Should I notify the college I was accepted into if I’m not taking some exams that I put down on my application? I won’t be taking 3 of the 7 I put down because I don’t get credit for 1 of them and I know I wouldn’t do well on the other 2. Do colleges care???
No, although some of the UCs get a bit fussy about it from what some users have said here. You can certainly tell your college that you are not planning on taking. If they have an issue (which I doubt) they will tell you.
The thing is, not doing “well” on an AP exam has no consequences for you at this point in time. The scores are only reported to your college if you actually ask to have them sent. And then, if they aren’t scores that will be used for credit and/or placement, the scores won’t matter at all. The paperwork essentially just get tossed.
Another point to bear in mind is that is if you would someday transfer, those not-good-enough-now scores might turn out to be good enough for the place you end up.
Thanks for the responses. Do I only send official AP scores if I can get credit or should they all be sent anyway?
It’s easier to just send them all - the clerical processing will just ignore the ones that don’t get credit.
Okay, got it. They won’t think it’s weird that I ended up not taking some exams?
Who is they?
In general (don’t know about UCs), AP tests are to give you a chance to get credit in College. Colleges don’t really care if you get AP credit for say Biology or you take Biology at the college. They also don’t care if you get a 1 on AP Bio because then you will take Bio at the college which is what they assume in their curricula.
If by “they” you mean AOs. No. You’ve been admitted, and they’ve moved on to planning the next cycle. Additionally, at most colleges, AP score reports go directly to the registrar’s office, bypassing admissions entirely.
Just be sure that your HS does not require you to take it to give you AP credit. Some (like ours) drop you to honors credit if you don’t even attempt the exam and some selective schools take issue with that when they get the final transcript.
@Postmodern You write “some” but I think it is many that require participants in AP courses to take the exams.
Just like with college applications, AP test strategy becomes as important as the exams themselves. Some colleges (like Emory) are now reducing the amount of AP credits it students can get. If a kid has 9 credits going into an AP exam period where maximum credits allowed by enrolled college is 12 or 15, then that student can only get a maximum of two more accepted exams. If he or she is taking 5 exams and only two can count, the game changes as that student might want to focus on two or three exams and not focus on two tougher ones at all. Senior year AP exams can be very much the last college admissions “game” these kids play in this process.
I don’t think that anybody has done a comprehensive list of policies for all 37,000 US high schools, but IME, many do not require students to take AP exams. And within a HS, some classes may require the AP exam to be taken, while others don’t.
Regardless, that was not the OP’s question; I assume s/he knows whether the HS requires the AP exams. Obviously if a HS requires them, then the student should take them. But if the HS doesn’t require, then it really does not matter other than for college credit.
There is no “game” to be played here. The kid/parent has already sent in the enrollment deposit by the time AP exams roll around.
@skieurope , the only reason I mentioned it is because I am personally aware of a letter from a college saying if the final HS transcript had courses listed as “Honors” that were “AP” at the time of admission, that was considered a legitimate reason to rescind admission. This is from a college that gives no credit for AP scores.
We already know that our S19 won’t be taking most of his AP tests as a senior. He will take the AP French test since it looks like most of the schools on his college list will allow him to pass out of foreign language requirements with a 4 or a 5. He’s taking his tests this year because we are hoping for good scores and he can self report them on his applications as another data point.
In some cases, like AP Lang, he could maybe pass out of a course, but we prefer he take the writing courses in college. And, for math, he is taking that BC Calc test this year for reasons stated above but we will have him take a math placement test wherever he goes to college so he ends up in the right class for him. He’s only taking one AP science class (Physics 1) and my understanding is that class doesn’t usually count for college credit so he won’t take that AP test at all senior year. (Kids usually need AP Physics C in order to get any college credit but our school requires AP Physics 1 as a prerequisite so he just won’t get to the C class.)
We know a ton of seniors this year going to top 20 schools who are choosing not to take their APs. It’s all good. I actually think looking ahead at how his possible colleges’ consider AP credit has been very helpful. And it’s relieved some stress for him knowing ahead of time that he’s only taking the one AP French test next year (even though he’s taking four AP classes).
As I said in my first post, there may be exceptions, and certainly if the OP had received such a letter, s/he should/would have mentioned.
I would also state that any college that actually tried to rescind on the basis of not taking an AP exam or having the HS reclassify the course as Honors would risk a PR nightmare a la UCI last year.
Even if the high school requires it, that’s separate from whether a college expects a score after you matriculate. You do need to ensure that doesn’t cause issues. Eg, where a level of placement in certain courses requires an AP score.
“There is no “game” to be played here. The kid/parent has already sent in the enrollment deposit by the time AP exams roll around.”
It is very much a game of strategy based on outcomes. This has nothing to do with deposits and all about straight cash. If you don’t believe AP credits are real currency, you are dead wrong. Many colleges give AP credit that allow students to complete degree work in seven semesters or even less. At universities which charge $22K to $25K for tuition (plus other costs), this is either straight cash savings or decreased student loans.
That gets you to outcomes and deciding how much effort to put into each exam to get a 4 or a 5 that will count as credit for your college. If you have five APs and realistically little hope for a 4 or a 5 on two of them, you would either not take them or not study for those two and put efforts into the other three.
This is nothing less than the last high stakes strategy game that these kids are subjected to in HS. The $500 deposits are penny change compared to the value of four or five AP credits whose value is $25K or more.
Must be nice not to have to worry about money though @skieurope
Your snark is uncalled for considering that your insights have absolutely nothing to do with the original poster’s questions, whereas I am trying to assist him/her. The OP stated that the exams s/he is looking not to take would not earn credit anyway because s/he is anticipating a score lower than the threshold or because the college does not give credit for the subject @frozencustard
Alternatively, you could have encouraged the OP to take the AP exams that s/he could potentially get credit for saying, “Hey, you might get a 5; give it a shot.” But if the college does not grant credit, the HS does not require the exam to be taken, and the college does not care (which if not mentioned in the acceptance’s Terms and Conditions, I maintain they will not care), then I stand by by statement that there are no games being played. We can certainly agree to disagree.
You were critical of my post calling this a “game” and that is just not true. It is high stakes and a strategy of skipping a couple to focus on ones that count is good strategy. The concern that the college might not like it definitely falls behind maximizing credits and reducing the cost of college. There may have been some snark intended, but your glossing over financial and credit implications and making light of any game strategy is misplaced.
I agree that colleges won’t care. Games are played all of the time, whether it be strategy to choose an early decision at a certain school or taking AP exams. These kids are playing for high stakes. I never implied “games” as some form of shenanigans and believe my post explained that well. You chose to take a phrase out of context.
Very few kids actually graduate early and save money because of AP’s.