So how bad does an 'F' look?

<p>"Sounds conveniently true for your counselors to say. Having good AP scores makes the school look better...I bet the score and the grade equally matter and your counselors are bending the truth there a bit."</p>

<p>I disagree. So what if you made an A in the course if you can't pass the national test? The AP test provides a much more level playing field from which to evaluate the student's competency in the subject matter.</p>

<p>...I agree with you. I had nearly the exact same thought and tried to edit, but my computer had freezing issues (I'm trying to sync my iPod and it's very very slow).</p>

<p>But a possible counter would be to point out that the AP Exam is no more an even playing field than grades. I had a horrific teacher in Computer Science, as one example.</p>

<p>Man you are really, really immature. You only try in classes or sections of classes that interest you? I am glad that the rest of the world isn’t like that! What if your Dr. only tried to help patients that interest them and just didn’t put forth the effort on boring people/disorders? What if your lawyer only tried his best to defend you if he found your facts “interesting”? You have so, so much to learn,and with that letter and attitute you are a scary dude.</p>

<p>You have the wrong mentality man. So what if you don’t like a subject. You’re SUPPOSED to try as hard as you can whether you like it or not. Your boss may give you an assignment that you don’t like. You suck it up and do it. If you don’t do it, you get fired. Simple as that.</p>

<p>“Per our guidance counselors, the AP score means more than the grade received in the course.”</p>

<p>The GC is wrong. Grades are more important to colleges than are AP scores. AP scores are used for college placement. Grades are admission factors. A hardworking, smart student with high grades may get low AP scores due to being in a weak school or having a weak teacher. The student may have gotten “As” in their class, but not have done well on the AP test because the teacher didn’t teach what the student would have needed to know to pass the AP test.</p>

<p>Back to the OP: Fs look bad, very bad on one’s transcript. However, any h.s. graduate in the U.S. can find a college that will accept them. With the rest of your grades, scores, you can get into the majority of colleges in the country, just probably not top 50 colleges.</p>