I have taken 5 AP exams- AP Micro, Macro, Psych, Stat, and APUSH. I have gotten a 2 on every single one except for stat which I got a 1. Should I report it? I understand these are failing scores but I wonder what happens if I don’t self-report these…
Don’t report. They don’t enhance your application in any way.
I don’t think AO’s are going to spend a great deal of time in the 10 minutes (or less) that they read an application pondering AP scores. Many will notice if an AP class is listed without a corresponding AP exam score.
If a class shows as AP on the transcript and one chooses not to report a score, the AO may assume one of four things:
• Nothing
• Financial hardship prevented one from taking the exam
• One was not motivated enough to take the exam
• One took the exam and performed poorly (1 or 2)
AO’s can, and have, contacted GC’s to explain why there are no AP scores reported on the application.
That said, I would not report a 2. Which is worse? Having the AO assume you blew the exam, or reporting the exam so the AO knows for sure that you blew it? I’d go with the former.
There is no upside to reporting them. Even if the AO’s wonder why you didn’t report, I doubt that they would assume you got all 2’s and 1’s.
Fret not…colleges are much more concerned about your grades in those classes as opposed to the AP tests.
Why is that?
- Doing well in a class shows you can learn over the year and work hard over a period of time. That is what they want in college.
- Not all HS have many APs.
- Many people take AP tests senior year which is too late for admissions
For example, Stanford says:
Students currently enrolled in AP courses are not required to submit AP scores as part of our admission process. AP scores that are reported are acknowledged but rarely play a significant role in the evaluation of an application. Grades earned over the course of a term, or a year, and evaluations from instructors who can comment on classroom engagement provide us with the most detailed insight into a student’s readiness for the academic rigors of Stanford.
http://admission.stanford.edu/basics/selection/prepare.html
Where does this leave you?
- It tells you that you cannot place out of those classes in college…you will need to take them in college like many many other people do.
- Do not self-report your scores
As everybody has mentioned - don’t report them. But beyond that, don’t worry so much about your college app as actually being ready for college. Although those AP scores themselves won’t hurt you, you want to know why your scores were all so low. When you do some self-analysis and figure out why the scores were all low, you can see if there are things you can do in the future to help yourself in your course work as you advance. AP tests aren’t exactly how colleges work, but they’re not a bad approximation of what a final exam might be like in many classes, so you want to know how to do well in that type of test.
Many colleges do not even look for AP Exam Scores. They only look at them later if the student submits them for credit.
In your case, with none 3+, you should report none. You won’t get credit for any of them, plus, you are better off with them not seeing the low scores.