I am self studying for an AP exam and listed on the Common app that I am taking the AP exam this year in the self report section (the type of exam but no score). The thing is I haven’t been able to find a school that allows outside students to take exams yet (deadline Nov. 15). Early action/decision deadline is Nov. 1. If I leave my stuff as it is and apply to colleges by the early deadline and then am still not able to find a school by November 15, should I tell all the schools I applied for that I can’t take it??? Would it matter??? Would they ask for the score if I was admitted to one of them???
The absolute truth is colleges really don’t care about self studying for AP exams. They prefer to see students take the AP class and do a worthwhile EC outside of school hours. If the class isn’t offered by your school, they won’t question why you didn’t take it.
AP scores can be used for course placement or possibly for credit but the policies vary at different schools or can vary for different majors. D20 took several classes/tests and got 5s on everything but her college only took one into consideration for placement, nothing for credit at all.
Personally, I wouldn’t bother including it in the app. If you manage to take it, there is no guarantee your score will get you anything and may not be worth submitting anyway. If you don’t take it, it won’t matter. If you include it in the app, you may have the trouble of contacting schools and telling them you couldn’t take it after all.
What if I already submitted some apps including it??? Honestly if any trouble rises I guess I can just contact them and tell them I wasn’t able to find a spot. Hopefully its not a big deal
I’d just leave it off. Saying you plan to send-study a future AP really has no impact on an application, so it would be better not to enter something that may not happen.
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