You say a year but (1) colleges care how far you are in technical subjects like math, (2) you should care too because it affects what classes you take while in expensive college, (3) one year is what some students are looking at if they attempt some pedagogical plan, but others are looking at way more than one year of advancement. Without looking to extraordinary students, compare the lowest vs highest math tracks in schools, which is already an advantage in years.

Sometimes advantages accumulate until you take a different pathway in life that was otherwise not a confident bet.