<p>Soooo I just got my AP World History Score and I made a 3 and I'm extremely bummed out about it... I feel like a failure and like everything that I dreamed and planned for getting into one of these schools is gone. This was my first AP Test and all though I passed it wasn't good enough because I spent countless hours studying staying up late at night just to study. Based on how I did on my first AP test, I feel as if though I will do the same for next years AP's (Envi Sci, Microecon, APUSH) and I will only end up with a mediocre score no matter how hard I work. Will Harvard or Princeton see this score and possibly reject me because of this? Am I absolutely overreacting? Is there any tips you can give me so that I can do better for next years test and hopefully make 4's and 5's? What did you do? How were your scores and how did you react? Do you have any (or know anybody) experience similar to mine and ended up at HYPSM? I don't know why I'm so bummed but I just am... consolation please? Please only constructive/nice comments. Yes I know I'm obsessed with Ivy Leagues but its been a dream of mine since forever and now that the time has come to start preparing to go to them I feel discouraged and besides we all have something we have been working towards and shooting towards and for now the Ivy League is it for me.</p>
<p>Ivies and etc. don’t care about AP tests.</p>
<p>However, if you really think you suck that much at standardized tests (may I direct you to your entire post), then you might not do well on the SAT/ACT, which could truly screw your chances…</p>
<p>More answers:</p>
<p>1) You are overreacting.
2) Study, a lot. Take practice tests. History tests work well with flash cards. Science tests work well with book learning (I like the Crash Course for EnviroSci). MicroEcon has some good AP review books, and is really easy to take, just remember the basic concepts.
3) No college will see your scores unless you give it to them. If you sent your scores to HYPSM, mercy be on your soul. If not, then you’re safe.
4) My scores were mostly 5’s, and a couple of 4’s (took 10 this year).
5) To HYPSM, the AP test itself does not matter. It is the class, the GPA, and the SAT/ACT scores that matter.
6) Don’t be bummed out. Just work harder. HYPSM is very tough, and you need to make sure you’re up for the challenge when the time comes.</p>
<p>You don’t have to actually report that score. When it comes to AP tests, they hurt your app. as much as YOU let them. If you did well in the course, by all means calm down and drink some Starbucks. Pat yourself on the back for taking AP world. You have completed one step that is crucial to getting in. You ,my friend ,have challenged yourself in terms of coursework</p>
<p>@PolyglotGal @UMTYMP2015 Thank you guys soo much for the encouragement and advice… But for Microeconomics and Environmental Science I will be self-studying them this year… Will that change anything??? Will that actually reduce my chances or possibly increase them for making a 4 or a 5? Any tips on that aspect?</p>
<p>OK dude,</p>
<ol>
<li>They’ll only see the score if you send it to them.</li>
<li>Just because you got a 3 on this doesn’t mean you’re doomed for future APs. Obviously they’re all different classes, so maybe you’ll do better on other exams. At any rate, now you know you need to study harder. Plus, sometimes it just comes down to the luck of the draw on how well versed you are on the FRQ topics. </li>
</ol>
<p>Your chances didn’t change whatsoever. Relax and just know that you need to work harder in the future.</p>
<p>You don’t actually have your AP scores sent from the College Board when you apply to colleges. You just self-report them on the Common App if you want to. So colleges won’t see your scores unless you self-report them, and it wouldn’t even matter if you did because 3 is passing and AP scores aren’t really used in admissions anyway. Of course, Harvard and Princeton will probably still reject you because they’re Harvard and Princeton. You can’t really “ruin” your chance of getting into these schools because it’s basically zero anyway. </p>
<p>Also, there’s no reason to self-study AP exams unless you want college credit. If your school offers a given AP classes, colleges want you to take the class and the test rather than just the test. If your school doesn’t offer a given AP classes, colleges don’t expect you to take it and you’d be better off working on your ECs. </p>
<p>From personal experience, being bad at AP tests doesn’t mean you’ll be bad at the SAT/ACT. </p>
<p>What everyone else said. Also, this thread title is the most dramatic thing I have ever read.</p>
<p>You must be new. I’ve seen a lot of really dramatic threads this week, though. </p>
<p>Well, AP and IB scores are coming out, which is leading to a lot of the drama.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it. First of all, you don’t need to report it (in any case, even if you did, it wouldn’t make much of a difference). Study hard, and I’m sure you can do better next year. Sometimes it’s important to experience some disappointments to learn how to bounce back from them.</p>
<p>Also as a side note, self-studying APES is pretty easy. All I did was read a prep book.</p>
<p>Why are you so obsessed with the Ivy League?</p>
<p>@DiscipulusBonus I’m obsessed because all my life I’ve been told that if I’m exceptional in school that I can do exceptionally well in getting into a good college (like an Ivy League) and if I get into an Ivy League my life will be set and I feel like in terms of doing well in school by making the best possible grades and doing the best EC’s I possibly can make the Ivy League which is the highest achievement/reward I can get in terms of how well I did in High School. I guess I just don’t want to look back in later years and ask myself why I didn’t try as hard in high school or push myself to get in when I feel like I know I could/can…</p>
<p>A 3 is a good score. It’s passing. It’s what most people make on the test. Don’t be too upset about it; it’s not going to hamper your admissions. However, I would not recommend not sending in the scores as the above posters have mentioned. A Yale admissions officer told me to send in all AP scores because if she sees you took an AP class, but you don’t send in a score for the AP test, she assumes you got a 1. Send in the 3 because it’s substantially better than a 1, and if you don’t send in a score, there’s always the chance that the admissions officers will assume the worst (which the Yale admissions officer said she does). Don’t worry about a 3. It reveals more about your school to colleges than anything. If they see you got an A+ in a class every semester, but see that you got a 3, they may suspect grade inflation at your school. On the other hand, if you got a 5 on a test and you got a B- every semester, that may reveal grade deflation (or difficulty with schoolwork). Don’t stress out about a 3, but don’t leave it from your application. Again, don’t give the admissions officers an opportunity to assume the worst, because some like the Yale admissions officers will.</p>
<p>@430ktk Thank you for the advice! I guess I just had the mindset that to be at an Ivy League you have to be near perfect on everything and if not you could say goodbye the the already extremely slim chances you had… but you make sense I guess I will painfully have to send in my scores when application time comes… and I think my school does have grade inflation (I made an A+ both semesters) </p>
<p>Ivies want an interesting, enthused student more than a perfect student. Just look at admissions statistics. There’s a reason why the interesting, academically curious kid with an ACT score of 30 got in instead of the boring one with a score of 36 (and no, it’s not because the former is a triple-legacy URM varsity athlete). And please for your own sake, don’t get too obsessed with the Ivy dream. A little obsession is ok (I completely understand, I’m in the same boat, you don’t need to give up on your dream, I always hate when people tell me that I should), but you’re worth more than the colleges you get accepted to, and college acceptance letters are not an accurate measure of success, achievement, or intelligence (and I, too, will need to reread that sentence over and over again when opening my acceptance/rejection letters in April). Good luck! </p>
<p>If you were a freshman/sophomore, a 3 is still good for AP World! Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s not like a single AP score (which is still a passing score, too) will completely ruin your chances of attending a prestigious school.</p>
<p>Also, don’t be set only on get into the Ivy League. There are other schools that are just as good/better.</p>