I am a sophomore and self studying for 2 AP classes; Micro and Macro economics. I am taking one AP in school already (The only AP for sophomores). Do the two AP classes I’m self-studying for count as an EC.
A meaningless one, but yes
Why is it meaningless? I’m just curious.
Colleges don’t care about self studying. If they care about anything, they care about your score. Additionally, colleges are not looking for one-dimensional wonks who spend their EC time on more academics.
AP test scores validate class grades. In most cases they don’t stand in lieu of them. With no grade to validate, and with AP awards simply being participation awards, the score without the class does very little to further your case for admission.
Putting the score in your application probably won’t hurt, but it isn’t going to be what tips the scale in your favor either. On the other hand, participating in ECs that engage with classmates, peers, or the larger community can help your cause. It may be worth spending the time where it can be most effectively used.
There can be non-admission related reasons to self study. For example, you are going to a college that promises to accept self-study scores (not all will) and you are counting on those credits to graduate early, usually for monetary purposes.
What colleges tend to do is look at the rigor of your HS transcript relative to what opportunities you had available. For example, if you went to a HS that had 25 different AP offerings available and you only took two of them and took mostly easy classes to keep your GPA up, that would be a negative compared to a student with the same GPA who took 8 AP classes.
But if you attended a small rural HS without much in the way of AP offerings they would not hold it against you (or so they say). Especially if you took advantage of the opportunities that you did have.
Honestly, if you are going to self-study for college level classes you are probably better off just taking actual college classes online to supplement your schedule if it needs supplementing. Then you will have actual college grades on your transcript which is something that colleges are going to be more familiar with seeing than random AP scores that are not associated with any class on your transcript. Most every state has public universities and community colleges with online offerings.
I would suggest finding some non-academic ECs that are more service or experiential to round out your portfolio. But you are only a sophomore so you have lots of time.
And they care about the score mostly for placement (hence the test name). I’ve had multiple T25 school AOs tell me they don’t even see AP scores as part of the file they are evaluating.
If you’re learning a new topic because you are very interested, and you don’t have access to it, or couldn’t fit it in your schedule, at school, that’s great. And you might as well take the test. But don’t do it because you think it’s a meaningful admission advantage
Yep, and most students take the most AP classes their senior year when AP scores are not going to be available until long after admissions decisions have been made. My daughter will graduate with 8 AP classes, but 5 of those she is taking her senior year. Her AP scores aren’t going to be available until July or so, long after she has already been accepted and enrolled in her final choice.
Schools are interested in the fact that her senior schedule as 5 AP classes. And may look at her 1st semester grades. But her scores (or even whether she even takes the tests) are completely irrelevant.