<p>Ivy league schools and other top tier colleges want to see 5's on AP tests, even if they aren't going to give you credit for them. Your AP scores factor into your admission decision. If you are in an AP class and making an A+ for the year because the course is easy and is not preparing you well enough for the AP test, and you do not conduct any study of your own, which of the following two scenarios is better:
1) You take the AP test with a high risk of not passing.
2) You do not take the AP test. </p>
<p>I don't know whether you are required to inform colleges you apply to of your AP test scores, whether they can get the information themselves, and whether colleges can tell from a school's profile which courses are blow-offs.</p>
<p>No one can see your AP scores unless you send them. Don’t worry about that.</p>
<p>Lots of people don’t take the AP exams, so don’t worry about that either.</p>
<p>Just don’t self-report any AP tests that aren’t 5s, the official report is usually sent after acceptance.</p>
<p>So if you take an AP test and get a 1 on it, there is no way for the colleges you are applying to to find out your score?</p>
<p>What I am basically asking is, can taking an AP test only help you, or can it hurt you as well?</p>
<p>There is no way that they will get your score unless you give it to them, or deliberately ask the College Board to send it to them.</p>
<p>You are correct. If you consider the score too low to do you any good, you do not have to report it.</p>