I’m taking the AP Music Theory exam tomorrow but I know absolutely nothing and I’m sure to get a 1 with the way my practice exams are going. I’m not going to be majoring in music (not even close) and I took this class for interest only. The problem is that the class was sort of treated as a joke by the teacher as well as the students so I really haven’t learned anything. I’ve tried to self-study in the past few weeks but I realize it’s a little late.
Should/Could I wait for my score to come out and then cancel it or would that be too late? Also, would colleges see “cancelled” on my transcript? I really wouldn’t want to apply to a top tier school just to have them see that I can’t handle this test, but would it even matter if I’m not pursuing music? Would it be worth the time, effort, and money to retake it next year and study for it? I’m a sophomore so next year will be pretty busy, so I’m not sure it’s worth it. Even if I did improve my score, would colleges see that I retook it?
Any advice on what I should do?
I sure have learned my lesson on starting early.
As long as you did well in the class, I would say that your AP score will not have a large effect on college admissions. As of now, you self-report AP scores anyway, so you don’t even really have to report a score if you don’t want to or if you don’t do well. And also, I would not recommend retaking it next year unless you want to receive college credit, which you may not even get depending on which college you go to.
@paraguas So pretty much every test I take at this point would not be seen by colleges if I don’t list them out? What about the class, then? And in general, if I don’t try to get credit for an AP, but I took it, would it help out my application if I were to report a good AP score?
I think good scores will definitely help a little, but a bad AP score won’t keep you out…
Also I’m not really sure exactly about how colleges get AP scores. I just know that you self-report them on the Common App and then you can also send them from College Board if you take one your senior year after you already know what college you’re going to.
The grade for the class will be listed on your transcript.
I’m pretty unfamiliar with the college application process in all honesty, but I guess I could just not include it in my app when the time comes if possible.