Do I send my AP scores to colleges when applying?

<p>Do I? Or do I do so only after acceptance? </p>

<p>No, official reports are only sent to the school you choose to attend, or if schools use them in lieu of SAT II scores. For the others, they are just self reported on the application and have little to no bearing on admission.</p>

There is at least one college I know of which has an alternate admission procedure which allows sending APs rather than SAT/ACT scores. Otherwise @guineagirl96‌ is correct. You will have to send official reports after being admitted if you’d like class credit.

I thought you sent them when you take the test?

From the College Board wed site:
“After you take an AP Exam, we send your score report to the college or university that you designated on your answer sheet.”

So APs taken 9th - 11th grade would be sent before you even apply. I was under the impression that this was even considered “demonstrated interest” by some schools. Are you saying you have to send them again after you’re accepted??

@3scoutsmom‌ nope, that’s optional. You only fill in the college section your senior year on your APs and they will automatically send your AP score history (free) to the college that you selected, which is the college you are attending. That’s what the purpose of that section is, since AP scores are used for credit and placement in college, but not usually admissions.

@‌guineagirl96 So if a freshman or sophomore or junior filled out the the college section on the AP those scores aren’t sent to colleges? I couldn’t find anything about sending of AP scores being restricted to seniors on the CB web page, where did you see that? Or are you saying that colleges don’t keep/accept scores that are sent before admission as they do with SAT/ACT scores?

@3scoutsmom‌ no, its not restricted, but that’s what the purpose is. The problem is scores sent previously won’t include your senior year scores and in addition, scores will be sent to the wrong office. After admission, scores are sent to the registrar’s office, not admissions (admissions does not forward them on), because they deal with the student accounts and credit. Not sure about how it works with the request on the test- i think they are automatically sent to the registrar, which means if you send them that way, admissions will never see the scores.

According to this:
http://www.nacacnet.org/research/PublicationsResources/Marketplace/Documents/RTPBrief_Factors.pdf

Subject test scores (AP, IB), interviews and extracurricular activities also are used by
some colleges to add depth to the application review. In general, admission officers
consider these factors as supplemental to the main academic factors, and as such,
rated them with low to moderate importance.

Since it’s free I’m going to continue to have my kids send in their AP scores when they take the tests. My guess is that schools that do consider them will send them to admission, if not no worries and since students will be accepted by the time they take the AP exams in their senior year the senior year AP score history will go to the registrar. It won’t matter that the scores sent previously won’t include your senior score because when you test in your senior year they will send your entire score history.