<p>I'm taking APUSH and AP Language this year, but I don't know if I'm fully prepared for the AP exams. </p>
<p>I don't want to waste my parents' money and cause undue anxiety on myself unless I'm sure taking the exams has a purpose. </p>
<p>Do admissions officers want to see the AP courses culminate in exams, or is making good grades in the courses enough?</p>
<p>You still have like 2 months to get ready, and AP exams aren’t really as hard as a lot of people say. There’s a pretty huge curve.</p>
<p>To answer your question, the fact that you’ve taken the course is more important than the test, but some schools may not count it as an AP credit if you don’t sit for the exam.</p>
<p>I think AP grades are very important.</p>
<p>How does an admissions office compare an A in American History that a kid in a small town in Iowa gets to an A in American History that a kid in New York City gets.</p>
<p>The AP exam score shows if you really deserved the A.</p>
<p>If you get a 2 on the AP exam, that tends to show that your grade in the course may be inflated.</p>
<p>No you do not need to take the AP exams. If you do take them, and you do well on them, you can self-report your scores when you apply to college. However, you will not send official scores until you have actually chosen the college/university that you are going to attend, and you have determined that the scores you achieved on the exams will result in credit or advanced placement. The exams with scores that are useful for admissions are the ACT, the SAT general exam, the SAT II subject exams, and the TOEFL (for students who are English language learners). The grade you earn in your AP class is what matters for admissions.</p>
<p>Lots of students do not take the AP exams. Typical reasons include not feeling prepared, not having the money, and/or knowing that the college/university the student is going to attend doesn’t award credit or placement for the exam scores that the student expects to earn.</p>
<p>Some high schools require that students enrolled in AP courses take the exams. Some don’t award final grades for those courses until the exam results arrive. Find out what your high school’s policy is before you make your decision.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>
<p>Great information. Thank you so much! :)</p>