<p>Well, I've coasted through many AP classes without bothering to study very much, and I was rewarded with eight 3s and a couple of 4s. The breakdown:</p>
<p>Ninth grade
Calc AB: 3</p>
<p>Tenth
Bio: 4
Stats: 3
Span Lang: 3</p>
<p>Eleventh
Eng Lang: 3
World Hist: 3
US Hist: 3
Macroecon: 3
Microecon: 3
Span Lit: 3</p>
<p>Yup, that's a whole lot of 3s--I was going for quantity and not quality, I suppose. I've been hearing that colleges are more interested in the fact that you took the class and exam than in your actual score--is this true? I sure hope so!</p>
<p>Darn. Many people in my school are under the impression that because getting AP college credit is getting harder and harder (and that colleges get less money if students are accelerated, or something), the scores aren't so important.</p>
<p>And yes, I took Calc as a freshman, but it wasn't a good idea to become so advanced, 'cause I had no idea what I was doing when I got there.</p>
<p>No offense, but I think you made some pretty poor decisions in taking your courses. The whole point in taking an AP class is to succeed in it, not to take just so you can say that you took it. This is an example. 9 out of 10 of your scores was a 3, which isn't used for credit at most top universities. That is why we don't take Calculus as freshman...</p>
<p>(Note that I did say myself that taking Calc was a mistake. And for your information, I took Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Trig before taking Calc--I didn't just jump to it at random; it was my only option.)</p>
<p>People can take AP classes for whatever reason they'd like--in my case, my school is full of them. I knew the amount of work required of me for each course (and earned As in all the courses for which I took AP exams, with the exception of Calc), and knew that so long as I understood the material each week, I would do well on the chapter tests. But obviously AP exams involve more than cramming--I knew that, too. But I took several of these tests without having taken the classes. It wouldn't do me any good to get credit validated for, say, an Econ course, and go to an advanced course and not have remembered anything from junior year.</p>
<p>Edit: I did get a 4 in Eng. Lang, but was just having so much fun typing 3s, I didn't notice I'd put in one too many!</p>
<p>Yeah... my counsolers try to tell me that the AP scores don't matter too much too, but I never trust them because they are always refering to the Oregon state colleges, none of which I am even considering attending. For the elite college search, I pretty much did my own research and I've decided that I want to get all 4's and 5's on my AP exams.</p>
<p>Well, i've heard that the colleges can't look at scores because they aren't supposed to be factors for admission (AP's are intended to be used to place college bound students into certain level of classes). I've heard that they only see what AP classes you've taken, not the scores (unless you report them--though then it's unofficial)</p>
<p>you show know though.. if your transcript has 10 AP classes listed, but you don't give scores for any exams, they will wonder why there are no scores. Colleges partly use scores to judge performance in classes- it is really the only standard they have across different schools and states.</p>