<p>@ anyone especially an Admission Counselor
Don't you think that the concept of 96 units of credit is a disadvantage for students who come from a high school where little or no AP/college classes exist. I believe that MIT should FULLY CONSIDER self studied AP test results as if they were with the class.</p>
<p>Please do not be mean or rude.</p>
<p>MIT absolutely considers self-studied AP test results – having self-studied and scored well on the AP test is a very positive thing to have on your record, both in terms of your preparation for college level work and for your independent drive to seek out opportunities otherwise not available to you.</p>
<p>As for course credit once you’re at MIT, whether you self-studied or took a class has no bearing on whether you’re awarded course credit. Only the score matters. (In addition, the undergraduate program is designed to be completed in eight semesters, taking four classes per semester, if you come in with no AP/advanced standing credit. Coming in with credit is certainly useful, but it’s by no means required to graduate on time.)</p>
<p>In what way do you think MIT is not seriously considering self-studied AP test results?</p>
<p>Thanks Mollie :)</p>
<p>Say, OP, you might want to rethink your username.</p>
<p>isnt it a little ironic to ask others not to be “mean or rude” when your name is ‘IWillKillForMIT’ ?</p>
<p>OP, wherever did you get such a preposterous idea?</p>
<p>@QuantMech: Thank you for your input (no sarcasm). I will definitely change my username if I get into MIT.
@akashdip: I really do not see any irony and if my username is offensive to you please give me a substantial reason why.
@llazar: I got this so called preposterous idea from MITChris’s post on the recent 2011 MIT Application forum.</p>
<p>I had the same idea, because I asked MITChris a few weeks ago; according to him, AP scores matter “hardly at all”.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/1196523-significance-ap-admissions.html#post13099020[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/1196523-significance-ap-admissions.html#post13099020</a></p>
<p>Conquerer7, I think we should ask MITChris again.</p>
<p>@willkill - the scores themselves are not terribly relevant in admissions… they are relevant though in placement. Keep in mind they are self reported, so if they mattered much, don’t you think everyone would put 5 for every test? :-).</p>
<p>BTW, you will not get scores from this year’s AP exams until long after the admissions process.</p>
<p>For you, I think your self-studied AP scores will show going “above and beyond” your school curriculum, which will not reflect having had the course. You may want to address your self-studied APs in your essays or extra info.</p>
<p>@ Crazymomster: So you are saying that people can put the wrong AP scores on their application and get away with it?</p>
<p>
Are there people who do that? Yes.
Do they get away with it? Unfortunately, the answer can’t be a definite no. That’s because people don’t send in AP score to admissions like they would for SAT/ACT scores. So MIT doesn’t exactly have a way to figure out your score unless you sent them scores. However, some red flags can be raised when comparing your performance in school matches your score.
For example, if you had a C in an AP class and you report an 5, then that raises some red flags. It doesn’t mean it’s false (in fact, it can totally be true). HOWEVER, it looks really bad as it would show that one either didn’t try in school, or he/she made some serious mistakes in school. Now, if one receives an A in a class and a 3 on the exam, there is a little different. It would show that one had bad preparation, one’s class wasn’t hard, or there were some external circumstances affecting the performance. Either way, there is some concern but not as much as if your score was a 5 and you failed the class.</p>
<p>What if someone did not have an AP at their school and they told MIT that they self studied it and self reported the wrong score? Would they get 9 units for it?</p>
<p>I imagine that, once you’re accepted, if you want to get credit for an AP course you have to send the scores in then. Self reporting on the application is common, but self reporting for credit is not.</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s my understanding that the scores are self-reported, but that once you get admitted they go back and verify that you wrote accurate information.</p>
<p>The last two replies are correct – an official report from the College Board is required for credit once you’re actually enrolled at MIT. There are also advanced standing exams given for many classes, which would allow you to earn credit for subjects which you’ve self-studied but for which you did not take an AP test/earn a high enough score on the AP test to receive credit.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that self-studying for AP exams is a decidedly mixed bag. MIT (as with any competitive school) is looking to evaluate what choices you make when you are not in class. A student who spends all of their time alone in their room self-studying for AP exams is demonstrating a certain amount of intellectual curiosity and perhaps some discipline, but also they are not demonstrating any ability to work in groups or function in a larger community which are skills that are an integral part of working in the sciences today. </p>
<p>Working in a physics lab today is a team sport, there are a group of people working closely together towards a common goal. It is useful to be able to demonstrate that you have these skills, and there are many ways to do so. If you are on your secondary school’s football team, then there is some evidence of that skill, ditto if you are in the school orchestra, or the drama society or what have you. In other words, the precise METHOD by which you demonstrate your ability to collaborate is a lot less important that the fact that is is demonstrable. There are a wide variety of other “good things”, leadership, social fluency, impact on campus, strength of character, and others that are also often best demonstrated out of class.</p>
<p>I meet a lot of students with strong academics who believe mistakenly that the best way to enhance their application would be to spend all of their free time alone in their rooms improving the already perfectly reasonable academic component of their application. Then, when they do not get in, they fault themselves for not spending more time alone working harder on their academics.</p>
<p>That is not to say that any of this applies in this case, but anyone RELYING on self-study to set them apart from the crowd, may be misleading themselves.</p>
<p>@Mikalye: If I decided to self study APs as well as demonstrate my ability to work in groups or function in a larger community. For example, extracurriculars that require working with people such as team sports, academic competitions etc. The only reasons i am self studying APs are to get extra units at MIT to eliminate the 2nd semester credit limit which i detest and because my school is not challenging me at all since it is all mainstream courses beside AP Calculus AB and AP US Govt. Unfortunately this school is my only option at secondary education beside online but my parents won’t let me do that.</p>
<p>Also please don’t forget that some classes are made challenging so even a C+ looks amazing for a class like AP chem when you get a 4 or a 5.</p>
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<p>This is untrue in many cases. At my school, C or C- in the class and 5 on the test is very common because we have grade deflation. If you have a school with many smart people, some of them will be smarter than others; our classes are a lot harder than the AP tests which are extremely easy to get 5s on because 60-70% is the cutoff</p>