<p>My son knows students who took AP just to say they took AP – it looks good on the transcript. They got Bs in the class, but probably could have gotten As if they had worked a little harder. Now, his AP teachers are trying to get the kids to see the value in AP – as in, if you score well, you might get that college credit. And that college credit could be the difference at registration time between going into the 500-person class and the 20-person class. You get a little more individual attention in that 20-person class.</p>
<p>momreads and VaMom make great points. I think that if a student (with a recommendation from the previous year teachers/GC) decides on taking the AP classes, then he/she should take it under the premise that </p>
<ol>
<li>the student is challenging (but not overextending) himself with the most rigorous academic courseload he can manage</li>
<li> they work hard the whole year through AND study for the end of the course exam as if they were in college (but 
this is a tough one for those seniors come May!)</li>
</ol>
<p>In our s’s college search, it was evident that there was variation on what scores (4-5s) would be taken for college credit, but overall most carried at least 3 credits with a score of 4. In that case it is a bargain. Also, one big AP advantage that ours found: testing out of subjects he didn’t really care to be in intro classes for thus freeing up hours for electives/higher level courses that he really did care for. When he saw the fruits of his hard hs labor in that way it made his day! Good luck!</p>
<p>I don’t think anybody really knows the extent to which AP scores count in the admissions process. </p>
<p>But one thing is obvious – the only AP scores that might play a role in admissions are those you obtain before senior year. If you take an AP course as a senior, it contributes to the rigor of your curriculum, but colleges will not be able to use your score as a factor in admissions because you will already have been admitted (or not) before you take the test.</p>
<p>Therefore, if you have a choice, you might want to take APs in which you are likely to receive high scores on the tests prior to senior year and APs for which you are worried about potential scores as a senior. Of course, you don’t always have this choice. But sometimes you do. </p>
<p>Let’s say that you’re good at science and your high school offers an AP Biology course that is very well taught, so that many people get high scores on the AP test. You might want to take that course in 11th grade (even if it means taking your science courses in an oddball sequence such as biology-chemistry-AP biology-physics). On the other hand, if you are not particularly good at history or if people at your school tend to score low on the AP U.S. History exam, you might want to postpone that course until 12th grade, if you take it at all.</p>
<p>I’ve read and heard all the assurances that what matters is that you took an AP class. I know colleges don’t need the official score reports (unlike the SAT scores). But I’ve also spent a significant amount on time (hours) on the “results” threads for some of the uber reach schools. And I’ve noticed that the number of APs and the actual AP scores have a very strong correlation with “Accepted” posts. I haven’t done a systematic analysis but my impression is that the AP scores correlate even more than the SAT scores.</p>
<p>Once again, this is just my personal observation from spending time on the results thread.</p>
<p>vp, I’m sure you’re right, but it’s also quite possible that kids who get top AP scores are strong students in other ways, and are getting better teacher recommendations for example.</p>
<p>Put yourself in the AdCom’s position:</p>
<p>Student A has 5 APs by the end of Jr year with scores of 4-5, and is signed up for 4 more APs in Sr year.
