I’ve always known/thought that AP scores were primarily used for college credit instead of college admission that you send AFTER being admitted to a certain school. Will the admission officers receive a big red flag if I don’t send in ANY AP scores? My overall stats and EC’s are well competitive for these schools, though. Thanks!
No, they won’t care. You send in scores after admission, for credit, as you said. You can self-report the scores on the common app, but there’s no need to send official reports from the testing agency before getting in.
Now, if you’re asking about whether or not to self-report scores on the common app, that’s a whole can of worms. Generally it goes that you should report any 3’s or higher, but it will be a negative factor if you don’t score well on AP exams (especially if you got an A/B in the class, as this suggests grade inflation).
Yes, if you don’t self-report any AP exams, then that may be a red flag. It usually means one of the following:
You took the exam and did badly, so you’re not reporting a low score.
You didn’t take the exam because you didn’t do well in the class or didn’t feel prepared enough to score well.
You didn’t take the exam because you couldn’t afford it.
The first 2 are especially bad if you have high grades in the corresponding AP classes, because it shows that those grades were inflated. An A in APUSH corresponding with a 2 on the test shows that the grade was inflated, for example. If you couldn’t take the tests because of financial reasons, have your guidance counselor say that in his or her school report so the adcoms don’t assume it was one of the first two reasons.
So are my chances to these schools in my thread practically diminished? The only ap score that I have now since my sophomore year is a 3 on APUSH. I’m a current senior.
@BabylonBabylon@skieurope I didn’t take the exam for bio and apes since I didn’t want to waste/use the money that would play minimal effect for my major.
@Runners Didn’t self report any AP scores. Ended up getting accepted to Notre Dame with a pre-admit into Mendoza. Red flags = false. Unless I had something amazing that I don’t even know about.
Notre Dame is NOT in the same league as Stanford or the Ivys.
And yes, not reporting AP scores will be interpreted as a negative, since so many applicants with high AP scores DO mention their AP scores or have them sent to the college.
@menloparkmom And do you self-report them in the additional comments section of the common application? Since there is no place designated to self-report AP scores on the commonapp.
@menloparkmom Yes, but for the Ivies in general, many people haven’t self reported any AP scores and we’re still accepted, assuming their numerical stats were on par and they had something that would make them stand out. I’m not discouraging the practical benefits of sending in AP scores, but they’re not looked upon as much during the admissions process.
Yes the AP scores should matter in a holistic review process! An applicant with all 5’s could not be treated same way as someone with less impressive scores or none.
Also I remember that my daughter listed hers in the UC application.
" I’m not discouraging the practical benefits of sending in AP scores, but they’re not looked upon as much during the admissions process. "
The bottom line is that -
1- a lot of kids with GREAT AP scores DO self report them and
2- GREAT AP scores wont hurt when applying to top colleges- low or non existent scores for AP classes taken prior to an applicants SR year wont help - especially if a transcript shows AP classes were taken, and may hurt, as top colleges DO look at ALL material sent when making admissions decisions.
AP scores are not as important as the other parts of an application, but they are not ignored.
@menloparkmom No one has CollegeBoard send in AP scores because they get sent directly to the registrars office and admissions never even sees them. You only send in your official scores AFTER you enroll in a school if you are interested in trying to get college credits or for placement. You self-report your scores on the Common App.