<p>Sending scores cost $15 per college, so is it worth it? If you self-report will colleges trust you or do you have to have official score reports?</p>
<p>ALTRUIST, what's the difference b/t CB only sending what u want them to send and "erasing" certain scores?</p>
<p>NEVER send AP scores to colleges before you are sure you're going there! You report goes to the registrar's office, which have nothing to do with the admissions office who probably won't ever see your report.
Send it for free during your senior year AP's to the school you know you'll attend in the fall.</p>
<p>You can always self report AP scores on the application. If you have 5's do report them. 4's are okay but if you have say 8 5's then the 4's probably will never make it to paper. Never report anything below a 4, they'll only hurt you.</p>
<p>AP grades are not core part of the app process, they're used more as tiebreakers more than anything. If say, your essay sucked but you have 5 more AP's than the person who had a better essay than you, the other person is still getting in.</p>
<p>My son completed his ED to Dartmouth and he did not put his AP scores on the common app. He has taken 5 AP's as soph and junior and has received a 5 on each one. He had College Board send his scores to Dartmouth with his SAT and Subject tests. Does he need to make a special request to College Board to send them to admissions department? Certainly want to have his AP's recognized.</p>
<p>googol123: When you send AP score reports, you use the same CB codes as you use for SAT/SAT II's.....Why would you think that they are sent to registrar, rather than admissions.?..Also, to send an AP report after the fact you either have to call CB or e-mail them</p>
<p>Can anyone confirm or deny any of this?</p>
<p>RedondoDave:</p>
<p>CB does NOT send out AP scores when it sends out SAT scores. AP & SAT are separate reporting services. I suggest your son type up a quick note and fax it and a copy of his AP score report to Hanover (unless he used he marked the college down when he took his AP's last May).</p>
<p>fwiw: AP scores were not designed for college admissions, so CB charges extra to send additional AP reports. CB allows one free score report to be used at the end of senior year (typically) after the student has chosen to which college s/he will matriculate.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. Just got off the phone with CB and they did send my son's report. We had called CB and requested that his AP scores sent to Dartmouth back in October. I just wanted to make sure that they went to admissions and they did.</p>
<p>You only have to send AP scores if they ask for them and all the schools I'm applying to makes it optional to submit them or not. If they don't ask and your AP scores suck, don't send them. Only send them after you've been accepted so you can get credits for your AP scores.</p>
<p>If you have a lot of 4s and 5s (though more of the latter) then I'd say send them a photocopy of your report (this usually suffices for admissions) along with any other supplementary materials you might have decided on....make sure you mail it to the office of admissions though.</p>
<p>Biology might be much harder than, say, English to take online due to the lab requirement. You'd still have to stay after school to do labwork.</p>
<p>^Something's not right.</p>
<p>What this system of AP score reporting means is that a student can effectively lie about the number of APs he/she takes (along with the scores of course). Since the colleges make it optional to send these score reports and since the student is never obligated to send them thereafter, anyone can get away with the lie o_o</p>
<p>CB needs to do something about this. It's a loophole that's easily exploitable, especially for online apps (e.g. UCs).</p>
<p>^ Sure, that is a valid concern. But are colleges really making decisions, even with students who are in the grey, based on AP scores? AP scores are nothing more than a tool for schools to determine how well students learned material (or how successful a teacher was at teaching) and a tool for colleges to really understand what an A at high school x means compared to an A at high school y<a href="given%20students%20who%20get%20different%20scores">/i</a>. When colleges make admissions decisions, I can assure you they're making decisions based on grades, and teacher/counselor recommendations, and not AP scores. Scores that are more important in admissions decisions - scores for which college board *does** provide more security - are the SAT scores, and they really are the only test scores resulting from college board that really matter in college admissions decisions. </p>
<p>And beside, if colleges ever found out, the applicant would be so screwed for most of the rest of their academic life. :D</p>
