One of the most practical benefits for IB and AP classes is the possibility of earning college credits by doing well on the test. This is a great selling point, because, without thinking diligently about it, attempting to test out of college classes makes financial and professional sense. Even though it may seem like a good idea when first signing up for those AP and IB classes, testing out of some classes in college should be looked at cautiously.

College, like high school, is a place to learn and better oneself. The classes offered at college are meant not only to teach how to be successful in that particular class, but how to be successful in the professional world. For example, in most colleges one of the general education requirements is an entry level writing course. While it may seem like a good idea to try to test out of a class such as this one to try to get a step ahead, it might not be the best decision. Classes like this are not only about learning information, but learning life skills. The ability to write an essay, or any kind of paper, is a skill which will be important in just about any job later in life.

Another reason for not attempting to test out of classes is the difference in pace of the college classes compared to high school ones. In high school, the pace is slower than those college classes. In a class such as calculus, the amount of information learned in one school year in high school is the same information learned in only one semester in college. The increased pace in college can leave some students reeling when they go to the next level thinking they can handle the information in a reduced amount of time.

If a person thought they were done worrying about GPA in high school, they thought wrong. In college GPA is just as important and taking classes that are slightly easier can provide a GPA boost, which may end up being incredibly helpful later, especially when applying for graduate school. Taking a harder class could result in lower grade, which could seriously damage one’s GPA.

This does not mean testing out of a particular college class is a bad idea; future college students need to really consider what they will use high school credit to pass over. When it comes to classes not in a future college student’s major, testing out of classes is not an entirely negative idea. If a student majoring in communications wants to test out of a calculus class, it would be a good idea to pass over the required math class.

College is a whole new playing field, and anyone coming into it needs to consider all the possibilities. While testing out of some college classes might be a good idea, students need to think about whether or not it will benefit their college career.