<p>Hey everybody, </p>
<p>I have a couple of questions. Is it better to have the most amount of AP Exams done by the end of Junior year or is AP exams more relative to college credit? I am self-studying for AP Stats which is this Friday. I rather do AP Stats in college though. Is it better that I cancel my test now? Without Stats, I would have 3 AP Exams done by the end of Junior Year (USH, Chem, and Psych). I'm taking 7 next year though. What do you think? Should I refund my test or should I take it?</p>
<p>I may be completely wrong but it is to my understanding that top tier schools rarely award credit for AP exams - a lot of schools are abandoning their AP credit policies because they feel that there are serious deficiencies between the AP curriculum and the corresponding introductory college course. For whatever reason, Duke comes to mind specifically. The significance in taking multiple APs is that it demonstrates course rigor and (potentially) weighs your GPA, thus putting you at an advantage in terms of weighted class rank. </p>
<p>@preamble1776 So, really doing AP Exams without taking the course is pointless? </p>
<p>That’s what I’m hearing, but I’m not sure. </p>
<p>There are lots of top schools still giving credit, at least for a 5. But some don’t. My kid is doing engineering at Northwestern U, which I think is a top school, and his 5 on the AP Chem exam is replacing 3 science classes. A 5 on AP Lang this week will give 2 humanities/distribution classes (though a 4 or less will mean 0 credits).</p>
<p>@Daddio3 So, basically are AP Exams just for College credit or do they play a part in admissions?</p>
<p>The scores do not play a part in admissions. The class rigor displayed by taking the classes DOES play a part in admissions. </p>
<p>They definitely play a part in admissions. (Not so much the class, but the score you get on the exam.)</p>
<p>Nope, the score plays no role in admissions since the scores are self-reported. Self-studying a course will also play no role in admissions.</p>
<p>AP Exam scores are self reported - and people often cherry pick their strongest or most impressive scores; so I imagine the effect that the score plays in admissions is negligible - the biggest part of AP is the course itself which demonstrates rigor which is often one of the most important factors in admissions next to GPA and SAT/ACT. </p>
<p>I don’t know how valued AP scores are in admissions but I know they can be used for getting awards and scholarships. Not sure if that helps but the posters above me got the general gist of it</p>
<p>Hmm, what scholarships?</p>
<p>To answer the OP’s question, I think colleges do look at both the AP courses taken and the scores. Why else would there be a place to list them on the common App. Self-studying probably makes a good impression but I doubt it matters nearly as much as some kids on this site seem to think it does. Especially if it’s one of the “easy” APs and if there isn’t a clear motivation of why you would be self-studying it. </p>
<p>@mathyone I guess, my question is… Do colleges consider AP exam scores as part of their admissions?</p>
<p>They seem less interested in them than you might expect. For instance, many top colleges will require SAT2 scores, even if you have AP scores, even if those APs are in the same subjects. Personally, I don’t really understand that, although perhaps it’s because the AP grading is pretty lenient and there are only 5 possible scores. However, there is a section to list APs on the common App so I imagine they look at it.</p>
<p>It could, you never know about how each and every college works, but its just more for college credit I heard. But like what preamble1776 pointed out, some colleges don’t accept too much credit, especially the top elite for the majority of them. </p>
<p>I checked on College Board about Stanford University, (just because of your profile pic lawl), and they only offer credit for; Calculus AB (4/5), Calculus BC (3/4/5), Calculus BC: AB Subscore (4/5), Chemistry (5), Chinese Language (5), Computer Science A (4/5), French Language (4/5), German Language (4/5), Japanese Language (4/5), Latin (4/5), Physics B (4/5), Physics C: Mechanics (3/4/5), Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism (3/4/5), and Spanish Language (4/5).</p>
<p>Plus they have some odd rules too. Stanford doesn’t accept a lot of AP Credits… </p>
<p>It may play a role, but it depends on the college. The name of AP itself on your transcript could be rigorous. Plus some colleges exclusively look at rigor the most, some even exempt GPA and SAT/ACT completely. It depends. But if you’re talking about Stanford, they look at Academic GPA the most (from the looks of their statistics).</p>
<p>I saw a post where someone said they called Penn admissions who said they don’t even look at the self-reported AP scores. I don’t know for sure.</p>
<p>But don’t colleges need to look at the AP scores to make sure the class was truly an AP class and not some easy class in which grades are heavily inflated?</p>