AP score and AP class grade inconsistency

Applying to College
1

My D recently got AP scores. Took four AP tests in Bio, Calculus BC, APUSH and Comp Sci A respectively. However got 5 on all except Comp Sci A where she got 4. But she got straight A’s in her AP class. Does this score of 4 in “Comp Sci A” look bad on the college application , if she wants to apply for elite schools?

2

AP score of 4 is a good score. Grades will be more important than the AP score.

3

Only on College Confidential and Reddit do people (incorrectly) think a 4 is bad.

She may not get credit for a 4 but it won’t be the reason for rejection.

4

Then it is fine. She can submit the score to the colleges with confidence. There was a worry because of the mismatch between AP class grade and AP score. Thanks for clearing the doubt.

5

That is not a mismatch. A mismatch is an A/1 or 2.

6

An A grade based on high school grading standards in an AP course would probably be a match for a 4 or 5 score on the AP test.

If A students in AP courses were mostly getting 3 scores, that would raise some questions about the quality of those AP courses at that high school. If A students in AP courses were mostly getting 1 or 2 scores, that should be a big concern about the quality of those AP courses at that high school.

7

Last year, about 27% of students received a 5 on CSA. Another 22% received a 4.

How many students in her HS class received an A? I’m guessing it’s closer to 49% than 27%.

Thinking A=5, B=4, C=3, as some do, simply misunderstands how AP scores are generated.

8

https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/about-ap-scores/ap-score-scale-table gives what the College Board suggests as college grade equivalencies for AP scores.

However, colleges grading is different from high school grading. Students at super-selective colleges were A students in high school, but become mostly A to B students in college. Students at colleges generally were mostly A to B students in high school, but become A to C students in college.

So it is reasonable to say that an A in a high school AP course may correspond to a 5 or 4 score on the AP test (rather than just a 5 score).