<p>THANK YOU. I was waiting for when someone would stand up and question this. Just because a junior is posting the same cr<em>p over and over again and calling everything else “illogical” doesn’t make him right. At the end of the day, no one can really judge who is right. You know why? Because none of us are adcoms. You don’t know exactly what they’re thinking when they’re reading applications, and I doubt silverturtle is sitting and talking with adcoms. I’m sorry, but I don’t even believe *some</em> of the things that college counselors say, and my counselors have been in this college game for YEARS. Things are always changing, and there’s never any way to read the minds of adcoms. That’s just how it is.</p>
<p>They won’t ever be posted online (if that’s what you mean). You can wait for the scores to come in the mail or you can call and pay $8 for scores.</p>
<p>Okay. So, I was talking to another friend of mine and was saying, “man, there’s this person on CC just starting up drama.” and she asked, “Was it silverturtle??” ■■■■■!!! HAHAHAHAAHAHAHA. Just thought I would add this. A junior with over 8,000 posts??? sad. Junior != bearer of knowing everything.</p>
<p>Explain why it’s irrelevant. Stop trying to dance around the truth. I’m sorry, but until you work in an admissions office or at least apply and get into college, don’t expect me to buy into any of your cr*p. I’m sorry I’m the first person to question you.</p>
<p>I don’t know what you’ve contributed to this forum, but I do know that Silverturtle has posted an amazing (and that’s putting it lightly) guide to succeeding on the SAT, in addition to many, many posts of helpful information and advice. I trust his/her word much more than yours. Consider building up your credibility before attacking somebody whom I believe has (and deserves) the trust and admiration of so many users on this site.</p>
<p>I’ve read all of his posts. I didn’t attack his sections about SAT prep, I’m simply questioning his assertion that AP scores can hurt an application. Until you learn how to play this whole admissions cycle, you can’t just trust anything.</p>
<p>I had an accident the week of my AP exams. I broke my thumb, and lost most of the mobility in my writing hand. I couldn’t finish my AP United History exam because I was in complete PAIN. I received a 2. Should 6 months of hard work be held against me because of something that I couldn’t control? No. And luckily enough for me, it wasn’t.</p>
<p>His guide was based on information and fact he has learned from this site and from admission officers. Therefore, his facts hold more weight than your anecdotes.</p>
<p>^but the point is that there’s too many instances where accidents like that happen. Emotional experiences happen, a lot. Schools mess up (i.e. Not ordering your 5 AP exams and having to take them all in 3 days in a row). It’s not used by colleges BECAUSE of the many instances of inaccurate testing results.</p>
<p>If we just use some common sense and what we know about human nature and ignore advice from admissions officers, I think it’s only logical to assume that AP scores can both hurt AND help an application. We humans often judge others by first impressions, and no matter how impartial anybody tries to be, seeing a “1” will undoubtedly trigger a thought of “Oh, this isn’t good.” Sure, a kid with a stunning academic, testing, and EC record will easily impress an admissions officer, and a single 1 on AP Chemistry won’t overshadow his accomplishments. Nonetheless, the 1 will still be a bad part (albeit a small bad part) of his application.</p>
<p>This effect is probably magnified when there are 2 similar applicants being presented to an adcom by an officer who’s reviewed both applications (yes, I do have an idea of how applications are read and presented). The kid who failed an AP test will surely make a bad impression if his 1 or 2 is brought up to the other members by the presenter. This would be a situation in which a bad AP score would hurt an application.</p>
<p>Sure, a 1 won’t cause a stellar student to be rejected by most (if any) schools. Nonetheless, there is still the effect of the instinctual thought when a person sees a failing grade–the thought of “Oh. That’s not good. I’m not sure this guy is as good as I thought he was.” And a thought like that definitely hurts an applicant in the eyes of the officers.</p>
<p>And, as I aid before, I’ve heard this from colleges. I can guarantee the admission officers he asked said, “Yes, they matter, BUT…” What admission officer isn’t going to say AP exams are important…</p>