<p>My D is a junior in HS and has taken several AP classes this year. However, due to our financial situation, I can't afford the fees for all the tests. Her school doesn't require students to take AP exams. At $80+ per test, I just can't pay for 4 or more tests. It's difficult to even pay for one, but I'm worried that not taking them will really her her chances at the super competitive schools.</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me if not taking the AP tests will hurt her chances for acceptance?</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/573874-ap-test-scores-admission-faq.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/573874-ap-test-scores-admission-faq.html</a> </p>
<p>If it’s difficult to pay for the tests, get a fee waiver. But this time of year is very late for registering for the tests. That had to be done in March in most places I know about. It’s definitely worth the money to have the test scores, and some states have subsidies for the cost of the tests–ask and find out what can be done where you live.</p>
<p>Wow. If your D is capable of 4s or 5s, it’d really be worth getting her registered to take the exams. She’ll never be more ready than right now. Is there a community foundation or some other local charity that could lend a hand? A friend or relative who can give an “early” birthday or Christmas gift? Is she willing to forego some things for this? Knocking out a top score can only lead to good options later (such as graduating earlier (and not having to pay for as many college credits)).</p>
<p>My city has a foundation that handles miscellaneous worthy needs. Maybe talk to your D’s principal and inquire? There’s no shame in asking to see what opps lie out there. Some districts in my state even have state funds to assist lower income kids who wish to take APs.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you and your family.</p>
<p>We can’t get a waiver since we don’t qualify for free or reduced lunch.</p>
<p>If you can’t afford all four tests, you can’t afford it. I’d pick out the one or two tests you think she would do well in and take those. AP scores are just data points on the applications to super competitive schools. If they were make or break, these colleges would require you to send in an official report instead of self report your scores.</p>
<p>if she knows which schools she will be applying to, you can look and see what is their AP credit policy. If there’s a test none of them give credit for, don’t take that one.</p>
<p>If she will be aiming at state schools, and can score 4 or 5 on each test, the cost is worth it. It may save you a year worth of tuition.</p>
<p>Thanks for some good suggestions! I think she will be able to take one or two but she won’t sweat it if she can’t take them all.</p>
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<p>I disagree. It’s not about credit, at least not for AP courses taken in 11th grade. It’s about being able to put nice-looking AP scores on your college applications. I think your daughter should take the tests she is likely to score highest on, regardless of colleges’ credit policies.</p>
<p>How does not taking the AP test effect your D’s grade in the class? At my Ds hs they do not get the added GPA if they do not take the AP test. So if a kid has a 4.0 in the class that is all they will get, not the additional weighting.</p>
<p>Only taking the test and scoring well tells colleges that you actuallly learned something and compares you to everybody else that took the test regardless of where they took the class (from Zimbabwe to Washington, DC). If you get college credit, the value for money spent is like 10 to 1. If you think she will score well, I would make every effort to pay for the tests. Otherwise, I agree to take the ones that she thinks she’ll score the best. We were lucky: school district pays for all the tests.</p>
<p>^You ARE lucky!</p>
<p>“It’s not about credit, at least not for AP courses taken in 11th grade.”
Huh??? On what basis are you making this statement? The grade you are in when you take an AP test is irrelevant- what matters is the score received. I know of no college that disregards AP scores from the 11th grade. My son received AP credit for scores from the 10th, 11th and 12th grades, and as a result started college as a sophomore.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to say that credit was irrelevant, menloparkmom. I should have worded my reply more carefully. You are of course correct that AP scores taken in any year are considered for college credit.</p>
<p>What I meant to say is that in addition to the potential for credit, 11th grade AP scores have meaning in the college application process, in that high scores can look impressive on a college application. High 12th grade AP test scores do not have this extra benefit.</p>
<p>^^ now I understand and agree.</p>
<p>Talk to your D’s GC. I know of high schools who have a special fund for applications and testing fee waivers for situations where a family may not qualify for free/reduced lunch but still has a great deal of difficulty paying for an AP. It may not be common knowledge, but if you ask the GC a door may open.</p>
<p>It would be a shame for your D not to take the exams after all that hard work, esp. when good scores can get her credit and accelerated placement at many colleges.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think the AP exams matter much for college admissions. At some schools they matter for course credits; at others, only for college course placement; at still others, for both. But for admissions? I guess I haven’t seen any evidence that colleges take your scores on AP tests into account in deciding on admissions. But if others do have evidence one way or the other, let’s hear it.</p>
<p>Well it’s too late for her to take any of the tests this year except the AP Lang test. Her teacher signed her up for it, but she’s really not sure that she wants to take it. Her school doesn’t count AP scores into her GPA. She does have to take what they call “end of course” tests for some of the AP classes, like AP US History since US history is a required for graduation for all students. Also, most of the schools that she’s interested in accept AP tests for credit but they will not replace classes. In other words, she can have the credit but she’ll have to take their courses anyway. Some use them for placement. Her brother didn’t take any AP tests and was accepted to NC State’s College of Engineering on early decision. We’ve heard such conflicting things about AP testing that we aren’t going to worry about it. Thanks to all who replied!</p>
<p>“I guess I haven’t seen any evidence that colleges take your scores on AP tests into account in deciding on admissions. But if others do have evidence one way or the other, let’s hear it.”
some colleges, like harvard have a spot on their application to insert AP scores. I believe that many top tier colleges take into account AP scores as a way of verifying the “rigor” of HS school’s curriculum - a school where many students achieve an ‘A’ in an AP class but rarely score above 3 on the AP test is going to be evaluated differently than a school where few students have 4.0 GPA, yet many achieve AP scores of 5.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/573874-ap-test-scores-admission-faq.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/573874-ap-test-scores-admission-faq.html</a></p>
<p>If you truly cannot afford to pay the test fees, and the school has no way to help you, then your child cannot take the AP exams. There are a number of scenarios when the exam grades are more important than in others. If your D goes to a school that is not on the radar of highly selective schools, and she is aiming for such schools, the AP exams show how much of the material she has truly mastered as compared to other students also taking the course. An “A” in a course from a school with highly inflated grades does not mean that student is going to get a good grade on the AP exam. This is a big value for AP exams.</p>
<p>My sons’ independent school did not emphasize AP exams. There was a time when this school really struggled about even designating any courses as AP, and letting whoever wanted to take the AP exams take them. Now things are a bit more structured, but a number of kids do not take the exams even after taking the AP level course, and there are still a handful of kids taking the exam without taking a course designated “AP”. It’s not at all unusual. But this school has a long and strong history of students going to the highly selective schools. One of our neighboring high schools reportedly has a direct relationship to theAP test scores along with the number of AP course, to the acceptances to the most selective schools. This district swears by them and has rules that anyone taking an AP designated course must take the exam.</p>