<p>Does the national ap scholar award even matter that much? I've only taken 2 ap tests so far, because I had to finish all the prereqs freshman and sophomore year to get into ap classes, so most of my classes for the last two years were honors. I'm currently a junior- I bulked up on my courseload and am taking 4 ap tests next may. Do you think it's worth it to self-study 2 easy tests, like Psych and Enviro, to be eligible for the national award (assuming that I can get 4's on everything)?</p>
<p>Really depends on the rest of your app. I’m actually in a similar position as you, being a junior and trying to go for National AP Scholar by the end of this school year. I considered taking AP Psych and APES as well, but decided against it. Instead, I decided to take the physics tests since I’ve been self-studying physics for competitions anyway.</p>
<p>What I decided was that I wouldn’t go out of my way to self-study tests like Psych because my ECs are pretty average and I wanted to make sure I had time for them.</p>
<p>I’m a senior and I am going to take 2 more AP tests this year but those won’t really matter because the colleges are not going to see them until after i am accepted/declined. so right now i only have the Honors Scholar one. I hope it’s better than nothing.</p>
<p>of course it is gallaryl000, its still an award from a big institution! i just dont want to go through the trouble of studying for these tests if they dont matter that much in the admissions process. well i guess since dont have anything from usabo, science olympiad, or other academic awards, i might as well go for this :/</p>
<p>As someone who received the National AP Scholar award, I sure hope it means something. For college apps, though, it is really just a line item in most school’s “Academic Honors and Distinctions”. Colleges probably care more about the tests themselves (for example, the minimum requirement is an average of 4 and a score of at least 4 on 8 AP exams, where as I’ve taken 9 AP exams with score of 5 on 8 and a score of 4 on the last). Also, it depends on the kind of program you are after. If you are pursuing engineering but have mostly tests like World History and English, as opposed to Calc, Physics or Comp Sci, it won’t be as much of a benefit. In general though it is “impressive” considering that most people receive a 3 or lower on AP exams and many people don’t take more than one AP exam, let alone 8.</p>
<p>However, by senior year, the only real benefit to taking exams is to fulfill entry level course requirements in college.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t over do it just to get the award. As others mentioned, you should focus more on getting good scores with your current AP classes.</p>