<p>My school is relatively grade deflated in terms of academic grades. Only about 4 or 5 people will manage an A in some AP classes, and given that the top in my class take 5-6 APs, it becomes nearly impossible.</p>
<p>However, the curriculum is so difficult, even the stupidest get 3s and 4s, whereas most get 5s. </p>
<p>Do colleges even look at AP Exam scores? </p>
<p>I'll probably get all 4s and 5s this year (more 5s I'd hope), get about 4 Bs just this year, and still be ranked in the top 10 out a class about 500. ACT of 33.</p>
<p>I just feel like having too many Bs makes me a turn off for the Ivy's..</p>
<p>You mean percent. Top tenth percentile would equate to remaining anywhere in the bottom 10 percent of the school. X Percentile means you did better than X percent of people. (94th percentile means you did better than 94% of people, or did better than every 94 out of 100 people)</p>
<p>Also to the OP, look at the college you are applying to. They say under their admissions policies whether or not they accept/care about AP scores. More traditional scores will look at them and it will be very beneficial to your plight if you get a good amount of A’s and B’s. As the previous poster said also, colleges are looking for your dedication to school. It wouldn’t be fair if they based it solely on whoever took the best classes, private schools would win over public schools every day. It’s about who is taking the most rigorous schedule the school supplies and doing the best in it (upper % of class). Good luck :)</p>
<p>Since the grade deflation in your school will probably be evident from the forms filled out by your counselor and from your class rank, and since your 5 indicates you learned the material, these Bs probably won’t hurt you too much.</p>
<p>Colleges consider you within the context of your high school, so if the best most people realistically do is a B, then they’ll be fine with that.</p>
<p>Your rank is more important than your GPA, because every schools grades differently. If your school deflates, your GPA may be lower, but your rank will give a good indication of your academic ability. If you have a few B’s and are ranked 100/500, you’re going to have a problem. But if you have a few B’s and maintain a high rank, it’s not going to hurt you.</p>
<p>To answer your question, absolutely not, a 5 does not in any way make up for a low grade. Your grade in a course is not a reflection of how well you know the material- if this was the case, then yes, the 5 would help. But, in reality, your grade in a class is viewed as a reflection of your work ethic. You can know the material like cake, because most HS subjects are cake anyway, but what’s important is you prove that you are a hard and diligent worker. Thus, a 5 on the exam does not compensate for a low class grade in any way. </p>
<p>Now, a 5 on the AP exam is helpful in the way I mentioned- shows you mastered the material. That is essentially evaluated separately from your classroom grades. Won’t compensate for a low grade, but will show you know your stuff. A 5 isn’t worthless of course. Still, AP exam scores are given very little weight in admissions.</p>
<p>That being said, your B’s aren’t really a “low grade” in context anyway, so you don’t need to worry about this.</p>
Top tenth percentile would equate to remaining anywhere in the bottom 10 percent of the school. X Percentile means you did better than X percent of people. (94th percentile means you did better than 94% of people, or did better than every 94 out of 100 people)</p>