I got 5s on bc calc, Lang, macro, APUSH, apes, and bio (self-study), and a 4 on chem, but I really dropped the ball when I tried to self-study for stats and got a 3.
I kinda want to submit my score because most of the top students in my grade have taken 8 AP exams by the time they apply to college, but idk if a 3 would hurt me. I’m a neuroscience major btw.
Should I submit my 3 to top colleges (top choice is Harvard)?
I’m not an expert but I think it depends on whether or not you have the AP class listed on your school transcript. If you took the class and do not provide a test score, schools wonder what happened. It sounds like you self studied, not took the class. Most colleges are not impressed by students just racking up AP test scores without taking the class since you don’t get “penalized” for what your school doesn’t offer.
Also, a quick look at Harvard’s AP credit policy states they don’t give credit for anything below a 5 so it doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t show up on my school transcript, but it probably will on the official AP score send. Will sending it hurt me in any way?
The official score send only needs to be sent to the college you are attending for credit/placement purposes. At that point, it goes to the registrar’s office. Admissions will likely never see it,and the clerical processing the report will not care that you have a 3.
Anyway, since it’s not on your transcript, there is no need to report, and colleges are far from impressed by self studying
Harvard’s credit policy going forward is that no AP credit is given for anything at all. They really should update the site.
So are you advising me not to submit the 3?
Probably not. You don’t get any brownie points for self studying. It’s not a case of whoever has the most APs wins.
With that logic, should I not even submit my 5 in ap bio?
Correct.It will not enhance your application.
Would it hurt me though?
Harvard rejects 95% of its applicants. To me, this is a no-brainer which falls into the “why would you risk it” category. So while it may not technically hurt (but nobody outside admissions knows for sure), like I said earlier, it does not enhance your application. In fact, I can think of no positive benefit at all.
https://oue.fas.harvard.edu/apexams does list credit for some AP scores of 5, but one needs at least 32 credits (a full year’s worth) to get advanced standing (i.e. graduate in 6-7 semesters or complete a coterminal master’s degree). So any amount of AP credit below 32 credits does not seem to be useful for that purpose even under the old policy.
It looks like Harvard has its own placement exams for advanced placement in some subjects: https://placement-info.fas.harvard.edu/exams
does it really look bad to take an AP course and not submit a AP score? My D21 took an AP course and didn’t even take the exam b/c she knew she was moving into an IB Program and was not looking to amass AP credits. She chose to focus on studying for SATs during that time instead of the AP exam. This was Sophomore year. Will it come back to haunt her?
The answer is no, you should not send it.
@ucbalumnus As I said,Harvard needs to update the pages. There is no more advanced standing for students entering Fall 2020
https://harvardmagazine.com/2018/05/advanced-standing-harvard
Some departments will continue to accept scores for placement (but not credit) and, as noted, some departments have their own placement exams, The writing and math exams are required for everyone, and the results from the exams are really more guidance than set-in-stone (with some exceptions).
On an earlier version of one of the pages, they had a blurb that said:
For some reason, the current page does not contain that quote.
There is still an option (which very few pursue) of pursuing a co-terminal master’s.
A valid question, but one that deserves its own thread. Hijacking a thread is a Terms of Service violation and is considered rude to the original poster.
A self-study 3 on a Harvard application?
That’s an easy No.
Asking a related question is hijacking??!!?! I thought it contributed to the discussion, but never mind.
If the original poster wants to ask a related question, that’s fine. A different poster asking a related question is hijacking. It makes reading the thread confusing trying to figure out who is responding to whom.