[33girl]

Do they have AP credits in the sense of testing out of things (i.e. they don't have to take Freshman English) or do they have AP credits that give them an actual University GPA?

The first instance, it wouldn't matter. The second instance, they should be able to rush. Some of our sisters did that - the main thing was that they had a university GPA.

As for is it easier for upperclassmen to get a bid at a deferred school, the timing of rush really doesn't matter. SMU has deferred and it's obviously harder there than it would be at some schools.

If Frieda Freshman has a semester's worth of credits, I guess she could go through in the fall if she wanted to, but doing formal would probably be better.