<p>Lol I can't believe you just said that? In fact, your point is irrelevant. How colleges make their decisions is unknown to us. What we do know is that AP scores are considered (e.g. colleges like students who challenge themselves and every piece of information, including AP scores, is important). As long as AP scores are a supplement which colleges look at, this is a valid concern which should be addressed, not brushed aside.</p>
<p>I think we would all agree that we're trying to prevent such loopholes in the system, not to see them, weigh them, then ignore them. Regardless of how large a role AP scores have in admissions decisions as long as it has <em>a</em> role to play it is of key importance that we ensure loopholes are closed. </p>
<p>It's like saying, "yeah Y's a problem, but it's not as big a problem as X, therefore we can ignore it since sufficient steps have been taken to solve X" - seems rather ridiculous a proposition to me.</p>
<p>Also, it's not about whether colleges find out or not. It's about taking preventive measures to allow for as level a playing field as is possible.</p>
<p>^ No, I agree with you: it is a problem that needs to be fixed. BUT –– since making AP scores more secure would probably incur even MORE costs in an already highly expensive process of sending scores, I doubt CB will do anything nor will the general population participate in such a policy change. </p>
<p>And the thing is, we DO know, for the most part, how colleges make their decisions. Have you ever heard of the Academic Index calculator? Well, if you haven't, FYI, a LOT of colleges use that system to not make final decisions, but to get rid of a number of applicants. Somewhere on CC floating around is a description (I think it's in Harvard's sub-forum) of Harvard's admissions process. I think you could benefit from reading it. </p>
<p>When ever I'm on CC, I always see the word HOLISTIC thrown around like a rag doll. Though most colleges these days consider all parts of the application, like before, SAT scores and grades trump all else (except, of course, for specific circumstances). It seems that SO MANY students/parents here on CC believe that for even a poorly qualified normal applicant (poor GPA / test scores), or even an applicant with scores in the bottom 25% of a college's score range, a <em>GREAT</em> essay can be the hook that gets the applicant in. That simply isn't the case. As some more omniscient posters have said, when it comes down to it, colleges care most about an applicant's academic record, their teacher recommendations, their standardized test scores, and usually their demonstrated talent. Of course, AP scores kind of float under the umbrella of 'academic record.' However, with so many other, more meaningful measures of an applicant's success (like grades, teacher recommendations, courses) colleges are not going to give them that much emphasis. Furthermore, this discussion of the problem seems like a conspiracy theory dialogue. Do we believe that colleges are not aware of this problem? Since colleges know that verifying AP scores is difficult, they will not put much emphasis on them as such. Will they see them? Sure. Will that be THE DEFINING MOMENT of your application? No. As thousands and thousands of students have applied before you guys, the class of 2012, you have nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>^ * And the thing is, we DO know, for the most part, how colleges make their decisions. *</p>
<p>So you're saying you know exactly how each college chooses students to admit? Really now, that's a huge claim.</p>
<p>* Have you ever heard of the Academic Index calculator? Well, if you haven't, FYI, a LOT of colleges use that system to not make final decisions, but to get rid of a number of applicants. *</p>
<p>Thanks for the information. I note you say "a LOT" of colleges use this system. What about the rest who don't? Also, if the system is used to eliminate students, why are you even mentioning it here? Irrelevant. As long as AP scores are one of the elements looked at by colleges, I think it's common sense that we would want to prevent exploitation and dishonesty. We're talking about a loophole that should be addressed not necessarily by CB and higher costs but by the most efficient means possible. </p>
<p>I think your really lengthy paragraph can basically be summed up by your penultimate line: * Will they see them? Sure. Will that be THE DEFINING MOMENT of your application? No. *</p>
<p>Does it matter whether or not they will be the defining moment? There is a loophole in the system - no matter how large or small it needs to be fixed. Do you even know, for certain, whether or not APs will help swing your application one way or the other? Again, this is another huge claim. If you have two applicants with the exact same credentials save one has an excellent record of APs, which would you pick? While I agree that APs are not weighted as heavily as, say, the High School Diploma or SAT I/II scores, they are still something that colleges will look at and consider, as a supplement or otherwise. As long as it is something that colleges do look at, measures need to be taken to ensure that students don't take advantage of this loophole. I can't even begin to fathom how you are able to draw comparisons between our current discussion and conspiracy theories.</p>
