I’m currently a sophomore in high school. My gpa isn’t too great (3.35). It’s steadily improving though. The reason they are so low is because I took both AP Physics B and AP World History my freshman year, and I got pretty stressed out and my grades dropped. I did well on the exams though (4 on AP Physics, 5 on World History).
This year I’m taking AP Chem, and self-studying AP Euro. I expect to get at least 4s on both of those. My question is, how much will high AP scores offset my bad grades in my application? Based on my practice ACT score, I’m expecting to get around 30-32 on that.
I’m looking at schools like U of I Champaign and U of C Berkeley. U of C’s incoming students have average GPAs of 3.86
How much will good AP scores help? Should I entirely rethink my options?
AP scores have little to no effect on college admissions; they won’t help all that much. Their sole purpose is to determine placement for higher level courses based on your scores. However, a good AP score will generally give off a sense of a positive work ethic and determination from you, in regards to the context of your application.
Do your best to improve your GPA from now until the end of senior year. Don’t entirely rethink your college options; you still have a chance to boost that GPA.
Well that’s too bad. Even if I get straight As, my GPA can only be brought up to around 3.6 by the end of my junior year. Are there any colleges that place special emphasis on AP scores (I know Harvard is that way, but it’s obviously out of my range lol)
No; but schools do have stringent requirements on what score you MUST receive in order to earn credit. AP scores and classes are indicators of how rigorous your AP class was, and demonstrate the initiative and motivation you have for college work.
Undoubtedly, your transcript is the most important part of your application.
What will cause concern in regards to admissions, however, is if one receives an A in the class, but a 1 or 2 on the exam (which is not the case for you.)
Yeah I actually got a C in World History, but a 5 on the AP test lol. That was my fault though because I didn’t do all the homework. I got tunnel vision and only crammed for the AP test.
It’s too bad the best I can do, with straight As, is 3.6, if your transcript is the biggest factor. That won’t get me into very selective schools.
That’s not trying your best. Remember that the admissions process is extremely competitive. You can do better than that if you’re getting 5s on the AP exam.
As most people don’t take the majority of APs until Junior/Senior year, AP tests are not really a major factor in admissions. They are for placement in college/getting credit for classes.
So good SAT/ACT and GPA is the most important thing to emphasize. If you have to not self study for an AP vs. Getting an A in another class, go for the A. I guess it is too late to tell you that it was probably premature to take that many APs that early.
I think it is great that you took them early. There was no way to talk to your teacher about your grade? given the good AP (would not work in my school either).
My cousin had As and Bs up through end of sophmore year (was top basketball player, then had to quit for a bunch of reasons related to injury and some other stuff). Would have been heavily recruited if he had been able to continue. Once basketball was done got serious and got straight As, 36 ACTs and ended up at Yale. Took 5 APs his juniour year. Got all 4s and 5s, it definitely helped. Plus it is an objective measure, 5 is the same whether in California or Illinois, grade in class is not. As for Lyme, if it was really documented and can be shown it can be mentioned, just has to be done in a careful way so that you are not taking pity or making excuses
Most colleges will weigh your grades in AP classes. The UCs award a full grade point for AP/IB classes, which is why so many of them report average admitted student’ GPAs greater than 4.0. Your weighted GPA will undoubtedly be higher, but your prospects can’t really be gauged until you have actual SAT/ACT results. AP test scores play a negligible role in admissions. They might be used to determine the degree of grade inflation at your school. A few colleges, including NYU, offer the option of submitting AP scores instead of ACT or SAT scores. I don’t know about UIUC, but UC Berkeley has a very high average GPA for admission. My son only had an unweighted GPA of around 3.35, but his weighted was over 4.0. He did not get into Berkeley, but he got into Davis and UC San Diego.