How important are AP Test scores to the Ivy league, Northwestern, etc?
For the most part, AP scores are used for credit and/or placement only. The scores themselves carry little to no weight in the admissions process.
This question (and several others) are asked very frequently on CC, so it is generally a good idea to search old threads first.
@skieurope What about subject test scores?
Subject tests are used more for evaluative purposes compared to their corresponding AP tests
If you self study for an AP exam and receive a great score that is indicated on your application, it can add to your course rigor and demonstrate academic capabilities (quote from U Chicago admission officer). But then again, I’m an international and the coursework at my school is below AP standards, so not sure if this applies to US domestic students.
If your school offers the AP course, you are better off showing course rigor by actually taking the course. From personal experience, last Spring, I went to an Exploring College Options event, which had reps from Harvard, Stanford, Penn, Duke, and Georgetown. During the Q&A, someone asked, “What do you think of applicants who self-study for additional AP’s over and above the AP classes they take?” One rep responded, “Please don’t do that. We’re not impressed by that.” The other reps all nodded.
AP scores are not important for the admissions process, but important as far as college credit goes. You can go on AP’s website, search a certain college, and find out what you would have to get on a certain test to get college credit for that subject at that school.
SAT subject tests, on the other hand, are used for admissions. In fact, I believe most Ivies require you submit at least two. Hope this helps!
AP scores are looked at and do have utility among elite colleges. It shows your ability to master a subject over an extended period of time. Also, think about a student in a grade inflation high school with an A and a 3 v. another student at a tough high school with a B but who scores a 4 or 5. Colleges get better information from the AP score than the grade.
Colleges get better information from a school profile showing GPA range than from AP scores.
It always amazes me that colleges value GPA more than AP scores. GPA only shows how well the applicant did compared to others in that school which is a poor indicator of student’s knowledge or future college success - school may have grade inflation, mostly weak (or extremely strong) students etc. At the same time, AP scores are relatively independent evaluation of student’s knowledge which can serve as a base for college work later on. It looks like colleges value the knowledge less than everything else.
When I look at admission information, I always get this feeling: play your violin in the senior home, organize the trail building (i.e. work your shovel well) for hours, get your easy As in mediocre school and you are the perfect candidate for math major in the Ivys and such! I exaggerate, of course, but still…
I think kids with a lot of really good AP scores (translate: mostly 5s) do get a boost in admissions from that. Being that AP is the equivalence of a college class, getting a lot of 5s on AP exams (though they are self-reported), I think colleges definitely look favorably upon that.
Having said that, do the lack of AP scores keep kids out of Ivies and the like? Not necessarily. It’s all about context, IMO. My recently graduated son had zero AP classes and zero AP exams reported. He did take community college classes, though. He was admitted to U Penn. He was not admitted to 4 top private schools (only one other Ivy), and was waitlisted by two other top schools. I think if he had more AP scores, he would have been a stronger candidate, but we were thrilled that he was admitted to Penn.
He couldn’t have done it any other way (had a physical eye disability that required surgery in his junior year, and that caused him to not be able to keep up with a lot of reading until after recovery from the surgery), and we were very happy with admissions results. (Got into schools such as Northesatern, U Rochester, and UCSD, as well)
@koshkas There are a few reasons GPA is valued so highly. The main reason is that GPA is a reflection of 3 or 3 and a half years of work while AP test scores are a reflection of one 4 hour period. I’ve heard this sentiment echoed from many admissions officer at top schools in reference to both AP test scores and ACT/SAT scores (Yale comes to mind). Just because someone is a good test taker doesn’t mean they will be able to handle the course load in college. I know several people who scored 5s on multiple AP tests but maintain a GPA around 2.0 because they never do their classwork. Second, it is a better (though not perfect) indicator of academic success in college than a test score. Yes, a school may have grade inflation or deflation or be very competitive, but all high schools must send an information sheet to each college a student applies to that shows the available courses and sometimes ECs at the school, and these often also show average GPAs and test scores for students at the school. This should minimize the interference of grade inflation/deflation, etc. I know my school’s sheet shows the percentage of students with a 3.5-4.0, 3.0-3.4, etc. Additionally, when multiple applicants from a school apply to the same college, a comparison of this applicants can also help. On top of that, a recommendation letter is required from a college counselor. This letter can be used to talk about the competitiveness of the school. An AP does not necessarily reflect knowledge a student will be able to take to college. Some students take AP tests as early as freshman year. Many students forget what they learn for an AP test years before they attend college, which is understandable. Also, GPA and standardized test scores are a crucial component of any application. The reason it appears to so many people that subjective information about each applicant is the most important thing is because so many students who apply have almost perfect GPAs and test scores that other information must be used to admit a number of students the university can handle. For example, last year, 1.846 million people took the ACT. This means that at least 18,460 students scored a 34+ (top 1%). A similar number (about 2 million) of students took the SAT. Clearly, other factors have to be evaluated to determine which 3,000 applicants can be admitted out of a pool of 30,000.
To answer the question posed by the OP, AP scores really won’t affect your application a ton. An admissions officer at Yale told me, “If you took an AP class, I expect to see an AP score. Otherwise, I’ll assume you got a 1.” You self-report AP scores on the Common App while you have to send an official score report for the SAT or ACT. That should tell you something about the importance of AP scores in admissions.