How important are AP scores?

Applying to College
1

<p>My college counselors told me that AP scores are not really important in the application process, since many apps don't ask for them and you'll generally submit them after you've already gotten in. One worked in Emory admissions; the other at Notre Dame and Duke. Obviously it helps to do well so it can be mentioned in a rec, but really, how important are AP scores?</p>

2

<p>They really don't seem to be too important. Most apps including the common app never ask for them. (There are a few colleges that do on their app, but no college seems to require that a score report be sent to them from CB.)</p>

<p>Taking the AP courses is extremely important if your hs offers them, but the AP scores are less important than almost everything. Certainly the SAT II scores are WAY more important.</p>

<p>On the other hand, a string of all 5's should definitely be mentioned.</p>

3

<p>depends...i think theyre important because if you get an A in the class and a 3 on the exam, then its a way to gauge the difficulty of your high school (likewise, a B in the class and a 5 on the exam shows you go to a really tough school)</p>

4

<p>I took 15+ APs and scored 5s and 4s on all of them. They count since they are more standardized. People in my AP classes get As but end up failing the exam. They are considered in admissions, according to a Princeton admissions counselor I called last week.</p>

5

<p>they can only help you is what i've heard</p>

6

<p>If you get a C in an AP course, you can redeem yourself my scoring well on the exam.</p>

7

<p>If they were important, admissions officers would probably ask for some kind of verification. But since they are self reported in the application, they're obviously not too important.</p>

8

<p>In theory, AP classes/scores are good. One disadvantage are that the courses are not taught uniformly so that having a 3 with bad teacher/course is probably harder to get than a 5 with a good teacher/course. Also, I would have to think that a grade accumulated over several weeks counts for more than a score you got on one day. I would say that adcoms don't put much emphasis on low scores, but that they do appreciate a lot of high scores when they see them.</p>

9

<p>So if you get an A, it's pointless to take the exam because if you score low it will hurt but scoring high won't mean much?</p>

10

<p>ap scores def. count since they offer standardized view over your high school course grade</p>

11

<p>no its not pointless cause you can get credit or advanced standing in college, and you also dont even have to report it, you may as well try</p>

12

<p>
[quote]
So if you get an A, it's pointless to take the exam because if you score low it will hurt but scoring high won't mean much?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It's the opposite. If you score low, you usually don't have to tell them how you did and it doesn't matter that much anyway (at least to the adcoms). If you score high, you can tell them. </p>

<p>A few colleges do ask for the scores on their applications, however.</p>