AP Scores: Do They Matter For Top Schools?

<p>I just finished my sophomore year at a competitive public high school in Orange County, California. I have a 4.25 gpa (highest in the class) 2 800s on SAT IIs, and on my last practice (but real test) SAT I got a 2300 without any prep yet (I will soon though). I am President of 2 organizations and will be president of 2 more by end of next year. Pretty much, I have a really good GPA, good future SAT (hopefully!) and SAT II scores great extracurriculars and probably very good teacher recs. I am also a good essay writer and will probably get my name published in a medical paper. many of my extracurriculars tie into medicine. i have 400+ comm service hrs already. I am also middle eastern and speak arabic, as well as latin. Oh and i really didnt mean to sound cocky! I really am not at all i just wanted to be somewhat brief.
Anyways, this year i took 3 aps, more than anyone else in my grade, and got 5s on all (calc bc, world history, bio). I am also taking 6 next year (again, most in the grade). I want to apply to yale, brown, berkeley, georgetown, cornell, dartmouth, harvard, northwestern, and ucla. Will getting 5s on my ap tests make a difference at all? how big of a difference?</p>

<p>They won’t really make a difference. They will just affirm your grades</p>

<p>yes they will actually.</p>

<p>Congratulations and keep up the good work, CG!</p>

<p>Get 6 more 5’s on APs next year and you’ll be fine. If someone tells you that AP grades don’t matter, ask yourself this: Is a 4 as good as a 5? Of course not. A 4 shows your weakness whether you took the course or self-studied.</p>

<p>A low AP score will make a high class grade look bad. A high AP score will make a bad class grade look better. AP scores aren’t as important as SAT1/2’s but they are considered.</p>

<p>Having 5’s is great and it’ll help, but it won’t make a huge difference because so many applicants get top scores.</p>

<p>From what I’ve ascertained, having 4s and 5s on AP exams is kind of expected out of people who apply to top schools. Besides self-studies, having 5s isn’t anything extremely impressive, but if you have all-around bad AP scores, it will hurt you.</p>

<p>You’re doing just fine right now, though! (:</p>