<p>From UC Berkeley:
AP courses considered to be more rigorous and challenging than regular university preparatory courses. Students who enroll in AP courses (when available) and perform well in them tend to be regarded as more competitive. Exam scores of 3 or better are favorable and add to the strength of the admissions application; forgoing the AP tests or scoring below 3 on the tests is regarded as neutral.</p>
<p>Look at AP and Admission section
<a href="http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=988&profileId=6%5B/url%5D">http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=988&profileId=6</a></p>
<p>I thought AP's scores don't affect admission...</p>
<p>"I thought AP's scores don't affect admission..."</p>
<p>They don't in the sense that if you don't do well they won't hurt, but if you do well they will be a boost. But in this sense, it does hurt if you score poorly (since you are competing with other students for admission), and even worse if you don't take the exam.</p>
<p>EDIT: There's also a summer BioE research program at Cal. Not everyone can participate it in because it's competitive, but if you do get accepted it'll open so many more research opportunities for you in the future. plus, you get paid!</p>
<p>I still don't think they weigh much emphasis on AP scores. I had relatively crap AP scores (Bio: 5; English Language: 3; US History: 4; European History: 2; YES, I REPORTED A 2...) and a less than stellar Math IIC score (740) and I still got into EECS.</p>
<p>EDIT: Wait, I didn't read carefully enough to notice that AP scores can ONLY help you and never hurt you. But still, relative to everybody else's AP scores for EECS (at least what I've gathered from the boards here), my scores aren't anything spectacular.</p>
<p>Wait... So if I get a 1 or 2 on an AP test I don't have to report it? Would it hurt my chances....</p>
<p>I agree with Azure326. First of all, getting a 1 or 2 doesn't really hurt your chances. Second of all, and more important, getting all 5s doesn't seem to really help you, which I think should be changed because I see AP scores as as good of an indicator or possibly a better indicator of future college success than GPA. GPA varies from school to school, and the SATs, while standarized, often doesn't test material that's relevant to college material. AP exams test material that is often directly related to the first-year intro courses at most colleges, and since it's not just one test (like the SAT I) but often 5-10 tests, it's a better indicator than the SAT I. In many intro classes I've seen, the ones who scored well on the AP test are the ones who tend to do better in the class.</p>
<p>
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what's EECS?
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</p>
<p>EECS stands for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. It's well-known for being the hardest major to get into at Berkeley.</p>