Re: CHAT: University Advice (was Re: A bit of advice)

Cathy Whitlock wrote:

> In a message dated 9/8/2000 9:18:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> pbrown@POLARIS.UMUC.EDU writes:
>
> << >I think I should repeat my suggestion about taking AP tests, though:
>  >I got out of 40-something hours with it, and many people I know got
>  >out of 60 or more (Eric did).  It can turn a 5-year stay as an undergrad
>  >into a 3-year one.  Look into the language AP tests in particular:  Eric
>  >got out of 22 hours of Spanish, all as As, his freshman year by getting
>  >a 5 on the Spanish AP.
>
>  Or better yet, you can fill up those 2 "extra" years with all sorts of
>  interesting courses you'd _never_ be able to take otherwise! Do
>  something interesting with that AP time: take fencing, or some animal
>  science course or a physical science (geology is truly fascinating).
>  Take two or three self-study languages - if UoT offers them. Take a
>  second degree (in a language would be easy, or something
>  complimentarty like history) and or a minor certificate.
>
>  Whetever you do, _don't_ leave undergrad school in 3 years. There're
>  too many fascinating opportunities!
>   >>
>
> How many credits can you get per AP?
That depends entirely on the university and college.  The most elite US universities
often don't accept many at all.  My friend's brother, who ended up at Rice, took
lots of tests, and could have qualified 64 hours of credit when he got there, if Rice
had accepted all of them. They didn't, and he ended up with 50-something hours.
My US history and European history tests both qualified me for six hours of class
each (or two semesters each) at UT, but my macroeconomics only got me
three credit hours, as did my English lit, English language.  The language tests, as
I think I've mentioned, can get you bundles of hours.  Typically, a 5, the highest
grade, will get you 24 hours of A here; a 4 perhaps 18; a 3, 12; a 2, 6.  I don't
think they accept 1's.   For most tests, however, do not expect any credit for
anything below a 3, and for many universities, even that is too low.  Princeton
and Harvard, I believe, accept only 4's and 5's, and at that, only for credit, not
for a grade which can then be figured into your GPA as a cushion.

Incidentally, some schools accept the SAT II subject tests as cheaper equivalents of
the APs.  UT requires SAT II subject tests in English composition, and when I got here
I discovered I'd gotten out of 3 hours for that too (which happened to overlap
entirely with the English language AP test according to UT's criteria).

> And I agree with Padraic- take other things!
Oh, I understand.  That's what I'm doing:  since I had nearly half of a history
major finished through testing, I decided to add a second major to the linguistics.

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Tom Wier   |     "Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."
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