Do top schools like the Ivies, UCLA, USC pay attention to good AP scores? Will they see you as a more qualified applicant if you have a lot of 5s or see you as a weaker applicant if your AP scores are low?
Thanks
Fret not…colleges are much more concerned about your grades in those classes as opposed to the AP tests.
Why is that?
- Doing well in a class shows you can learn over the year and work hard over a period of time. That is what they want in college.
- Not all HS have many APs.
- Many people take AP tests senior year which is too late for admissions
Look at the Common Data Set…does it mention AP scores? No.
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
AP scores are nearly irrelevant.They are for credit or placement use only. Dont torture yourself. Just take challenging classes and do well.
I don’t think I’d go as far as saying they’re nearly irrelevant. Stanford’s wording is correct - they rarely play a “significant” role. Many other things are more important. But they are additional data points that show mastery of material and readiness for college. Yes, an application with eight 5’s on APs would be more attractive than one without. But the incremental improvement is small (but not zero)
Senior year, doesn’t matter. But for classes before that, absolutely it is important. It helps a AO validate a grade. Getting As in APUSH and a 3 on the test generally isn’t going to look good.