<p>This is really interesting, the University of Florida is #2 on the list with over 10,000 reports, which is somewhere around the total they accept (at least twice that many apply), yet only around 6600 freshmen matriculate. I am thinking that they automatically access these AP scores from CB, as they do SATs and ACTs of their applicants. They do not ask for applicants to send in AP score reports and I would imagine only a few high performers would volunteer that info at their own expense. Florida is a high AP-taking state since tests are paid for by the state.</p>
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<p>First year? I thought AP tests are only offered in May.</p>
<p>Yes, I was hoping someone would mention what happens in Florida. There does seem to be automatic reporting of most College Board scores of Florida high school students to Florida public universities. What JUMPS out at me in the state listings is the very low level of AP score reporting in Iowa, which is not a slouchy state academically. There are still some big regional differences in AP program participation.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what data like this is supposed to mean. </p>
<p>It is no surprise that the greatest number of exams are submitted for flagship state universities. After all, these schools are huge, with freshman classes over 6,000 in some cases, and they draw excellent students. Looking at sheer numbers, BYU is the first private uni in the top ten, at 10. NYU and USC are the only other privates in the top 25. </p>
<p>If you look at exams/student, though, Dartmouth and Penn are at the top, with 3.1 exams/student. The first state unis to appear in the list are U VA at 7 and college of wm mary at 13. </p>
<p>What makes this data rather useless, IMHO, is that in some areas, AP exams are paid for by the school district or state. (see post 21) And in the DC area, Matthews, ed writer for the Washington Post has relentlessly pushed AP courses for everyone, so I suspect public schools in No VA have a lot more kids taking APs than in other areas. Also, many top prep schools that are feeders for the elites have dropped APs entirely.</p>
<p>So, overall, interesting data that does not tell us much.</p>
<p>What would be useful would be to include the average score in such results. Then I bet we’d see some significant patterns in the data. Such information is available, but not released publicly to my knowledge. For instance, schools are sent summaries for all tests taken by students from that HS.</p>
<p>FYI, there is a reasonable explanation for some of the odd numbers here (read: Harvard, Princeton etc. with an average of 2.488)…It would be very time consuming to figure this out, but two things could be at play here:</p>
<p>1) If a student has taken umpteen # of AP courses/exams, but the school they are accepted at only gives credit for certain AP’s/certain scores…(many top students earn 4’s which may not get credit so why would they send the score?)OR ("Harvard/Princeton etc. will not accept AP English credit so why would I send it?)…</p>
<p>2) In the reverse analysis, there may be schools on that list that would not be considered “top 20” but accept ALOT of AP credit courses from incoming freshman: Accepted students would be thrilled to “send them all”</p>
<p>Also: Where on the list is Dartmouth? (for example?) and Brown is at 80 something? See #1 explanation…</p>
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<p>Many have dropped AP classes but still encourage their students to take the exams. Exams validate the quality of the non-AP classes.</p>
<p>I agree, though that sheer numbers alone are not useful.</p>
<p>Re: post 25: Unless a student decides not to report an AP score, all scores are reported, regardless of whether a student plans on making use of the credit.</p>
<p>EDIT: I now remember that S DID send in a score report and was deemed eligible for Advanced Standing. His AP-English Language (score of 5) was deemed worth .5 credit rather than 1 full credit.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information all who have posted. For a moment I felt my motor running in high gear, thinking we had neglected something important by not submitting D’s AP scores “officially.” Nice to know <700 juniors are National AP scolars, I guess. A lot of sleep deprivation went into that one.</p>
<p>mammall:</p>
<p>If your D wants to receive credit for the AP classes she took I don’t know if it’s sufficient to just have them on the HS transcript and not have them sent to the school from Collegeboard. Assuming your D would want to take advantage of the credits I think you should have them officially submitted or check with the particular colleges to see if they accept the HS-reported scores.</p>
<p>In addition to possibly getting out of some classes or starting at a more accelerated level for some, she may be able to start out with a higher standing and depending on the school, have a higher priority in enrollments.</p>
<p>^^^I think mammall’s concern is that her daughter has not submitted them as part of the application process. Once she matriculates somewhere, her daughter will have to have an official report submitted–at least at any school with which I am familiar.</p>
<p>I don’t really understand why any student with a lot of high AP scores would not submit an official record upon matriculation. Even if a student chooses to use only one or two of the courses to skip the introductory level of a course and move into something more interesting, that is worth $15.</p>
<p>Here’s what’s pretty sad - I think my D has been taking them mostly to compete in the nuclear arms AP race at her high school - hadn’t really thought about college credit. Her school pays for the AP exams, which has been nice, I guess. The school is very interested in having the students take as many as they can handle.</p>
<p>Marite,
You raised an important point. According to the College Board, 2,533,431 students took at least one AP exam last year, but only 1,464,254 exams total were taken. That works out to an average of 1.7 AP exams per student, far lower than the thousands seemingly taken by individual CC students. 
