What I’ve been wondering recently is: how important are scores on the AP exams in fact? I have some good scores (i.e., a 5 on a certain test which few at my school get), but I’ve been questioning to what extent that will affect admission decisions. For instance, would a student with higher AP exam scores or higher grades be looked at more favorably (and if you think that everyone who gets good grades necessarily does well on standardized tests, what I’ve seen has proven otherwise)?
And, I suppose to give the scenario some context, let’s say this is for Stanford SCEA applicants.
<p>The grades that you have worked years for are most definitely looked at more favorably than AP Exam scores. Judging from my experience, you should not worry about poor AP scores AT ALL when applying to college.</p>
<p>I think that what yoshi503 says is correct - from all that I've gathered, colleges simply don't care very much about AP scores. However, must say that I find this a bit surprising - frankly, I think that AP scores should be more important than grades. The former is a consistent (albeit not perfect) measure of achievement in a subject, while the latter is incredibly variable and imprecise.</p>
<p>I don't think colleges factor in AP exams (except as a minor part, maybe), which I think is a good thing-IB kids would be at a definite disadvantage. I had no AP exam scores and only 2 IB scores when I applied, but that didn't affect me negatively at all.</p>