Sending Official AP Score Reports When Applying?

Applying to College
1

Hello!

I just sent in my SAT scores to my early action colleges and I was wondering if I should send my AP scores through the college board too? I self reported them on the common app (I have a score of 5 on four exams), but I am not sure if I should also send in a report from the college board? Should I just wait and then send an official report to the school I end up attending?
Thanks!

2

If you’ve already reported your scores on the common app I don’t think there’s any need to send an official copy as well. AP scores usually aren’t that big of a factor in college admissions anyways. If I were you I’d do one of two things:

  1. If you’re taking any AP tests this year in May, write down the college you’re going to next autumn (you should know by then) in the place where they ask what schools to send your scores to. It’s free and you won’t have to pay the $15 dollars to send that report later/end up sending 2 reports.
  2. If you’re not taking any AP tests this year, wait until you know where you’re going next year and after you’ve submitted your deposit then you can send a score report.

Of course, for #2, make sure your school actually accepts AP credit. Some schools (like Caltech) don’t accept any credit and others might only accept a limited few.
Another tip: If you get into a school with early action/decision and are absolutely sure you want and can attend (i.e. you’ve paid your deposit already), look up their AP score policy before signing up to take AP tests. You may find that one of the tests you were planning to take isn’t even accepted for credit at your school, so there’s really no reason to take it unless you really really want to and have an extra $95 to spend.

3

You should only send your AP scores to the school you choose to attend. Self-reporting on the app is sufficient for admissions purposes. Sending them now would be money spent unnecessarily.

The relevance of AP is in attaining credit for a course and/or for placement purposes. And as mentioned above, every school has their own policies on accepting AP for credit and/or placement. Policies may even vary by major (for example, a school may accept a 4 or 5 on AP Chem for non-majors to get credit for taking Chem, but the Chemistry department may decide that all majors need to start in Chem 101 regardless of AP scores).

4

Just self report if you want. Wait till you are comitted before sending AP scores.