slow down. You are getting way ahead of yourself.

First of all, you have to take the AP tests corresponding to your AP subjects. You need to pass with a good score on the test. You have to get a 3 at the very least. My university accepted a 4 for humanities, but required a 5 for math and science.

Now, if you get a high score on the AP test, and if your university accepts it (that's a big if), then they will give you credit for an entry level class in that subject. You can do what you will with those credits. If those classes are required for your degree, you are ahead. You have fulfilled one requirement towards graduation. You won't need to take that class. You can take further classes if you want, but that's up to you. If you get credits for the AP class in subjects that are not required for you, it's possible that you can use them to fulfill elective requirements.