I was admitted early decision to the Brown U class of 2019, but I recently heard some troubling news from my high school: to list classes as AP courses on my transcript, I now need to score a four or above on the corresponding AP exam. This means that if I were to get a 3 on the AP Chemistry exam, the class would be listed as Advanced Chemistry and not AP Chemistry. (All of this has happened in the past week.)
Anyway, I called Brown and they said that if AP courses were listed in the application, they would expect to see AP courses in the final transcript. They said that they would evaluate all of the information when they had it, and that I shouldn’t worry about it, but I am definitely worried right now. I’m doing well in all of my classes, but I haven’t been prepping for the AP exams because Brown doesn’t offer credit/placement that I would use for the ones I’m taking. I should be able to do well, but the idea that I might have to wait until July to know my academic standing at Brown is terrifying.
I feel like I got a mixed message from them. What do you think: will scoring a 3 or below on one of the exams mean that my admission could be rescinded from Brown? If so, is there anything I should be doing now except frantically studying for these horrid tests?
I think it is understandable that Brown admissions doesn’t want to make assurances over the phone regarding hypothetical outcomes and without all the facts.
What you can do right now is collect all the documentation you can to show that as of today, you are enrolled in AP Chemistry; that you did not drop down to an easier course. Can you print out a transcript as of today, or show a mid semester grade report? The strongest evidence would be If you get your final report card in June, before AP results, and that shows your class listed as AP Chemistry. Showing documentation for the school policy that the course name is changed from AP to Advanced if you get a 3 or lower is also important.
Then, yes, you need to “study hard for these horrid tests”. A top student in a school with a good AP track record who has been doing the work all year should be able to pull a 4.
It is understandable that this is “terrifying”. If this is a new policy the school announced last week, I think it is very unreasonable to apply it to this year’s AP testing. There must be other students affected by this as well; aren’t people up in arms?
In any event, Brown’s expectation is that after an early admission, you will continue take the rigorous schedule you reported to them and continue to get good grades. If the school switches the course title on you after the fact, you will be able to document that it was a name change and not a switch to an easier class.
There is no way that Brown would rescind your admission over this. They can’t give you definites on the phone, but it’s just not going to happen. Plenty of Brown admitted students get senioritis and get a C their senior year with no issues.
I missed the part where the school was proposing to change the policy after the fact. In which case, there definitely would have been no issue. But, I’m glad it work out for you.
A lesson for you: please assume that an institution like Brown actually behaves rationally and it treats its community members humanely and thoughtfully. I’m not saying all colleges are like this (I can tell you some horror stories of some colleges) – but ones that are known for great customer (student) service, you should rest more assured. When I read over on the “College Admissions” forum of nervous posters who wonder if their B will get them rejected from some school, I wish someone were next to them to to give a good dope slap. hahaha