Additionally, just under 15% of students in public high schools earned a 3 or higher on an AP exam. Which begs the question of exactly why the College Board felt the AP audit was necessary in the first place. </p>
<p>See more details at: [AP</a> Report to the Nation 2007](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/ap/nation]AP”>AP Program Results – Reports | College Board)</p>
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<p>AP scores – and any other standardized test scores – shouldn’t be on the high school transcript at all because putting them there takes away the student’s right to decide whether or not to submit the scores to a college.</p>
<p>Carolyn:</p>
<p>Well, S’s friend is responsible for a huge deviation from the average, having taken 20 APs, 16 with scores of 5 and 4 with scores of 4! And he’s not on CC! He can make my S feel like such a slacker…</p>
<p>Your son’s friend both simultaneously impresses and terrifies me.</p>
<p>Marian - D’s school lets her specify which scores to report on transcripts.</p>
<p>Marite - we have a boy like that in D’s class. Way more than my D’s 9 completed by end of junior year - several self-studied that the school doesn’t even offer. His mom says he’ll enter college at least as a junior. They are pleased to save a lot on tuition, I think. He looks as if he hasn’t slept in several years.</p>
<p>S’s friend is planning to stay all four years, as do the majority of students who are eligible for Advanced Standing. He does not strike me as particularly stressed, but he’s always looking for more things to do.</p>
<p>Mammal,
Your friend’s S may find that only some schools will accept APs for advanced standing. My S’s school accepted none, and CMU offred him soph standing. Only the flagship would accept APs and College classes.</p>
<p>Bookworm is correct. Many LACs do not offer Advanced Standing and will only accept a maximum of two APs, for the purpose of placing out of introductory courses or fulfilling Gen Ed requirements. S1 attended such a LAC and, in the event, opted not to use his AP credits as he wanted to take more than the minimum of courses in his major.</p>
<p>S2 used his APs to place into more advanced classes but was not actually required to show his AP scores.</p>
<p>I think the boy is headed to our top 50 public U and wants to start med school early. He’s a sweetie really.</p>
<p>I’m wondering what field mammalls’s acquaintance plans to major in. Many science or engineering majors cannot be completed in less than 2 1/2 or 3 years no matter how many advanced placement credits one starts with, because the courses required must be taken in a specific sequence and are not always offered every semester.</p>
<p>My son has been granted an enormous number of credits at his “top 20” (USNWR) private university due to many AP classes (all with scores of 5) and several university courses taken during hs which did not appear on his hs transcript. In theory he could complete a BS in less than two years with the number of credits, but in reality he could not do so even if he wanted to (he does not) because of the sequence of courses required for his primary major.</p>
<p>However, he is using a lot of the advanced placement in order to bypass introductory courses; in this way he can pursue multiple majors and possibly will complete a masters degree in the primary field within four years (too early to tell about that part yet).</p>
<p>Every university (and schools within universities) has its own rules and (it appears to me) sometimes those rules are subject to flexible interpretation. Son investigated before he made his final decision, and the policy about AP/university credit was one of the important factors for him in choosing a school, because of his interest in majoring in multiple fields.</p>