It's not exactly sophomore status - differs by school.

My DS's AP credits gave him the same number of credits as a sophomore at his school, but in his first year, he still had to live in 1st year dorms, couldn't bring a car to school, and couldn't rush first semester because he didn't have the required credits at this school. He did get to register early for the following year since he had enough credits to get the earlier date.

He isn't going to graduate early because he will do a minor or second major and he wants to have 4 years in college. Some of his AP credits got rid of requirements, others just placed in a higher class but he still needed to take it.

He's glad he has the APs but he really wasn't an actual sophomore.

It's so common at selective schools that you aren't special if you come in with credit. You're normal. Average.

Anonymous wrote:Not uncommon these days. My kid started with 62/63 credits due to AP/IB and whatnot.

+1 DC has 61 credits. But, "common" is relative. It's probably common in the DC area where there are a lot of high achieving kids and schools offer a ton of AP/IB classes. A lot of the IB magnet kids also self study for multiple AP exams. DC and their friends did this. They mostly got 5s.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP credit is different from sophomore standing.

New poster: not if the college accepts the AP credits.

I wouldn't know about less selective non-STEM program.

Many selective STEM programs accept lots of AP credit. https://www.registrar.vt.edu/content/dam/registrar_vt_edu/documents/Updates/ap_ib_clep/AP-Credits-2023.pdf A STEM major with 4s or 5s in calc BC, physics C, and non-STEM subjects could have enough credits to be a sophomore

VT isn't selective.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP credit is different from sophomore standing.

New poster: not if the college accepts the AP credits.

I wouldn't know about less selective non-STEM program.

Many selective STEM programs accept lots of AP credit. https://www.registrar.vt.edu/content/dam/registrar_vt_edu/documents/Updates/ap_ib_clep/AP-Credits-2023.pdf A STEM major with 4s or 5s in calc BC, physics C, and non-STEM subjects could have enough credits to be a sophomore

Anonymous wrote:why rush getting out of college, you get so much more out of 4 or 5 years than 3, academically, socially, fun, etc

I would rather my kid take a biology class at a university taught by a well respected college professor than some disgruntled high school teacher with 3 years on the job and no real world experience with a world class lab.

Me too, but that doesn't have anything to do with graduating early. If my DC already had college credit, I'd rather he replace the course with either a higher-level one in the same subject or an interesting course from a different subject vs just retaking the course in a lecture hall of several hundred.

Anonymous wrote:DS and many of his friends are going to be sophomores when they start college.

I started college with 3 semesters worth of credits from APs. I never would have called myself a sophomore when I started.

This is VERY common but nobody who is a freshman would actually call themself a sophomore.

so!

lots.

Be sure to look around to see what each college will give you for your array of AP exam scores. The amount you will get can vary greatly from college to college. Their web sites will offer clear guidance on each score for each test.

Anonymous wrote:DS and many of his friends are going to be sophomores when they start college.

Fairly common in the UMC world of DCUM. Both my two had enough credits to start as sophomores.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP credit is different from sophomore standing.

New poster: not if the college accepts the AP credits.

I wouldn't know about less selective non-STEM program.

Anonymous wrote:DS and many of his friends are going to be sophomores when they start college.

It's common. Lots of mcps schools have dual enrollment with MC. You can save a lot of money. But colleges that take them may be limited, like umbc, gmu, etc.

why rush getting out of college, you get so much more out of 4 or 5 years than 3, academically, socially, fun, etc

I would rather my kid take a biology class at a university taught by a well respected college professor than some disgruntled high school teacher with 3 years on the job and no real world experience with a world class lab.

Very common, DC says it doesn't actually help with class registration since very so few slots are lower.

Must be pretty common if you already know many kids doing it in your circle.