Hi, I’m a senior, and I’m doing my college applications.
We weren’t allowed to take APs freshman year, and we pretty much could only take one Sophomore year. I took four APs junior year, so I’ve taken 5 AP tests in total which got me an “AP Scholar With Distinction” award.
This year (senior year), I’m taking four APs, and I’m hoping I’ll do well enough on those to get the National AP Scholar award. However, that would be in June when AP scores for this year come out, and college applications are done by December, as you all know.
So would getting the National AP Scholar be useful in any way at all?
Thanks.
No, you would have had to earn National AP scholar as a Junior to list it on college apps. The good news is that colleges will look at the AP’s your high school offers and won’t hold it against you that you did get National AP Scholar.
It would not have been useful even if you got it as a junior. It’s a nice piece of paper to have, but in my mind, it’s only a slight step up from the perfect attendance medal. It certainly won’t impact college admissions, IMO. Good luck.
List your AP Scholar with Distinction. ADCOMS don’t see much difference between the two. Some colleges like Stanford think doing well in APs is the best indicator of doing well in college.
@skieurope I have to disagree with you on this, while not having earned National AP Scholar as a junior won’t hurt you at any school, it may help you at some schools. Just like National Merit applicants are a dime a dozen at some schools but at others they are highly sought after. While your transcript may show that you took AP classes it doesn’t show how well you did on the standardized tests and since AP scores aren’t sent until after admission this is a good way to show that you have not only taken a number of challenging classes but that you have mastered the material.
There are not many students that make National AP Scholar as a junior so it is something that stands out. Here is a listing of AP awards by grade and state:
https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/misc/ap-scholar-counts.xlsx
In 2016 TX only had 613 students that earned National AP Scholar in 11th grade, in contrast that same year Texas had 1,308 National Merit Semi Finalists. Certainly much more than a “perfect attendance medal”
@3scoutsmom It was meant as slightly-tongue-in-cheek aggrandizement. But my opinion remains. In the grand scheme of things that are important in the admissions process, with GPA, course rigor, SAT/ACT, essays, etc. I’m of the opinion that AP scores are waaaay down on the list along with any certificates that accompany such scores.
Self reporting scores on the Common App accomplishes the same thing.
Getting off topic, but while in some cases it may show that a student has mastered the material, in other cases, it shows that the student has mastered how to take a 3 hour exam.
The same could be said about the SAT/ACT but obviously colleges consider those…
Adcoms do their own looking at the scores. The real point is those scores, not that CB has some award they dole out. You could not mention it at all and adcoms will still see how you did.
In fact, National AP Scholar is for average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken. If you’ve got some 3s in there, the certificate doesn’t change that.
Perfect Attendance made me chuckle.
Adding: getting credit from the registrar is entirely different than showing scores on the application, for admission.
@lookingforward National AP Scholar requires 4 on at least 8 AP exams that’s why is hard to earn in 11th grade
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Oops, missed that critical “and.” Thx. But adcoms will still look. And 3s in critical subjects, even a 4- or all 4s- may not cut it at a most competitive. The CB award doesn’t change that.
Totally agree that it won’t mean anything at the most competitive schools, just like National Merit won’t mean much to them but for other schools it might make a kid stand out a little.
As mentioned earlier, and perhaps most importantly, AO’s will also view in context. AO’s know that not all AP’s are created equal, and they know that many HS’s prohibit or limit freshman and sophomores with AP’s.
So an AP Scholar Award as a junior with AP Chem, AP Physics C, and AP Calc BC might be more impressive (although I would also argue that such an applicant will have other desirable traits that come out elsewhere in the application) than the applicant with APHG and AP WH, or the European applicant that banged out 3-4 AP foreign language exams as a freshman, since many of us are already multilingual.
Helpful or not depends on the school. The bottom line is one csnnot list an award that is not even pending.