If you receive less than a 5 on an AP test, how does that affect your potential admission to competitive colleges like UC Berkeley? Will how the AP test relates to your intended major have an impact on admissions as well?
Also, is it more important/beneficial to get straight A’s in AP classes but with a few 3’s and 4’s here and there, or straight 5’s on AP tests but with a few B’s and maybe C’s here and there?
Neither 3s nor Cs should be in sight for places like Berkeley.
At most colleges, submitting AP scores is optional, and not a significant factor in admissions.
If you are an A-student and you get low or mediocre AP scores on multiple tests, that might be a sign your classes have grade inflation, which isn’t the message that you want to send. Likewise, a 5 on an AP test isn’t going to make up for a C in the class (although one C on your transcript may not hurt your chances if your overall GPA is strong enough and you’re showing an upward trend). It just says you’re good at cramming.
The goal, obviously, should be As and 5s in the AP classes you take, but when it comes time to pick colleges, match to your actual grades and SAT/ACT scores.
^ most is not all, though. At test flexible schools like NYU, good scores in the required breadth of AP courses can be used in lieu of standardized tests.
And while I know it’s usually optional to submit AP scores, i believe top schools like to see an AP exam score if the course is on the transcript?
Went to an admissions session at Colorado College 2 weeks ago and they said ALL scores submitted are considered. AP, IB, SAT2, SAT and ACT.
Fret not…colleges are much more concerned about your grades in those classes as opposed to the AP tests.
Why is that?
For example, Stanford says:
Students currently enrolled in AP courses are not required to submit AP scores as part of our admission process. AP scores that are reported are acknowledged but rarely play a significant role in the evaluation of an application. Grades earned over the course of a term, or a year, and evaluations from instructors who can comment on classroom engagement provide us with the most detailed insight into a student’s readiness for the academic rigors of Stanford.
http://admission.stanford.edu/basics/selection/prepare.html
So it is better to get straight A’s and 3-4s on tests. (Although you may not get credit).
so for @VickiSoCal …“All scores submitted are considered”…don’t send scores you don’t want considered.
AP test scores are important when you are at a highschool that is not well known to the most selective colleges. Though colleges do view your course difficulty index in context of what’s available to you, if your high school tends to get low results on AP tests, it does give concern as to whether you are prepared academically to college rigor. Also home schooled kids and kids at schools with unusual grading scales or no grades. It gives a more concrete picture of how well prepared a student is academically.
At the top schools, where the admissions committee has to find reasons to reject rather than to admit because too many applicants are more than acceptable, yes, those test scores come into the picture, all things equal. Of course those 5s will make a difference and 4s can hurt in that situation. It does reinforce an outstanding record to have solid slate of Junior year 5s on the AP exams. Senior APs, they aren’t going to see till after acceptances.
When asked the Vassar admissions officers said that they care much more about the fact that you took the course than the exam grade. (As I recall Yale, Dartmouth and Harvard were also at the presentation and agreed.) It’s one day and there really is no making it up if you for one reason or other don’t perform well that day. You self report AP scores. No college is going to make you fork over the fees to get an official AP test report unless it’s in place of SAT2 scores or for some test optional schools, homeschooler or other special circumstances.