Question regarding AP score

Applying to College
1

<p>I self-studied for the AP Spanish Literature exam this May, and got a 3 on it. Since my Spanish class was focused on literature but was not actually geared towards preparing for the exam itself, I had to really read up on a lot of literary terms, learn how to do poetry/text analysis on my own, etc. The problem is, I'm not sure how this will be viewed in terms of college admissions, since I got an A in Spanish. On the other hand, my transcript does not designate my Spanish class as "AP"; its name is "Spanish V: Literature", and I hear that Spanish Lit is widely considered one of the most difficult AP's. I was the only person from my class to have self-studied for this exam. Could have done better if one of the FRQ's happened to ask about a few texts I had actually got around to reading, but oh well :p I'm just curious as to how this situation would be perceived by adcoms. Thanks in advance! :)</p>

<p>P.S. I got a 5 on the Spanish Language exam last year, and my Spanish teacher from this year is writing me a recommendation letter. She considers me to be one of her best students in her teaching career. Should I ask her to mention this?</p>

2

<p>Does anyone have advice? All my other scores are 4’s and 5’s, and I’m also wondering if taking a risk and getting a 3 was a bad idea…</p>

3

<p>I (although not an expert) don’t think it will hurt you. Most colleges, even the top ones, don’t really look at the AP scores for admission. Its definitely something nice to see, but there isn’t much weight in them. They value them as an example of you following through with the class, but if you don’t do great, thats just one test. </p>

<p>If you got an A in the class, and the teacher says you’re great, I don’t think they will look at your test and think that everything else is lies.</p>

<p>Plus you didn’t even take the actual AP class, so they probably wont expect you to do great on an exam for a class you didn’t take.</p>

<p>Im willing to bet that one 3 will mean nothing to them standing next to the rest of your application</p>

4

<p>^ Thanks for the reply. Problem is, I’m looking at majoring in linguistics in college, and was going to emphasize my proficiency in foreign languages on my app :confused: So I’m not sure how much damage this will do, though I imagine it must be more than usual…</p>