<p>For some schools like Harvard, they will consider AP scores as additional SAT2 if submitted. That means it bears not much weight. There are only a few schools that may use AP score for admission. If your school uses AP exam score for final grades, it will have an indirect effect on admission through GPA. For most schools, you only need to self report AP scores. Nevertheless, adcom may use your AP scores to evaluate your school grades.</p>
<p>@MrMom62:
@Corinthian: </p>
<p>I agree that self-studying AP exams probably has little to no bearing in the admissions process. However, I disagree with the notion that it makes a “kid [look like] a grind”. What if the student self-studied the exam because the particular course wasn’t offered at his or her school and he or she had an interest in the subject?</p>
<p>For example, my school only offers AP Physics: Mechanics and not E&M. As a prospective STEM major, however, I self-studied the latter out of interest and since it contains valuable knowledge. I hardly think I should be classified as a “grind” or anything along those lines.</p>
<p>@suzy100, I don’t think missing 1 out 5 AP tests is a show stopper. So don’t worry about it too much. It’s more about people who take the short cut and skip the bulk if not all tests. That will be really detrimental for applicants to top schools.</p>
<p>@mamofzag, nice that you find some additional information.</p>
<p>@Corinthian, the original question is AP tests on admissions. Of course senior year AP tests have no bearing on those unless you want the credits or plan to apply again.</p>
<p>@billcsho, AP/SAT2 are used to calibrate your grades as you agree. So both of them are more important than what you would think.</p>
<p>@Episteme, self studying and reporting the scores is perfectly fine. There just won’t be much boost from it regarding admissions as you already know. That’s because even if one take some on line classes, I don’t think many of them are that well regarded. But for personal pursuit, sure, why not.</p>
<p>All courses contain valuable knowledge. The question is, why do you feel compelled to take a test after reading about the subject? Seems to me if you were truly interested in a subject, you’d read the book and move on, not take a test, unless you’re trying to prove something. It’s one thing to read Leonard Susskind’s “The Black Hole War” because you find the subject of his debate with Stephen Hawking interesting, yet another to read his “An Introduction to Black Holes, Information, and the String Theory Revolution” and then set out to find an audience that you actually understand what he talking about, complete with all the math.</p>
<p>As some here have said, AP scores can verify the grade you got in the class. Think about it: why wouldn’t an adcom want to know how you actually did on the standardized test? And isn’t the usual reason for not reporting, that you didn’t get a decent score? </p>
<p>To some extent, all this depends on the colleges in question. “Top tier” schools will have plenty of top performing applicants who took rigor, took the tests, did well and reported their scores. They will be your competition.</p>
<p>According to what @Corinthian said, representatives from top tier schools stated that not much weight is put on those AP tests. </p>
<p>And if I got a 3 on the AP Bio test (idk yet cause scores have not been released), I probably shouldn’t report it when applying to colleges huh</p>
<p>^^ That issue was self-study. Re-read that trail. Self-study misses the classroom experience and focuses on a chance of just getting a good score. Empty.</p>
<p>If you want STEM and don’t report the bio result, do you think they will assume you did well? Or hope they don’t care? When thousands of others play by the rules? </p>
<p>If you want a STEM major, for a competitive college, you will also deal with the B grades in AP calc and bio. </p>
<p>IMHO, you should report a score of 3 as 73,632 other students (36%) who took AP Bio also scored a 3, meaning that a 3 is about average. There is nothing wrong with having a score that is average, even if the rest of your AP exams are all 4’s and 5’s. Even the most selective colleges are not going to reject you if you self-report 3’s. See: <a href=“http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/apcentral/ap13_biology_ScoringDist.pdf”>http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/apcentral/ap13_biology_ScoringDist.pdf</a></p>
<p>You can go to the AP professionals website and see distributions for other AP exams at: <a href=“AP Program Results – Reports | College Board”>http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/ap/scores/distributions</a></p>
<p>@BBTWD1885, I was specifically talking about self studying to stack extra AP’s on over and above your AP classes, just to try to impress adcoms by how many AP scores you can report. That was what the Harvard rep was discouraging. I think it would be different if you self studied because your school didn’t offer AP’s, or if some schedule conflict precluded you from taking the AP class, and your GC explained that.</p>
<p>@MrMom62:</p>
<p>I took the exam because a good score on it would grant me exemption from or course credit for the analogous course at most universities.</p>
<p>I forget exactly how many spots the Common App has for self-reported AP scores, but (as someone from a school that offers 20+ AP’s) I think I have more than I can fit. I know that self-studying the course will get me absolutely no bonus points at HYPSM and company, but I disagree that it should somehow be a negative factor. I also know that additional AP’s won’t help me much after my counselor checkmarks the “Most Demanding” courseload box. As such, I may very well not even report the score. </p>
<p>Going for credit is something else entirely. Self-studying for the APs in order to save money by getting credit is a viable strategy. I sometimes forget that is possible since the vast majority of CCers seem to go to schools where credit really isn’t granted, they just let you start at a higher level. FWIW, Physics C - E&M is probably not a course you really want to self-study/test out of if you are going further in physics, there are too many follow-on concepts that depend on that class’s concepts you need to have down cold, not just pass an AP test. I think many college classes would also cover dynamic, not just static, fields and that’s where the real fun starts.</p>
<p>Can’t broach the issue of college credit until you get admitted.<br>
Don’t make assumptions. </p>
<p>One surprise that I found when my D2 was applying to colleges, is that the colleges all have very different policies in whether you need official score reports for the AP scores to be considered in admissions. I had to call all the schools where she was going to apply and individually get their policy. They ranged from 1) self-reporting is fine followed by verification later, 2) Fax informal college board score reports, to 3) we will only consider AP scores in the admissions process if an official score report was sent. I was amazed, but I sent a number of official score reports to college admissions offices. </p>
<p>@MrMom62:</p>
<p>Most schools (even the top ones) seem to give credit or exemption for scores of 5 (sometimes even 4) on either or both of the AP Physics C exams. I don’t really care much about credit vs. exemption; I’d be happy with either. I’m thinking that credit won’t matter since I’ll probably be majoring in physics or engineering and have to take the same number of courses anyway (and therefore get charged the same tuition money when all is said and done).</p>
<p>Yeah, I completely agree that AP Physics C: E&M is nowhere near as rigorous as the college equivalent. I procrastinated on my self-studying and still felt that I did well on the exam despite the fact that I didn’t even come close to grasping all the concepts 100%. I plan to fill in the gaps this next academic year through USAPhO preparation and general study of physics out of interest and for college preparation. </p>
<p>If I wanted to enter a Statistics major but I received a B in my AP Calculus AB class, yet I got a 5 on the BC exam, how would that affect my admission? And also, please assume that I got an A in my AP Statistics class (taking that during the upcoming school year)</p>
<p>Although colleges ask about your “intended” major, Admissions Officers understand that 50% to 70% of students change their major at least once during their 4 years of college. So, colleges DO NOT and CANNOT use whatever you write down as your “intended” major as a recruiting tool, because the data doesn’t correlate to the major a student will eventually graduate with. So, it doesn’t matter if you write down “statistics” or “undecided” or specify something else. Colleges are asking the question to just gauge your interests. The exception to that rule is if you are applying to a specialized school, such as Wharten at UPenn or RISD etc – then your major must align with what the school is teaching and those colleges look for students who have demonstrated proficiency with top grades in their intended field of study. If you’re not applying to a specialized school, your “intended” major will not have any effect on whether you are accepted, deferred or rejected.</p>
<p>@gibby thank you</p>