Student B has 5 APs by the end of Jr year with 1-3 scores or no scores because they didn’t take the tests or report them if they did, and is signed up for 4 more in Sr year. </p>
<p>Assuming most other parameters are similar (even though I would bet student A "tests well’ and student B “doesn’t test well”–yes, I’m prejudiced), which way would you think the AdCom would lean?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree with this, I look at taking AP courses as a part of taking a rigorous courseload and taking the AP test as evidence that you learned the material when compared in a standardized test with other students across the nation. Much like how AdComms use SAT scores in relation to HS record to compare students that come from HSs that vary in their academic offerings.</p>
<p>I have no concrete proof that schools use AP scores in the admissions process, but I’m incredulous that they continue to ask for this information every year and don’t use it to some degree. For any APs taken before Sr year, my advice is to plan to take the test and study adequately to get a 4 or 5.</p>
<p>Kaplan’s and Princeton Review don’t offer prep classes for AP’s- and you can’t retake AP exams. The exams include multiple choice as well as essay questions and test the student’s ability to analyze primary source documents. </p>
<p>Why would (or should) adcoms ignore these scores?</p>
<p>If your school offers AP classes, they show a good work ethic if you take them. Of course the better your score the better looked upon they are. As far as credit, it depends on the individual school as to whether they will count the credit (usually must have a score on 4 or 5). If your school does not offer them (ours did not until S’s sr year) then you should explain the lack of them on your application.</p>
<p>I think these days, when the top tier schools have so many excellent applicants, APs are an important part of the winnowing process. While they may not get you in, a lack of them could very well keep you out</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes, but there are plenty of review books out there.</p>
<p>If you use a review book you still have to do the studying yourself. And the books are cheaper than courses by a factor of 10 at least, and are often passed down to other kids so there is no financial barrier.</p>
<p>Like others, I find it hard to believe that adcoms aren’t looking at AP scores as part of the picture. If they aren’t, they ought to be!</p>
<p>Re post #20: other reasons to try to score well on senior APs are that some schools use APs for placement and for determining exemption from language requirements. Also, if you decide to transfer after freshman year, a handful of 5s is going to look a lot better than a handful of “I blew off the exams.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Oh yes you can, and the AP bulletin for students and parents (and the AP scholar award criteria list that goes out to AP scholar award recipients) and other AP publications make that clear. There is only one AP testing date, in May, for each AP test each year (because if you take the alternate administration, you can’t have already taken the regular administration), but next year you can do a retake. Retakes of AP tests are rare, I wildly guess, because most students don’t start taking AP tests until they are juniors, but students who start earlier have more opportunity to do retakes if they like.</p>
<p>^^ Thanks for the correction. But as you point out, the number of students who retake a specific AP exam must be vanishingly small. In order to help for college admission it would have to be something you took as a sophomore or freshman, and then retook before your senior year.</p>
<p>We know a student who retook several APs senior year because by then, the student knew what scores were needed for credit/placement at the specifc school where the student planned to matriculate. Seemed a little extreme to me. Not where I would have focused my energies in May of senior year!</p>
<p>I was sick for my ap’s 
can a 3 on an ap mess me up for the top colleges?</p>
<p>I went to several admissions information sessions at schools like Northwestern and Michigan at Ann Arbor and both schools totally assured me that AP scores are NOT, I repeat, NOT taken into consideration for admissions purposes but rather for placement. So I don’t think it will hurt you very much. Just report them after senior year?</p>
<p>My son didn’t apply to Northwestern or Michigan, so I can’t comment on their policies, but I would point out that if an application ASKS for the scores then the obvious assumption is that the scores WILL be evaluated. My son applied to 15 schools, I think nearly all asked for the scores. He applied as a National AP Scholar, with a 3.6 GPA (a 3.2 in his Junior year!) and did far better in the process (in terms of acceptances/waitlists/rejections) than is typical for a student with his GPA…</p>
<p>If you have good AP scores at the time your application is considered OF COURSE it will be beneficial.</p>
<p>Alright, so an adcom would be suspicious about a student who got A’s in AP courses, but was getting low grades on tests. How about students who get a low course grade, but high test scores? </p>
<p>D1’s school’s profile mentions that it’s not uncommon for students to get a “C” in a course but get a 5 on the AP. The message is supposed to be that student GPAs reflect a deflationary grading philosophy, and that adcoms might want to look at other indicators, like AP grades, to get a better measure of the students’ academic levels of achievement. Small school, no naviance, so I have no idea if this really works, or if it just works for some adcoms. How does a student in this type of situation gently draw the adcom’s attention to the high AP scores? Or is this something best handled by a counselor recommendation?</p>
<p>Well Idk about this really either but I was told by several acdoms that they are not counted toward admissions since reporting scores is optional (and let’s face it, CC is really not a representation of what the majority of students are like and many do not score well or report it all) it wouldn’t be fair to view reported scores negatively. However, i am sure if you have high scores that would only help you as if they are reported they will likely still look at it. but i sincerely doubt that any college will reject someone because of low ap scores.</p>