<p>Finally, you contradict yourself on so many levels:</p>
<p>* No, I agree with you: it is a problem that needs to be fixed. BUT –– since making AP scores more secure would probably incur even MORE costs in an already highly expensive process of sending scores, I doubt CB will do anything nor will the general population participate in such a policy change. *</p>
<p>If you agree with me that it's a problem which needs fixing, why the rest of the post which attempts to convince me otherwise? As for higher costs, as mentioned earlier CB isn't the only way to solve this problem. There are many other groups and institutions involved in this process, namely students, teachers/staff, schools, and colleges.</p>
<p>I'm not here to convince you of my point, nor am I obligated to agree with what you're saying - realize that your belligerent tone is unnecessary. Take it as you will, I'm simply expressing my views on an open forum :)</p>
<p>I guess I just miss high school debate (I'm kind of a loser ;) ). </p>
<p>But, your argument rests argument in the rhetorical question:</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you have two applicants with the exact same credentials save one has an excellent record of APs, which would you pick?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The thing is, you'll NEVER have two applicants that are exactly the same in every other way. </p>
<p>Secondly, I said "a LOT" because it is, in fact, the less selective schools, most often, that don't use the academic index. So we can see in these less competitive situations we really don't have to worry.</p>
<p>Third, you criticize my 'huge claim,' "And the thing is, we DO know, for the most part, how colleges make their decisions." And yes, it is a huge claim. And huge claims require huge evidence. Now that many colleges are resisting USNWR College Rankings, many (I think almost all, in fact) are making their "Common Data Sets" available on the internet. And on these reports (alright, I like conjunctions), all colleges detail the "relative importance of each of the following academic and nonacademic factors in your first-time, first-year, degree-seeking (freshman) admission decisions."</p>
<p>For example, here's Stanford's: Stanford</a> University: Common Data Set 2006-2007</p>
<p>So, when we return to the question, "do we know how colleges make the decisions," we see that the answer is a clear, 'yes' because of the data colleges publish in their "Common Data Sets" (oh God, I miss debate; again, my loser-nish shows). </p>
<p>Finally, you talk about how other institutions could involve themselves in validating AP scores sent by students. Given the current current pressure to lower costs in and around higher education, it seems that, by your logic, students, teachers/staff, schools, and colleges should be paying for the transmission/validating SAT scores. But clearly, that's not the case. Since college board is in charge of the scores, they will also be in charge of their validation. </p>
<p>And I don't mean to have a belligerent tone (which, by the way, I think is impossible to perceive given that our conversation is by text, where it's conceivable I could be crying, laughing hysterically, or engaging in highly sexual activities with an attractive Russian actress whose father worked as a blacksmith, while writing these posts :D), I guess it's the just the way I respond to STUPID, IDIOTIC, INNANE posts by OBTUSE, IMBECILIC, MORONIC, DIMWITTED, BONEHEADED, and UNINTELLIGENT posters on College Confidential. ;) [And just in case a moderator comes by, I mean this ending as a complete, and harmless joke, bringing us, in effect, full circle.]</p>
<p>I guess I just, as you say, 'contradicted myself' (I would say shedding light on both sides of the coin) in order to point to the broader picture, and not the details that, as I think I've shown, don't really matter. Bottom line: is it an issue? Of course. Should we preoccupy ourselves by spending much time writing long, probably somewhat trivial posts on college confidential.com? ;) [I think I'll leave that as a rhetorical question.] And with that, I'm done.</p>
<p>were required to take the AP test following the end of every AP class</p>
<p>Ah I'm pretty sure that I'll get three 2's and maybe two 3's or 4's on my exams this year. What should I do for my apps? I'm considering University of Washington and USC...does it destroy my chances completely? My other areas are pretty strong...</p>
<p>what about 6 5's and a 3?</p>
<p>I'm a sophmore and I took my first AP exam this year and I got a one. Is getting a one, even though I had a B+ average the entire year in Ap Euro going to affect my chances of getting into college? I can't stop thinking about it and it's so upsetting can someone please answer me?!</p>