Just note that top academic institutions don’t accept most AP credit.
I personally would much rather go into college knowing multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, and algorithms than AP bio, AP chem, AP CS, and AP US History.
First point: The very top institutions won’t give you much college credit for it, but they will take it into account in admissions, and it makes it easier to lobby for various little goodies.
Second point: This is a bureaucracy hack, not a mind hack. I have no idea whether it’s better in the long run for a teenager to prioritize depth or to prioritize breadth.
Indeed—and something not to be overlooked is the fact that credits = $,$$$ and time. I had calculus in high school that was taught through a small local college, but my university didn’t want to accept it. Well guess what? They had something called “Credit by Exam.”
I took a test, passed with flying colors, and think I maybe paid $150 for my four credits.
Four credits for a typical class, at the time, was about $1,500-2,000 (or maybe even a bit more?). So.. you’ll save some dough.
But guess what? Not needing to actually spend the time taking those four credits (or more) will also free you up to take classes you are more interested in or think will provide more utility to your education. Go deeper and take an extra class in whatever field… or go broader and learn something completely unrelated to your field.
There’s quite a bit of freedom in this advice over and above what you’re getting credit for (the AP this-or-that vs. some-other-subject debate).
I can’t overemphasize how true this is. The economic advantages that APs have given me are staggering: I took 14, passed all of them, and started at my local state college with enough credit to obviate all but one of the 30-40 credits of required gen. ed. courses. Since they’re effectively paying me to come here, I didn’t graduate in 2 years like I could have, but instead am taking the full 4, getting a double major, and actually struggling a bit (even after many courses taken just for fun) to find enough classes to maintain full enrollment. Those tests cost about $1000, but seeing the benefits they were literally worth more than ten times that.
That’s freaking awesome. I wish I could go back and do that :) I entered with 16 I think, 12 that counted from AP classes and 4 from that credit for exam test.
the working world, regardless of whether it should be this way, tends to look at education. And a double major and diverse classes plain and simple just looks/sounds impressive. Win-win if you ask me: you get challenged and exposed to a diverse range of materials… and can hopefully leverage the paper you’ll get at the end for better pay if you choose. And better pay further increases options for donating, learning even more, etc.
Just note that top academic institutions don’t accept most AP credit.
I personally would much rather go into college knowing multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, and algorithms than AP bio, AP chem, AP CS, and AP US History.
First point: The very top institutions won’t give you much college credit for it, but they will take it into account in admissions, and it makes it easier to lobby for various little goodies.
Second point: This is a bureaucracy hack, not a mind hack. I have no idea whether it’s better in the long run for a teenager to prioritize depth or to prioritize breadth.
I was thinking more along the lines of those being the math you need for most non-math disciplines, as opposed to saying people should focus on math.
Most don’t accept AP credits, but they do let you place out of introductory classes.
Indeed—and something not to be overlooked is the fact that credits = $,$$$ and time. I had calculus in high school that was taught through a small local college, but my university didn’t want to accept it. Well guess what? They had something called “Credit by Exam.”
I took a test, passed with flying colors, and think I maybe paid $150 for my four credits.
Four credits for a typical class, at the time, was about $1,500-2,000 (or maybe even a bit more?). So.. you’ll save some dough.
But guess what? Not needing to actually spend the time taking those four credits (or more) will also free you up to take classes you are more interested in or think will provide more utility to your education. Go deeper and take an extra class in whatever field… or go broader and learn something completely unrelated to your field.
There’s quite a bit of freedom in this advice over and above what you’re getting credit for (the AP this-or-that vs. some-other-subject debate).
I can’t overemphasize how true this is. The economic advantages that APs have given me are staggering: I took 14, passed all of them, and started at my local state college with enough credit to obviate all but one of the 30-40 credits of required gen. ed. courses. Since they’re effectively paying me to come here, I didn’t graduate in 2 years like I could have, but instead am taking the full 4, getting a double major, and actually struggling a bit (even after many courses taken just for fun) to find enough classes to maintain full enrollment. Those tests cost about $1000, but seeing the benefits they were literally worth more than ten times that.
That’s freaking awesome. I wish I could go back and do that :) I entered with 16 I think, 12 that counted from AP classes and 4 from that credit for exam test.
the working world, regardless of whether it should be this way, tends to look at education. And a double major and diverse classes plain and simple just looks/sounds impressive. Win-win if you ask me: you get challenged and exposed to a diverse range of materials… and can hopefully leverage the paper you’ll get at the end for better pay if you choose. And better pay further increases options for donating, learning even more, etc.