Most "top" colleges will make it difficult to gradate early by using high school/AP/community college credits. My Ivy school allowed your APs to place out of required introductory courses and go right into the intermediary courses (but you still had to take an exam before you placed out), but they did not contribute to the number of credits needed to graduate (each school calculates classes differently but think of it as 8 classes per year, 32 classes needed to graduate, you need 32 "credits" to graduate).

I did know of a few kids who by taking extra courses over the summer and loading up on five courses a semester instead of four, graduated a semester early.

At age 13 it is way too early to be thinking about graduating from college early. You have no idea how your son will perform in high school. Already thinking of the AP classes? Don't jump the gun.

But developing a strategic plan for handling college is still sensible. Just keep all the options open. For example, if you are already confident of your son's academic performance and have realistic expectations that he will be an excellent student with great grades and scores, then also look at the merit scholarship options at lesser/midlevel schools. Quite a few parents on here have had children whose kids got substantial merit aid at out of state private colleges that made those schools cheaper than going in-state. Or doing community college for 1-2 years and transferring to the flagship. Do lots and lots of research and apply widely. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you must do this now and only this route for the next nine years.

Anonymous wrote:Simple. Just tell him to make sure that he doesn't anything math related.

*Simple. Just tell him to make sure that he doesn't major in anything math related.

Simple. Just tell him to make sure that he doesn't anything math related.

Be careful, and know that it could limit his major choices. Best thing to do is take advanced classes, get good grades, and get merit aid.

My son is accepted to some good engineering schools, all of which advise kids not to use their science and math APs. Better success if they start over.

It's not that difficult to graduate in 3 years, if you have a relatively small number of requirements for a (probably social science) major. I am a college senior, and were I not in a dual degree program that requires a full semester of student teaching would have graduated in 3.5 semesters without any summer classes and 1 AP credit. If I had been doing a single major even without some summer classes it'd probably work!

Small college with merit based scholarships, plus summer classes.

AP credits don't have everything to do with whether or not you graduate early. For instance, I graduated college in 3.5 years(an entire semester early) even though I only entered with 6 credits(less than half of a semester). I started on track to graduate in 4 years, but because I worked extra hard, I managed to knock off a semester in the end. I didn't let the fact that I entered with few AP credits stop me from graduating early. On the other hand, I have a lot of friends who entered with way more AP credits than me, but still took the full 4 years. It really all depends on the choices you make in college.

I like the idea of taking off the third year. Everyone I knew studied abroad, so were gone junior year, anyway. This way you start with your age-mates freshman year, you end with your class senior year. And while they are studying abroad (or whatever) you have internship (maybe one out of the country). Hadn't considered this as a possibility, but it sounds great!

Anonymous wrote:Don't try it. My best friend's son failed two classes because he skipped the intro classes at college, and he was a national merit scholar. AP isn't college work, no matter what the high schools tell you. It ruined his self confidence.

This is a good point that is often overlooked. My daughter went straight into Bio 2 after getting a 5 on the AP exam and getting credit for Bio 1...big mistake. She really lacked that solid foundation that was required for the higher level bio courses. She managed to eke out a C in the class but not without tutors, many late night study sessions and time spent in the professor’s office.

Don't try it. My best friend's son failed two classes because he skipped the intro classes at college, and he was a national merit scholar. AP isn't college work, no matter what the high schools tell you. It ruined his self confidence.

Anonymous wrote:

You can graduate in three years by taking summer classes. I wouldn’t count on AP.

But a lot of my friends' kids entered with AP credits, took summer classes, and still took the full 4 years.

OP, We have four kids in or through college. I was really surprised by how many colleges limit the AP classes they’ll accept, even with 5s. The best way to pay for college is merit based scholarships. All four of my children received significant awards. Two of them went completely free. We don’t qualify for any need based assistance. We taught our children starting very young that they would need to earn scholarships to help with college.

You can graduate in three years by taking summer classes. I wouldn’t count on AP.

Some colleges award automatic sophomore standing for a full IB diploma

I did this 15 years ago. I carried a couple of AP class credits in, and then I took summer classes at community college each summer.

Also choose a college where you will not have difficulty getting the into the classes you need whenever you want to take them. The kids I know who took 5 years to graduate were at schools that seemed to have a knack for making it hard to fill your requirements in a 4-year window. Also make sure it isn't a school that requires 4 years of tuition to get the degree.