Throughout high school, students are advised to take Advanced Placement (AP) classes for college. Yet, while colleges determine credit for AP classes based on AP exam scores, some courses are ineffective in college. Even without gaining AP credit, students still benefit from taking AP classes.
After students successfully take an Advanced Placement exam, it is possible for them to earn credit towards their college degree. As stated by College Board, some colleges acknowledge that students already have a good understanding of the material of the course from an eligible AP score so they allow students to skip that course.
According to The Princeton Review, some colleges allow AP exam scores to place students out of certain course requirements, even if they do not accept credits by using their scores for placement to enroll in higher-level courses. This allows students to be placed in upper-level classes even if their credits do not translate over to their college transcript, therefore providing them another route to getting ahead in their college journey despite the fact that their credits were not accepted.
However, some schools such as Brown University do not accept AP credits, so no credit is awarded to the student for taking the course and passing the AP exam. According to College Board, many U.S colleges grant credit or advanced placement for scores of 3 and above, with the requirement varying for each individual course. According to College Prep, students should check their colleges’ individual policy in order to be sure that their scores can earn credit for graduation, as some colleges vary their score acceptance based on course.
Although there is a chance that not all Advanced Placement credits will be accepted by a student’s college, it is still beneficial to how students further develop in their education. According to College Board, even students that earn a score below a three on the AP exam benefit from experience in a college-like course as it prepares and helps adjust students to the rigor of a college course.
Additionally, a study by Challenge Success concluded that students who failed an AP exam were no more likely to graduate from college than were students who did not take an AP exam. Furthermore, Prep Scholar recommends students only take AP courses that focus on a particular specific subject if they are interested in it as it is harder to get credit for courses. 
According to Education Week, two to three percent of high school students in the U.S stack up on AP courses, incurring stress and sacrificing free time as part of a rivalry between other students to take the most AP classes as possible, in an effort to impress prestigious colleges that look favorably upon students who take a higher number of APs. According to College Advisor, although the amount of Advanced Placement classes taken by a student are important to colleges by showing them that you have been introduced to the pressure of college-level work it does not encapsulate everything needed for college admissions. So students should take the number and type of APs that make sense for the student and what they are aiming to pursue in college.
Students should still choose to take AP classes that do not give them credit in college but they should be aware of how it will affect them in the future. According to the Center for American Progress, participating and taking AP has begun to correlate to the rigor of a student’s education. As for example in colleges such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology even if a student gets a 5 on an AP exam for a certain class they have to retake the class, but the college still wants them to take AP classes to have a harder schedule to show that the students can handle a college-like schedule.
