<p>perazziman</p>
<p>I don’t know exactly what people think when grades and AP test scores don’t match up that well. There are a number of possibilities–that the teacher was bad or was a mismatch with the student, but the kid was smart and managed to study on his own for the test and do well, that the kid is smart but didn’t apply himself throughout the year and crammed for the test, that the kid isn’t that bright but is super diligent and managed to do well on the tests… However, the admissions staff will definitely notice and rather than leave it up to them, I would definitely address it in the application in a positive fashion. By the way, this depends on the grades. If someone received an 88 or 89 in AP US History and the rest of the grades were 90s, I don’t think that would warrant a comment. However, if the AP grades were all in the mid 80s or so, I would probably raise it.
And by the way, I think your son sounds like a great kid and an attractive candidate for any school, so good luck to you and him!</p>