Michigan Admissions Officer Kris Tesoro: AP Is Not About Leaving College Faster

Short answer: University of Michigan admissions officer Kris Tesoro reminds families that AP courses are not simply a way to cash in credits and leave college faster. Many students arrive in Ann Arbor with four, five, or six APs — even plans for a double major — and still spend the full four years building a real college experience. Her remarks below are from a public admissions panel webinar hosted by La Jolla Country Day School (October 2025), not an exclusive EdComm interview.

Welcome back to part three of EdComm's Admissions Officers Interview series.

In the first two pieces, we took apart two common myths:

• Cornell admissions officer Marina Fried reminded families that a top university will not reject a student over one score or one AP choice. Admissions teams are reading for a whole person.
• UCSB admissions officer Cuca Acosta pushed the point further: don't take an AP just because it is sitting on the course menu. Colleges care about the thinking behind the choice.

Today we move to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor — and to a question that comes up constantly in parent conversations:

If my child takes more APs, can they graduate early, save a year of tuition, and move on faster?

Kris Tesoro's answer is refreshingly direct: don't treat AP as a "fast-exit ticket."

This article focuses on three practical questions for families: Should AP be understood mainly as a credit-transfer tool? How do top universities think about the full four-year undergraduate experience? And how should high school AP planning serve long-term growth instead of just speed?

Background: another version of AP anxiety is the rush to finish

When families talk about AP planning, the first question often isn't, "Will this course help my child discover a real interest?" It is more likely to be:

• "Will this AP count for college credit?"
• "If my child takes more APs, can they graduate earlier?"
• "Would finishing college in three years be more efficient?"
• "If my child already has five or six APs, can they skip a lot of introductory courses?"

These are real questions. College in the United States is expensive, and parents are right to think carefully about cost.

But there is a problem when every AP decision in high school is designed around credit, speed, and getting out early. That mindset can make students miss what top universities are actually trying to build.

College is not a highway lane. At a major public research university like Michigan, the four undergraduate years are not just a sequence of requirements to compress. They are time for students to explore fields, form an academic identity, enter research and communities, and become clearer about the problems they want to work on.

The admissions officer says

A lot of students come in with four, five, six APs. Some of them want to double major at Michigan. But they are still going to spend four years here. That is very much part of the culture of Ann Arbor. — Kris Tesoro, University of Michigan

Tesoro points out that many Michigan students arrive with a strong AP background. Some are already thinking about a double major. Even so, the norm is not to rush through and leave.

That is not just an administrative rule. It is a campus culture.

Students don't come to Ann Arbor simply to "test out and get out." They come to use the four years.

That distinction matters.

Many high school students load up on APs because they assume colleges want them to move faster and faster. They think the point of AP is to clear basic requirements, stack credits, and shorten the time to graduation.

But in some of the strongest university environments, the culture points in the opposite direction.

Universities want students to stay long enough to explore, change directions, join research, build relationships, participate in campus life, and find a path that is actually theirs.

EdComm's read: AP is about breadth, not speed

Tesoro's comments name a quiet misunderstanding in AP planning: many families treat AP as a tool for leaving college early, when its deeper value is helping a student meet college-level learning sooner.

In other words, the first question should not be only:

How many credits will this AP give me later?

A better set of questions is:

Does this course help my child test an interest? Does it train them to handle college-level work? Does it make their application story clearer?

Those two ways of asking lead to very different plans.

If the only goal is credit, a student can become a course-collecting machine. The transcript looks intense, but the child may not be able to explain why those courses matter — and may have no time left to build genuine interests.

If AP is treated as an exploration tool, the student starts asking better questions: Do I actually like engineering? Am I interested in economics, or just good at the class? Is my interest in biology coming from grades, or from real questions I want to keep studying?

Top universities are usually trying to find the second kind of student.

Three reminders for families

1. Don't make "will it transfer for credit?" the first filter

AP credit can be useful. But it should not be the only reason a student takes a course.

If an AP has no connection to the student's interests, possible major, or academic story — and is there only because "it transfers" or "everyone else is taking it" — it may not add much. It may even crowd out time that could be more valuable.

