<p>So, I am in a bit of a pickle.</p>
<p>I am taking AP classes and will be next year as well. I want to take the AP exams for college credit, but it costs too much for multiple exams. So if I don't take the exams will it hurt my already low chances for getting into a school like Yale?</p>
<p>I would say not. When my son applied to Yale he had only taking the AP Biology exam. He did eventually take four others but that was after his application was submitted. He is currently a freshman.</p>
<p>^kdog, had your S taken APs other than Bio that he did not take the tests for, or was AP Bio his only AP before sr year?</p>
<p>If you take AP courses in Grades 9-11 and don’t self-report exam scores on your college applications, the assumption will be that you scored poorly. That does not help your chances at Yale or any other school. You should take the AP exams this May. (I assume you’re a junior.)</p>
<p>You can get some AP exam fees waved (by either the board or your school) if you have financial need.</p>
<p>
No, he only took AP Bio his junior year. The school only offered 6 AP classes and two of them were reserved for seniors (Calc AB and English Lit). The others usually are given preference to seniors and if he wasn’t in the top 3 of his class he probably would have been bumped from Bio too. He took Calc, Eng Lit, and Psychology in addition to Stats his senior year. The only one he didn’t take was U.S. History (he’s a science major). No freshman or sophomore can take AP classes.</p>
<p>Thanks kdog. </p>
<p>I asked because I tend to agree w/wjb that AP exam scores are looked at for admission even though official score reports aren’t sent in. I don’t think they’re as important as SAT and Subject test scores, but they can given an indication of whether or not a student learned the information for the AP class. Because there’s a wide range in how these classes are taught and graded between schools and teachers, I think it helps to show by test score that you mastered the material. Not taking the test or not reporting (colleges can’t tell which you did) might raise a red flag.</p>
<p>JMO, others think that AP scores don’t count at all, but one has to wonder why they’re self-reported on the app.</p>
<p>IMHO, the core science and math AP scores (Bio, Chem, Physics, Calc AB/BC) may enhance an application but I don’t believe the others (i.e. Psych, Stats, History, English,Language) do much. If my son’s school didn’t make taking the exams a requirement for taking the class I would have only had him take the Bio and Calc exams.</p>