<p>I am currently a junior in 2 AP classes, and I have an A+ average in both of them. However, one of the teachers has moved at too slow a pace to effectively cover all of the material, and the other exam I will be taking is notoriously difficult. The teachers have very low expectations based on students' past performance, and most seniors I know scored 1's and 2's on the exams last year. Hopefully I will get some higher scores on my APs next year, but I have very little hope for the two I will be taking in a few weeks (!). I am required to take the exams and I have prep books, but I still feel like I am just striving for 3's. Do most good schools see bad AP scores as a lack of motivation? Or will they realize that I excelled in the classes so the low scores reflect the teachers rather than my effort? Any advice for last minute studying?</p>
<p>I personally don’t think a 3 is a bad score - in fact, a lot of colleges will take a 3 for credit. And as far as I know, colleges don’t use AP scores for admission purposes (or… at least they say they don’t. I’ve had some applications where they asked for them). The way I see it is that a bad score won’t hurt you (please don’t get a 1), but a good score can help you. Hopefully someone else who knows more on this will chime in.</p>
<p>But if you do get a 3+, then you won’t have to worry about this at all.</p>
<p>I don’t know too much about how colleges view the scores and what they mean to them, but like the above user, I see it in a way that bad scores don’t hurt, but good ones can help. I really only see it as a way to earn credit towards that class in college; if you do well enough, you get the credit. If you don’t, then you don’t. It doesn’t mean you won’t get accepted.</p>
<p>One thing to be aware of is that colleges sometimes use AP scores to judge your classes. They expect to see a high grade correlate to a high AP score, because that’s how they know that your class was rigorous and up to AP standards. The thing is, how students in the same class do on an ap test depends a lot on how well they study.</p>
<p>Which is what I should be doing right now.</p>
<p>Do AP scores show up on your transcript? If not, just don’t send the scores. Don’t quote me on this, but I think AP scores are optional on the college application. Because they’re self-reported, they don’t hold as much weight as your SATIIs and your GPA anyway.</p>
<p>I still wouldn’t blow them off. If you get a low grade in the class (ahem, calc!), but a decent score on the exam, then colleges may assume that the course was rigorous. The AP is just a standardized exam that will tell colleges how well you have done relative to your peers.</p>
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You can have the scores withheld, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. If you take an AP class, it’s going to show up on your transcript. The college is going to wonder where your score is. By seeing that it was withheld or nonexistent, they will know that you either didn’t take the exam (which is a big no-no… taking an AP course but not the exam), or you did bad and are withholding your score for that reason. So either way, it’s going to make you look bad if you withhold your score.</p>
<p>That’s exactly the problem. I’m taking the most rigorous courses available to me, and I don’t want colleges to think less of my high grades because of my low AP exam scores. It’s not my fault that we just started BC topics in calc a few weeks ago…</p>
<p>If your a senior can a school rescind you based on 1’s on AP tests?</p>
<p>I don’t think a school would take your acceptance away for low AP grades.</p>
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That’s a bad attitude. You should take some initiative and see if you can explore the rest of BC on your own using a review book or guide. Perhaps a friend has already taken it and can tutor you. Seek help online. Do SOMETHING. </p>
<p>Yes, your teacher may not have been organized in terms of a schedule, but that doesn’t make it OK. You can’t go into an AP exam and write, “we didn’t learn this,” and expect to get a free pass.</p>
<p>^I know that…I meant it more like I’ll still be at a disadvantage after I study because (and I know that this isn’t true for everyone) I am having a really hard time teaching myself such difficult material from a prep book. I was really just wondering how much emphasis colleges place on low AP scores during the admissions process in case I don’t pull it off.</p>
<p>^Check out PR, it’s really easy to read and understand. If it makes you feel any better, I’m taking the AB course in school but signed up for the BC exam, and I only started studying for the C section like literally two day ago.</p>
<p>Also, have you checked out MIT’s OpenCourseWare? It has recorded videos of professors’ lectures on these calc topics. I thought the lectures were too long and too confusing, but you may find them easier to understand than the prep books.</p>
<p>Yeah, but I totally what you mean about teachers not starting topics until too late. Last year for APUSH, we were on the 1930s two and half weeks away from the AP exam. It was horrible :eek:.</p>