<p>I'm a rising Senior. Junior year I only took 1 AP and 2 Honors classes. The AP class I took was Art History. From December to the beginning of May, I self-studied/got tutored for 9 other APs:</p>
<p>Calculus AB 5
Chemistry 5
Biology 5
Comparative Government 5
Psychology 4
US History 5
English Language 5
Human Geography 4
Macroeconomics 3</p>
<p>I got, however, 4 on Art History. I know colleges use AP scores as an indicator of the meaning of grades I receive in my AP classes (A- both semesters). But a 4 shows that the A- does not mean as much as it could be if I got a 5.</p>
<p>How much will this affect my admission chances?</p>
<p>Nine self-studied APs, with 6 5s is impressive, especially since 5 of them are in core subjects (i.e. math, science, english). You’ve obviously motivated and self disciplined to have done what you did. I expect that some admission committees will take interest in your energy and results. There must be a reason for why you put this much effort into self study, and I expect that you gave up something to succeed. Perhaps your essay can articulate your motivation and approach.</p>
<p>They’re not exactly all self-study. I got tutored/took outside classes for Chem, Bio, USH, and Eng. Lang. I self studied Calc AB, Comp. Gov., Human Geo., Psych, and Macroecon. You can tell I didn’t do too well on my self-studies (5, 5, 4, 4, 3. If only I got a 4 on Macro…). I did it for 3 reasons:
I’m not taking rigorous classes at school. I’m hoping that colleges will see this as rigor.
I’ve only taken 1 AP in HS so far, yet I’m taking 6 next year (Senior year). Colleges will think I will fail my classes if I don’t show them I can handle the difficulty.
To show I’m becoming more motivated.</p>
<p>That aside, I’m interested in how much this will factor in my admission chances. I am not being optimistic because I know AP scores traditionally aren’t worth much in admissions, but I would like opinions that take into account my particular situation.</p>
<p>Thanks. I do plan on mentioning this in my essay.</p>
<p>I agree with fogcity in that your personal effort will definitely benefit you, but I after seeing so many of my senior friends graduating and things i hear from former alumni, AP scores don’t weight that much in college admissions OR credits for the top colleges. This is due to the declining legitimacy of Collegeboard’s tests as an indicator of success in college, as well as the money loss and education loss top colleges suffer from APs. Seeing how EVERYONE who is admitted to the top colleges take AP tests and score 4’s and 5s, there is no reason to award credits for such courses. Ask anyone from an ivy league, you are maybe awarded for two APs only (AP calc bc and AP english).</p>
<p>The fact that the new common app has less slots for APs just goes to show their unimportance. And this is coming from a person with all 5s, so yes, it is sad.</p>
<p>There is currently a preview available in pdf format for the upcoming year’s common application. Yes, you can report additional scores in the additional information section.</p>
<p>However, remember they decreased the slots for a reason. It seems that any “additional information” in this area is just a waste. I’d reserve it for explaining clubs, etc instead.</p>