<p>I got a 4 on the AP Human Geography test freshman year and a 3 on the AP European History exam. Will/can an Ivy League college turn you down because of this seeing such a low score? Despite of all the other things you have done?</p>
<p>They might turn you down, but not for that.</p>
<p>I don’t think they care so much about the scores on the tests as the grades on the courses. You don’t have to take the test if you don’t want to and I don’t believe you have to report the test score.</p>
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<p>I disagree. Good grades in AP courses coupled with poor grades on the exams pegs the preparation offered by your school as poor and devalues your grades.</p>
<p>Not taking the test may be seen as ducking the issue, or perhaps only taking the course to get a boost in weighting. You don’t have to report your scores, but since there is a place to do so on the Common App someone may wonder why you haven’t. The assumption will probably be that you did poorly or skipped the test.</p>
<p>The reality is that Ivies expect you to do well in everything these days. They are accustomed to seeing kids with strings of 5s on APs. But I don’t think that a 3 will sink your application, though it probably won’t particularly help you either. (Unless you went to a very poor HS, where achieving those scores is really outstanding.) Now, a 1 or a 2…that’s bad. :)</p>
<p>^agree…</p>
<p>Yeah I don’t think its that big of a deal unless you get below a 3 or something.</p>
<p>If you get a 4 or 5, generally it is considered acceptable, but probably would not considered “as good” for HYPSMC since they have rooms chock full of applications from students with 5+ straight 5’s on these exams.</p>
<p>3’s are a little iffy, failing for many private colleges (since they refuse to offer credit for such a score), but fair game for many publics and lower-tier private uni’s. I would say that the average prestigious college would take the score as you not showing ful interest or understanding of the class.</p>
<p>1&2’s are bad. Try your best to cover these if all possible, because they will only lead to problems.</p>
<p>So basically, Consulation is correct, IMO as a CC Senior from being around here for about 9 months or so. You won’t really be counted against, but the score of 3 will be questioned. </p>
<p>Good Luck!!!</p>
<p>One bad AP score will not be what sinks your application.</p>
<p>It is true that if you have good grades in AP classes, but a string of poor scores (a 4 is not “poor”, by the way, even at HYPSM) on the tests, it suggests that your school’s preparation is poor and devalues the grades. However, if you do well on a bunch of AP tests, and poorly on one, that just indicates that you had a bad day, or that the one teacher was bad, or (if you got a low grade in the class as well) that you’re a good student with a weak subject.</p>
<p>I had two “low” (below 4) AP scores, out of 14 tests, and I didn’t have a problem getting into top schools. It’s not ideal, of course, but “not ideal” is different from “will sink your app”.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, that really helped :)</p>