<p>I took AP Calculus BC at school and got a great mark, but I just took the AP exam and don't think I did that well (maybe a 3 or a 4?).</p>
<p>Considering this will be the only AP credit I will be able to report to colleges next year (I'm a junior now), will this significantly lower my chances because a) I didn't take that many to begin with and b) I screwed up my only exam?</p>
<p>How heavily is admissions based on performance on AP exams? Will admissions officers frown upon the fact that I did well in the class but poorly on the exam? My school only offers one AP course in grade 11 (AP Calc BC).</p>
<p>They will judge you based on how you use your resources. If the only AP available to you is Calc BC, you will not be penalized for it. It would be unfair to compare you to a kid from a prep school where nearly 20 APs are offered. </p>
<p>If you can get a 4, that would be great since most schools give credit for a 4 or a 5 on BC.</p>
<p>you DON’T have to send AP scores with you’re application, in fact most people don’t. Most people send AP scores after they have been accepted. It’s more important if you have taken the class than the actual results.</p>
<p>^ I respectfully disagree. AP Scores are not a big factor in admission, especially since they are self-reported, but taking an ap class and not writing down the score indicates that the student did poorly.</p>
<p>You should definitely report your score, so they know that your good score correlates to your good grade. Harvard does not know the curriculum of every high school in the country, so even though taking the class is a good sign - especially a tough one like bc - having a passing score is important as well, to show that there isn’t grade inflation.</p>
<p>Screwing up on Calc BC is not that big of a deal, especially if you end up doing okay on the AB subscore.</p>
<p>Talk to you’re guidance counselor, and see what he/she recommends. Mine personally recommends that you don’t send AP scores even if you do a good job until after acceptance. Alot of the time when you do submit the scores they end up at the registrar’s office instead of the admissions office and depending on the school some schools do not use AP scores as an admission factor. </p>
<p>Relax and wait till score reports come out! You might be surprised. 1 bad scores won’t kill you’re admission chances.</p>
<p>I got a 2 on English Language junior year. I didn’t write it down on my application and I got into Northwestern just fine. I know someone with 2 2’s and a 3 that got into Columbia. </p>
<p>You ACT/SAT scores are much much more important than your AP scores. What will hurt you a lot is if your school offers many AP courses and you only take a few.</p>
<p>wait what… Colleges penalize you if you have little AP’s and the school offers a ton?
I wish I knew that my when I started high school… I’ll only have 2 AP’s when I grad, and my school offers over 50</p>
<p>Arxos -
if most applicants to a particular college from your high school have a good number of APs and did well, and you either didn’t take advantage of what was offered or did poorly, you will be judged in relation to your peers and it will not look good. This is for selective colleges. </p>
<p>Regarding AP scores, they matter little in admissions. Many don’t send them until after they graduate. My son isn’t bothering to take all the exams since he doesn’t necessarily care about the credit or placing out of courses when in college. For some, entry level classes in college are a right of passage. for others, they want as many credits and to place out of entry level classes. It’s a personal choice. I actually heard one adcom talk about how unfortunate the push for so many AP credits was, since many students are not getting a true freshman academic experience.</p>
<p>Frankly, even if BC calc was the only AP offered at your school, you really don’t have much of a shot at the ivies. Especially since you don’t feel you have mastered the material.
(however, you need a 58% of the raw score points to get a 5. bear that in mind on your score predictions)
if you haven’t taken more than 1 AP or similarly difficult course, you really aren’t prepared for the courseload and the workload imposed upon you at an Ivy league school.
No, it isn’t fair.
But working hard doesn’t entitle you to getting into an Ivy league.<br>
If you have no record showing that you can handle an Ivy, you won’t get in.</p>
<p>Note: if you have taken many “similarly difficult courses,” disregard the previous statement.</p>
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