<p>So I have 5 AP scores, 4 of which are 4s and one 3 (my other test scores partially compensate for these not-very-stellar scores). I was wondering, should I report the 3? It was in AP Bio and I got an A+ in the class. One concern of mine is that I need 5 scores to substantiate my AP Scholar with distinction award. Also, I don't want them to wonder why I didn't "take" the exam even though I got an A in the class. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>AP scores are often reflective of your school’s curriculum. If Harvard has a sense of your high school, they will figure it out. If you don’t report the score, they will figure that out, too.</p>
<p>Ok thanks for the response, but part of your response doesn’t make sense. How would they find out, since it’s self-reported? And Harvard already has an idea of my school’s curriculum, because they’ve admitted several student. So, does anyone else have any other suggestions?</p>
<p>bump please…</p>
<p>I think some (many? most? idk) schools, when they send the school profile, send AP score distribution, so Harvard would probably see where the majority of students score and surmise that, since you did not report your score, you were among the students that scored a 3 or less. It’s not like they are going to do some major sleuthing to find out your score, but they still might notice its absence.</p>
<p>H also might not like that you were able to get a high grade in the class while getting a 3 on the exam.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply! My school only sends score distribution for overall AP tests, not per subject. And ya, I know they wouldn’t like a 3 in conjunction with the A, but I have a 35 on the ACT, and two good subject test scores. So do you think that it’s worth not reporting it, or should I just leave it to be honest and have my other scores make up for it? I know these are very subjective questions, but I would just like to get peoples’ opinions.</p>
<p>A 3, while not great, is still passing, so I don’t see why you should suppress that. I had my share of 3’s and 4’s, and I will report all those scores. I think it should be fine!</p>
<p>Universities see on your transcript how many AP courses you’ve taken. If you’ve taken 5, and only report 4 scores (or zero scores or other) it doesn’t take a whole lot for the admissions office to determine that you scored poorly on the test result(s) that you didn’t share with them.</p>
<p>Their alternative choice would be to assume that you took the AP class but for some reason didn’t bother to take the AP exam. Why would they assume that, given that you’re a motivated student taking tough classes and applying to highly selective universities?</p>
<p>Occam’s razor: The simplest of two theories is usually the correct one. The simplest solution here is that you didn’t report the score because it was a low one.</p>
<p>What if you just didn’t report the scores because it’s ******* expensive to do so?</p>
<p>@efreens44, You don’t have to have collegeboard send them, but there’s still a place on the Common App to self report them :)</p>
<p>I thought they don’t really consider those scores unless they have official score reports from the testing agency to back them up?</p>
<p>From what I hear, they usually begin initial evaluation with self-reported scores, and at a later point, might confirm them with score reports.</p>