AP Scores - Yay or nay?

Applying to College
1

I’m a rising senior applying to quite prestigious schools (UPenn ED, CMU, USC, Georgia Tech, few others). My AP scores are worrying me, and i’m really debating if not self-reporting them might raise a red flag to colleges. I don’t like the idea of self-reporting/handpicking the good ones either, since it causes inconsistency, so I’m either reporting all or none.

AP SCORES:
Freshman year - 3,3
Soph year - 3,4,5
Junior year - 3,4,4

IB SCORES:
Junior year - 5,6 (out of 7)

So a lot of scores are the “just barely passing” kinda thing. Lot of my 3’s are English and history, and my 4’s and 5’s are more social science and math. I’m the class, I’d say about half my AP grades are B’s and the other half are A’s. My UW is 3.8 thanks to some honors/pre-ib classes bumping me up. :slight_smile: So, to self-report or not to self-report? I’d appreciate your insights on this!

2

Those are all solid scores. It would be a different question if you had a 2. This is a hard question. Here’s my story. From what I can see on the AP website, however, you can cancel a score for free and then it ceases to exist as far as the College Board is concerned. That’s what they told me on the phone as I cancelled a 2 after my sophomore year teacher screwed up the whole class (as admitted by the principal) and we all got 1s and 2s. I don’t feel guilty one bit about my cancellation and I don’t plan on reporting that 2 on the Common App.

The larger question is that College Board allows score choice, so why should we consider that it is bad to use? Then why does a premier testing agency offer it? I’m not sure of the answer. Be aware that some students, like me, don’t take AP tests at all. I took all AP: every class, every year, but I didn’t take any AP tests since that flawed one, since I’m busy studying for the SAT subject tests, which the Ivies require and that’s where I’m applying. Maybe there are more students like me who do not take the AP tests, even with full AP schedules, so admissions might not notice “holes” by a 3 left off. From what I’ve read, the 3s shouldn’t hurt too much and then you can feel comfortable with the full disclosure. On the other hand, if “holes”, i.e. tests not taken or reported are not as big a deal, then, for example, your three 4s and one 5, would look great. This is a hard question. You seem to want all or none and if that’s still the case, I’d say all, as you don’t have any 2s.

To be extra thorough about score choice, which one Ivy to date told me was fine with them, I would check further, perhaps anonymously. Even by having someone else call or email, but with the very specific question of would admissions look better on record of 4,4,4,5 and not notice “missed tests” if you use score choice?

My larger question is this, should we feel guilty about leaving off subject test scores if the College Board allows score choice? Now if the Common App or the College flatly states that all scores ever taken must be sent, such as with ACT or SAT tests, then that’s fair to us. But one Ivy admissions office told me over the phone last week that as far as subject tests were concerned, score choice was allowed and expected. I’m going to call the rest, one by one, and ask. I don’t think everyone is taking every AP test either, even after taking the classes.

Those are more questions than answers, but I too am looking into this issue for my future SAT subject tests. And I sure don’t want to report that 2, which was cancelled. I would also appreciate some guidance.

3

If honors courses bumped up your gpa, that sounds like a weighted gpa.

Ernest, your post is confusing. OP, the bottom line is, when applying to top colleges, your AP scores can help show you as a competitive candidate. Or not. This is most especially, in the courses related to your major (obviously.) But the others matter, too. The issue is the competition, the strengths of other kids in the applicant pool. (Same issue with B grades.) The 4s and 5s are ok.

The catch is, if you took an AP class related to your major and don’t report the score, you can leave adcoms wondering why not.

Adcoms are looking at how strong you’ll be, as a student, over the four years.

4

Would the 3s earn credit at the specific college you are applying to? I know that my school only gives credit for a 3 in certain subjects, which you can look at online. If your school grants AP credit but only for a 4 or 5 in that test, then you should choose not to report the 3.

If they don’t give credit for AP classes, then I’m not sure what the best move is.

5

Credit is after matriculation. Then, you send official reports to the registrar, if you wish and if it makes sense to your academic plans.

Self reporting on your app is about the admit. OP noted some very competitive schools. For a college like Penn, adcoms are going to look for the scores on the application.

6

@aneesh 17 - Your AP scores are fine, especially given the fact you took 6! AP courses between your first and second years of high school. Your junior year scores are fine too, so I would report everything, since the courses are listed on your transcripts and AD COMs will look for your corresponding test scores. Leaving them off the Common App will definitely raise “red flags.”

7

@studious99 The more prestgious schools like Penn, my ED school, I’m afraid only take 5’s - most of the classes they don’t even accept for credit. But like for my state flagship (UF), I’d walk in with 30+ credits with those scores (Gen ed). I just hope the 3’s don’t interfere with my ECs and test scores, since I really worked hard for those.

@lookingforward I meant that I got mostly A’s in every honors course, so the 4.0’s from that pulled me up. My weighted is a 4.50.

@worriestoomuch Thanks! Yeah, my Junior year stuff (Including the 2 IB exams) aren’t too bad, but it’s those four 3’s that are killing me, mostly from my underclassman years (when I had no idea what AP exams looked like). State schools shouldn’t be a problem, but it’s the top 25 schools that are really bothering me.
I’m pretty sure that my school shows AP scores on the main transcript for every student (along with grades and stuff), so do you think I should still self-report in that case? I forgot to mention this.

