I just applied ED and realized that I didn’t submit any of my AP Scores. I got a 4 on APUSH and a 3 on WHAP but I did very poorly on AP Chem and AP Physics I last year (below 3 on both). Should I just submit my APUSH and Whap scores and not my chem or physics or should I simply not send any of my scores? Thanks
None of your APs need to be submitted as part of your application. The rule of thumb I advise is this: if you scored 4s or 5s, place that in the appropriate spot. Omit 3s or less and obviously, the APs you’ve not yet taken can’t be cited.
^^ You are supposed to list the APs you plan to take with the intended date noted and the score left blank. If you omit a score, please realize that colleges will often assume the worst. AO’s can and do call GCs to find out the scores of students who omit them. It doesn’t happen often and it is usually only for candidates they are seriously considering but it does happen.
@T26E4 so you dont think it would be better to not send any because then maybe the AO would think that I just forgot to send them whereas if I just sent 1, they would know that I purposely omitted others and then would assume that I did bad on them
You are assuming that AO’s have not figured out every trick in the book. Your question is moot, since you’ve already submitted your application and what’s done is done. Don’t dwell on it now.
@skieurope cant I still send my Ap scores even if I have already submitted my application?
You could, but sending in AP scores is a waste of money; unless required by the college (which is very rare is the US) only send the official score report to the college you will be attending. Instead, one simply reports the scores on the application. However, you’ve already sent in the application, so it’s a but late for that. I really would not stress too much about it; AP scores don’t carry a lot of weight in the admissions process.
@skieurope How do you know that AP scores don’t carry a lot of weight in the admissions process?
Here’s what veteran poster gibby has posted on the subject:
Guidance Office: Answers From Harvard’s Dean, Part 2 - The Choice Blog - NYTimes.com
“We have found that the best predictors at Harvard are Advanced Placement tests and International Baccalaureate Exams, closely followed by the College Board subject tests. High school grades are next in predictive power, followed by the SAT and ACT. The writing tests of the SAT and ACT have predictive power similar to the subject tests.”
– William R. Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Harvard College
Given Dean Fitzsimmons’ opinion, you might want to self-report AND send your AP scores to Harvard.
Guidance from my HS’s college counseling office as well as conversations with AO’s, including Harvard and Penn, during my own college selection process. Fitzsimmons’ comments are 6 years old, and I would wish he would give updated information or reaffirm at least in terms of Harvard’s POV. Keep in mind that many applicants get into top universities without AP scores as many HS’s from top elite boarding schools to lower SES schools do not offer AP’s due to choice and/or lack of funding.
I forgot to mention earlier, when you send your official AP score report, in most cases, it goes directly to the registrar’s office for credit evaluation, and the admissions office does not see it. That tidbit is also backed up by @Gibby.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18870116/
The last line about sending in the test scores and self-reporting was part of gibby’s post. I didn’t say it and I agree that students should not have the scores sent because they’d don’t reach the admissions office.
I don’t agree with you that AP scores don’t matter. I too have many friends in admissions including the dean of one of the acronym schools.
I should clarify that I don’t think that AP scores are more important than most of the other parts of the application but scores that don’t reflect high grades really call into question either grade inflation and/or poor preparation. AO’s suffer from confirmation bias as much as anyone and they look for as much supporting evidence as possible if they are going to go out on a limb and recommend to accept. Failing or missing AP scores throw a small wrench into the process.
It’s a subtle difference, but that’s not what I said. However, since the OP did not ask us to split hairs, we should leave it at that.
@mat324, Listing them on the Common App. is all that needs to be done. That is what I did, and I got in to Penn last year. The other question is whether or not to list an AP score of 3 or lower, and that is a tough one.