For example, a student who is deeply interested in politics, history, and writing does not necessarily become stronger by stuffing the schedule with unrelated STEM APs just to look rigorous. A serious public policy project, a thoughtful research paper, or real community work may say more about that student than another disconnected AP.

Course rigor matters. Direction matters too.

2. Four years of college are not wasted time. They are identity-building time.

Parents often ask: "If my child can graduate in three years, why not do it?"

There is no single answer. For some families, majors, and career paths, an accelerated plan may make sense.

But for students aiming at top research universities — especially those who may pursue graduate school, research, entrepreneurship, or highly competitive industries — the full four years can be an asset, not just a cost.

During those years, a student may:

• move from a vague interest into a real research direction;
• build relationships with professors through office hours and projects;
• join a lab, project team, or student organization;
• use internships and courses to keep refining a future path;
• shift from "I get good grades" to "I know what problems I want to solve."

Those things are hard to replace by transferring in a few extra credits.

3. AP planning should support the application story, not create exhaustion

We have met many students with plenty of APs and strong GPAs. But when we ask why they chose those courses, the answer is thin:

"Everyone takes them."

"I heard colleges like them."

"I was afraid not taking them would hurt me."

That is the same issue Cuca Acosta named in the UCSB piece: don't take a course just because it exists. In this Michigan piece, the same problem appears in a different form: don't assume an AP belongs in your child's life just because it might transfer for credit.

A strong AP plan should be able to answer three questions:

1. How does this course connect to the student's longer-term interests?
2. Does it show a real willingness to challenge themselves?
3. Does it make the student's application story more coherent, not more scattered?

If the answers are vague, the plan probably needs another look.

A more mature way to plan AP courses

Our advice to families: don't begin with "how many APs should my child take?" Begin with the child's growth path and work backward.

Ask first:

• What interests have become most stable for this student?
• What majors or academic directions might they apply toward?
• What courses are actually available at the school?
• Which APs would genuinely show academic readiness?
• Which courses look impressive on paper but mostly create overload?

Then decide the number and mix.

For an engineering-oriented student, AP Calculus, AP Physics, and AP Computer Science may naturally support the academic story.

For a humanities or social science student, AP US History, AP Government, AP English, and AP Psychology — paired with writing, research, and civic engagement — may feel much more coherent than blindly piling on unrelated STEM APs.

For a student who is still undecided, AP may serve as exploration, not proof that everything has already been figured out.

That is planning. It is not copying another family's schedule.

Source and data verification notes

FAQ

How does the University of Michigan look at AP courses?

Based on Kris Tesoro's remarks, Michigan does not treat AP simply as a tool for graduating early. Many students arrive with four, five, or six AP courses — some even planning a double major — and still spend the full four years at Michigan. The bigger question is how students use those years.

Does taking more APs mean my child can graduate faster from a top university?

Sometimes AP scores can earn credit or placement. But at top universities, the value of college is not only completing requirements. It includes exploration, research, professor relationships, internships, campus community, and personal growth. Credit may create flexibility; it does not automatically mean a student should compress the college experience.

What should a high school student ask before choosing an AP?

Don't ask only, "Will this AP count for credit?" Ask: Does this course connect to my interests or likely major? Will it train me for college-level work? Does it make my academic story clearer? If the course only adds pressure without purpose, it may not be the right choice.

If my child already has many APs, should we worry?

No need to panic because the number is high. The key is whether those courses form a clear academic pattern. If your child can explain why they chose them and how the courses connect to their interests, the APs become useful evidence. If the list looks random, activities, essays, and future course choices can help rebuild the logic.

Who is Kris Tesoro?

Kris Tesoro is a University of Michigan, Ann Arbor admissions representative with roughly 20 years of experience in college admissions. The remarks discussed here come from her participation in the LJCDS Advanced Studies Webinar (October 2025), a public admissions panel. This is part three of EdComm's Admissions Officers Interview series.

Series navigation

• Previous: UCSB Admissions Officer Cuca Acosta: Step Out of the AP Box and Truly Think
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