I’ll be attending Harvard next year, so I’m wondering how important AP test scores are. I’m not going for Advanced Standing, so my understanding is that I can place out of certain intro classes with good scores (AND placement tests). However, I haven’t had time to study for my 5 tests because I’ve been busy with other commitments, and feel incredibly under-prepared for a few of them. Should I cancel any of the tests because a bad score might hurt me? Or should I not be concerned about the outcome of the tests?
A bad AP score won’t hurt you, but a score of 5 will help you to either place out of Harvard’s Foreign Language Graduation Requirement, or to place out of intro courses. See: http://fdo.fas.harvard.edu/ap-ib-exams.
The outcome won’t affect you. If you feel you won’t score high enough to be of any advanced standing use, you’re perfectly allowed to omit taking them completely. There are no ramifications.
This was debated among my kids and their friends who would soon be going to top tier schools. Some took the “no risk, no problem; I’ll take the test” route; others opted out of the tests. Gibby and T26E4 are right. There is no risk either way. Congratulations, and have a great four years.