How to cut college costs by up to 25%
Posted
Jun 24 2008, 08:45 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity:
Do you want to know how I shaved nearly 13% off my college costs? I took Advanced Placement classes.
I graduated college a semester early in part because I had loaded up on AP classes while I was in high school. Someone got it into my head that I could take AP classes for free (not counting the nominal fee for the exam) and get college credit for getting high marks on the AP tests. At the time, my brain wasn't thinking, "Oh, I can save money on college," but rather, "I can spend time now and have it count twice -- once in high school and once in college," so it was in part the bit of hustle inside of me that spurred me to action.
I took your standard science and math AP classes (chemistry, physics, calculus, computer science) as well as a few "useless" (from a college-credit perspective, not from a learning perspective) classes like comparative government, art history, and U.S. and world history. The net result was about one semester's worth of electives (and most notably skipping out on a calculus class offered at 8:30 a.m. only. You have no idea how happy I was to hear that).
For those of you looking to do this, my advice is that you do your research about colleges ahead of time to ensure that your time is spent most effectively. Also, consider taking classes that you may not get credit for but would ultimately enjoy.
Here are some tips:
Check to see if your potential colleges give credit for high scores and in which subjects. Then see what those scores are. I didn't know this, but I was not going to get credit for comparative government or art history.
If they do not but you are still interested, take the class but skip the exam. You only need the exam if you want credit. If you can't get credit even with a score of 5, just skip the exam.
The SAT/ACT and SAT II exams are more important. Given a choice, focus on the standardized tests over the AP exams (that's not to say you can't focus on both) because those tests get you into college. AP scores just get you further along once you are admitted.
Don't burn yourself out. If you take too many AP classes, you might overload yourself and perform poorly on the exams. Most colleges will award credit only for 4s and 5s, so keep that in mind.
Enjoy yourself. The point of AP classes is to expand your mind beyond the typical topics covered in high school. Art history isn't something most high school students have the opportunity to take, so enjoy the class and broaden your horizons. Without that art history class, I would know absolutely nothing about art. I've never regretted taking that class -- even if I got no credit.
You can get, at most, a year of credit with AP courses, according to the College Board. AP classes are your way of shaving up to 25% of your college costs.
Other articles of interest at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity:
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