<p>Most colleges still use SAT and Subject Tests for admissions, and AP tests for placement. AP programs are not available or even that well known in many parts of the country, particularly in rural areas, and the SAT/ Subject Tests are generally more accessible.</p>
<p>Case in point for most colleges: the application asks for the certified score report to be sent from Collegeboard for your SAT/ Subject Tests; AP scores are generally self-reported. Furthermore, Subject Tests cover many areas you would have AP experience in, and generally, if you do well on an AP test, you are likely to do well on the Subject Test... and Subject Tests are administered throughout the year, allowing students to take them and varying intervals, as opposed to two frantic weeks in May.</p>
<p>However, IT DEPENDS ON THE COLLEGE. Just as some colleges require 3 subject tests, others 2, others none, and some use the CommonApp and others not, it just depends on where you are applying.</p>
<p>And in response to the main query of this thread: yes, AP exams are a joke. It is utterly ridiculous that I receive almost all 5's on tests that I barely studied for, because I refuse to believe that college courses will truly be that lenient. The course work needs to be more thorough, the tests need to be more comprehensive.</p>
<p>to SaveD: As I've said before, the reason only 10% of students score a 5 is because that's the way the graders want it to be. They don't use a pre-set scale to grade the tests. Rather, you're grade is relative to how well everyone else did. The graders make sure that the top scorers (no matter how poor the score) always get a 5. So if in one year, the highest someone scored on WHAP was 30%, that score would be a 5. However, if in another year, the highest someone scored was 80%, that score would be a 5 and anyone who got around 30% would probably get a 2 even though that same percentage the previous year would have earned that person a 5.</p>
<p>Qualitative measurement vs. quantitative, </p>
<p>qualitative will always win for overall scope of interpretable results.</p>
<p>@blueducky: They look at it and if it is very different from the expected score based on your AP class grades they will think about it.</p>
<p>@SaveD: I agree completely with you that too many subpar kids are taking AP tests.</p>
<p>@Hippo724: I believe saveD just misstated his point. I think he means that more people should score something along the lines of 70+% rather than 30% and that the curve is so steep is due to the poor preparation. For example, my school limits people that take AP tests to people who have like a 99% of getting a three and higher and that is why like 99.9% of my school's AP test grades are passing or better. Compare that to a school where a student can take all APs even if they are a D student and then flunk all the actual tests.</p>
<p>Interesting topic, but off-topic for the College Admissions Forum. Since the OP has already started another thread on this issue in the fitting forum, </p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/533687-ap-tests-joke.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/533687-ap-tests-joke.html</a> </p>
<p>this thread will be locked now that you can follow the link above to continue the discussion.</p>