Getting mixed info on this. Some people like oh they dont matter for admissions and are only for credit. Some people say only the ones relevant to major matter.
Totally school dependent.
What type of schools are you thinking about ?
Does your high school offer APs? If so a lot or few ?
If you apply to U of Arizona etc it won’t impact admission. If you apply to a somewhat elite school, rigor could impact admissions.
Good luck.
It depends on which AP courses, and in comparison to what other courses you would choose.
Sorry, I meant AP Scores. Obviously you will want to max out rigor for the best schools.
Again, it depends.
Some schools will want to see them and will want to see high scores. Others won’t care - even if you take the class. They’ll give you credit for the class but if you don’t score highly, they won’t care.
You’ll be admitted Senior Year without ever seeing a score.
You’re asking a question that will be school specific.
In general, not having scores should not make a difference in admissions.
However, high scores (4 and 5) can serve as a "validation " of good grades and strengthen the academic profile of a student. Because so many schools practice some form of grade inflation, this can indicate that a student mastered the material. As a general rule, you should not submit scores of 3 and below. They do not add to the strength of an application.
As mentioned in posts above, at certain colleges, many applicants will have taken AP classes and will be submitting scores.
If your school didn’t offer AP courses, it’s understandable that you would not submit. You are not expected to self study.
There’s always exceptions to the rule so consider the answer below “general guidelines”
Colleges want to see (and admit) students that are stretching themselves. If your school offers Standard/Honors/AP level classes a student that gets a B+ in AP is going to be looked on more favorably than someone that gets an A+ in Standard (even though the GPA impact is ~ the same).
You don’t state in your original post what grade you’re in. If you’re currently a Junior the college is going to be making a decision based on very little (if any) Senior year grade information - depending on how you apply.
Good AP scores in general education courses outside your prospective major will allow you waive courses and get slightly ahead in college. Good AP scores in courses around your prospective major will generally allow you to take the next level of difficulty course.
You need to start with what AP courses your school even offers. Some offer a lotof them, some none. If you’re unable to take any because your school doesn’t offer them it will not be looked at negatively by a college since they get a school “profile” that tells them all this information. If your school offers a lot of them and you don’t take any it will limit your ability to get into a competitive school and/or program.
Good AP scores in general education courses outside your prospective major may allow you waive courses and get slightly ahead in college.
2 Likes
See first sentence of response. 
Very college dependent. Some colleges do NOT consider AP scores in the admissions process at all. Others do.
1 Like
I agree with other posters that whether and how much APs matter for admissions is highly dependent on the colleges.
Some core AP courses are viewed as among the most rigorous and challenging courses if your HS (except for a few that are known to offer more challenging courses) offer them. How students challenge themselves in HS and how well they do in challenging situations is an important part of college admission evaluation for nearly all selective colleges.
Among the set of core AP courses, which ones will matter more depends on what you want to study in college. You’re expected to take the ones that are most relevant to your intended area of study in college for the highly selective colleges, if your HS offers them.
For the colleges where APs are an important part of their admission evaluation and most of their applicants have taken APs, having high AP scores (for AP courses taken prior to senior year) is an important indicator that the student has done well in those courses (especially if s/he is from a HS where course rigor is less well known and/or grade inflation is apparent). Conversely (and this is probably somewhat controversial), some colleges may view the lack of AP scores in the same core AP courses that are more relevant to the student and taken prior to senior year negatively, in the absence of evidences that show the student couldn’t take the exams.
I’m not sure even these are always considered by colleges in the admissions process. And remember, any APs taken senior year…those scores won’t even be available for admission purposes. But that you took the course will be on your transcript, right?
Sample of two. Neither of my kids took AP courses related to their eventual college majors.
1 Like
deleted. I missed that this was about the AP tests, not classes.
What I’m saying is that if the student has indicated, either explicitly or implicitly, what s/he intends to study in college, s/he should try, generally speaking, to take the relevant core AP courses if offered. If s/he takes such courses in senior year (because of natural progression), AP scores obviously wouldn’t come into play.
How do you show evidence that the student couldn’t take the exam? My DS is taking two tests but took 3 APs this year. I didn’t know at registration time that he would be taking three APs, so I only registered him for 2 tests. 2 of the classes were 1-semester classes.
If this is a core AP course for his intended area of study, he’s applying to one of those colleges where this may matter, I’d include a note about the issue of registration you mentioned in his application, unless, of course, he’s able to demonstrate his competence in this area in other more meaningful ways.
1 Like
I would not waste any space in your student’s common app explaining why they didn’t register for an AP test. There is just not enough room. If there is, there is something missing from the app. If you must, ask the HS GC to add one sentence about this in their LoR.
5 Likes
One specific place they will matter: for US HS students applying to universities abroad which, by and large, do not believe/trust a GPA from most US high schools.
1 Like
Obviously, it depends on the college as to what you may get from an AP score. You may get none, some, or all of the following:
- Credits toward the number of credits needed to graduate.
- Subject credit for a course that can fulfill a requirement.
- Advanced placement into a higher level course in the subject area.
But it is not assured that you “will” or “will not” get any of the above without checking the specific college’s policies on the matter. Also, a college may have a policy of cancelling the effect of the AP score if you take a duplicating college course.
Students who may transfer to a different college or apply to professional school (e.g. medical school) may also have to consider how the different college or professional school may see the AP scores.
1 Like
Sometimes. There are colleges that don’t recognize AP scores for anything…at all.
2 Likes