Background
Georgia Tech is within the University System of Georgia and is stringent in accepting AP credits compared to peer schools within the system. I unintentionally discovered a loophole when taking college classes in high school at Augusta University, where the equivalencies of AP scores I sent to Augusta University could be transferred to Georgia Tech.
In fact, I had so many extraneous credits that I was close to hitting the federal limit of 150% of your degree program in credits, after which all your federal aid (Pell Grants, subsidized loans, etc.) is cut off.
BSCS at Georgia is 126 credits. I had 179 out of 189 available credits. I changed majors once.
Duplicate AP Exams
About twenty of these credits were actual duplicate credits (i.e. the same course number). An email to the registrar was a quick fix. Twelve of these credits are credits I should not have received.
For example, if I score 5 on AP Biology, Georgia Tech’s policy of only awarding one semester of credit should apply when transferring in classes. But instead the office honored two semesters of Biology credit, despite the original source of those credits being an AP Exam at a more lenient college.
Nine of these credits were credits from testing out of Spanish classes to take a higher level one. Never took the class.
At this moment I’m about 10 credits short of federal financial aid in completing my degree, which is about one semester without Pell Grant. Manageable, but it sucks to lose a few thousand.
Advice to high schoolers:
- Is a public college in your future? Consider not taking so many classes. Private institutions likely won’t suffer from this problem as their transfer equivalency tables are not so tightly coupled.
- If taking a higher level language class, make sure they don’t award you credit for testing out if you don’t want a minor in that area.
- Only send the AP scores you need to take higher level college courses at your dual enrollment college. Not all of them because you end up with useless credits.
- Taking a bunch of classes arguably has diminishing returns—It might’ve been better personal development to work as a waiter over the summer instead of classes considering I was already so far ahead.
Arguably I could have graduated in four years with a Bachelor’s and Master’s had I stuck to one route since starting college, but I think my experiences over the past two years have been critical for personal development. I didn’t have the means to take a worthwhile gap year after high school graduation, and so I think it was only by starting college could I grow by working internships, cooking for myself, and managing my own life.
Even though I don’t believe these extra credits are valid, I will face the issues coming up that may result from it and will graduate with a Bachelor’s in Computer Science.