@ernestschmidt the problem with my school and state is that they force us to take the AP test for each and every AP class we sign up for. The state pays the $92 fee - I’ve not paid a dime for a single AP exam. Also, every score is documented on our transcript permanently - It’s hard to remove it, and the GCs usually don’t like students asking about removing scores from the transcript.

8

Since your AP scores are incorporated into your high school transcript, I don’t see the purpose of withholding them on your Common App. That decision will make you look dishonest.

9

Score choice doesn’t apply to AP exams. You only send official AP reports to one school, after admission.

Self reporting as part of admission is up to you. I would report them all or they may think you did even worse.

10

Another question: If I put AP Scholar with Distinction on my app, should I still report the four 3’s I have?

11

That award is not a tip. “receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.” What matters is your detail.

But why not just tell us your intended major and scores/grades in cores.

12

@lookingforward Sure thing, good idea.

Intended Major: STEM (Industrial Engineering) with Business and Operations Research/Statistics (that sort of thing, depends on the university)

Freshman year:
-AP Euro = 3 (B,A)
-AP Human = 3 (A,A) - took online

Soph:
-AP Lang = 3 (B,B)
-AP Gov = 4 (B,A)
-AP Stat = 5 (B,A)

Junior:
-AP Calc AB = 4 (A,A)
-AP USH = 4 (A,A)
-AP Lit = 3 (B,B)
-IB Psych = 5/7 (A,B) --> getting a rec from him
-IB Spanish = 6/7 (A,A) --> getting a rec from her

13

I wouldn’t worry about your AP scores. Your issue is that you are light in the sciences and math in courswork. Where is Physics?

14

Re: #11

Seems like your AP scores versus high school grades would be typical for a reasonably good high school. Your AP scores seem to be about a grade lower than your high school grades, which is not all that surprising, since high schools do not grade as hard as colleges or AP exams. If your AP scores versus high school grades are typical for your high school, then your high school is certainly better than those where A students in AP courses routinely score 1 on AP exams, but is not elite to the point where A (or even B) students in AP courses routinely score 5 on AP exams.

That said, the relatively large number of B grades probably means that your unweighted high school GPA is around 3.6-3.7, so super-selective schools like Penn or CMU for engineering would be more of a reach for you than they already are for students with 4.0 unweighted high school GPAs.

15

@scubadive I’m taking IB physics (it’s a two year curriculum), and we don’t take the exam till end of senior year. There’s no junior year exam. Same goes for IB english, theory of knowledge, etc. But I got all A’s for physics :slight_smile:

@ucbalumnus It’s a 3.82 UW surprisingly, I actually have a ton of honors classes bringing up my UW. (I got an A in almost every honors course). The AP’s are pretty much my only B’s throughout the year, with a few exceptions. Don’t get me wrong, 3.8 is still (somewhat) on the lower end for that tier. And to make things a bit worse, I’m applying Wharton (not SEAS) with concentrations in STEM (OR, Statistics, Biz. Analytics, etc) so my odds are quite lower. CMU I’m probably applying to Tepper SOB since it’s much more quantitative for a business school.

16

Adcoms will look at the transcript, see grades. Not just gpa.

Although, for stem studies, math-sci courses and performance matter most, any highly competitive college is going to get thousands of applicants with 4.0uw and top AP scores- and, a level of stretch in activities (especially for stem kids.) Then they cherry pick.

When the rigor of AP, that higher challenge, yields B grades and/or lower AP scores, it can be an issue for “highly” or “most” competitive colleges. It’s different than when a stem kid just gets a B one semester in, say, foreign lang, but everything else is tops.

For a very top college, this same will apply for biz studies, which still need humanities strengths, that thinking, the analytical and writing skills.

You need a balanced target list. That’s the best we can say and later gives you a range of options.

17

@lookingforward I’ve only gotten one B in a STEM course (1st sem. of AP Stat) but I ended up getting a 5 on the exam. I’ve gotten all B’s in every english course I’ve ever taken as well as a few social studies/humanities. The trend is very readable and clear - English (and a bit of humanities) is my weak point.

18

" I actually have a ton of honors classes bringing up my UW"

The definition of unweighted is your gpa without any bump for ap or honors classes, that’s what the colleges will calculate. Unless your high school bumped the grades automatically on your transcript.

19

OP, that is the issue. You have a lot of 3s and 4s and B grades. Stem matters but you’re not showing the overall strength your competition will.

So Penn and others, which can cherry pick, are issues in your list. So the wise kid increases his/her hunt, the research you do into what targets value and look for, so you can understand where you do match.

It’s simply not about explaining.
And your ECs, best I can figure, are okay, but maybe not stretchy. Even the question on another thread, about including math team, shows you need to up your understanding.

20

@theloniusmonk I don’t think we’re on the same page. What I’m saying is that I got A’s in the honors classes, which is a 4.0 UW. Right? So if my UW GPA is below a 4.0, and I get a 4.0 in an honors class UW, then that brings it up. That’s what I’m trying to get at - we’re not bringing weights into the picture. If I take another honors/standard class tomorrow and get an A in it, my GPA will be brought up since an A is a 4.0 (without the weight). An A is an A and a B is a B, regardless of AP/honors/regular designation.

@lookingforward You raise a good point. I just tried and focused this thread on the reaches since that’s my main focus during app season, but I’ll definitely broaden my target/match list: no doubt about that. But may I ask, if you were in my situation, with those scores, would you self-report them to top schools like Penn?
Thanks for all your help btw, you’ve posted some really useful advice here :slight_smile: