How important are AP scores when paired with a class?

<p>I know a girl who took 4 AP classes in her sophomore year and got mostly 2's and 1's.
She did fairly well in the classes themselves, though.</p>

<p>I've been told that colleges don't care about AP scores, though. Does that only apply to AP exams that you self-study?</p>

<p>Those scores indicate that the classes she took weren’t really AP/college-level classes…which wouldn’t be her fault, but still.
Taking AP tests is a waste of money if you’re just going to get 2s and 1s.</p>

<p>I see. She did get A’s in the class, though. She studied and studied and studied but I suppose she just didn’t understand the material that well.
Teachers knew she was a hard worker, so they were easier on her.</p>

<p>^
Yeah, grade inflation is fairly common…</p>

<p>So I’ve noticed.
So, is it true that colleges don’t care about AP scores?
Does this apply only to self-studied scores?</p>

<p>They definitely care when they’re deciding whether or not to give you credit.</p>

<p>I feel like they just want you to take the most challenging classes offered at your school, and they would be happy you did that even if you didn’t do well on the AP tests because obviously you can’t control the overall difficulty of your school. But low AP test scores with good grades in the classes could indicate a non-challenging school, and the college would probably take that into account when considering how you performed in the context of your school.</p>