@homerdog , you self report AP scores on the common app. Common guidance is to report only 4s and 5s. The actual scores will be sent, at your request, only to the school where you matriculate where you may be able to use them for credit.
@homerdog I believe you can self report the AP scores along with the SAT or ACT scores on the Common App. Also, a student could include them in that small extra area at the end of the Common App. Then send them officially after being accepted somewhere. My son sent them officially to the more competitive schools he was applying to. Probably not necessary, but he also sent them to the 2 schools that deferred him initially. He was later accepted.
My kid had good AP test scores. We self reported my kid’s good AP test scores on the Common App; also had real score reports sent to the school as part of the application process; also had the AP scores on the college resume (which most schools allow you to send).
Another takeaway from this year’s admissions: the uptick in applications means less time with each one.
@londondad - Trying to compare the US vs.UK college admissions processes is like comparing apples and oranges.
The playing fields and admissions landscapes are entirely different. First of all, in the UK, students cannot apply to an unlimited number of schools and can only pick one of the two most prestigious – Oxford or Cambridge – but not both. In the US, students can apply to as many schools as they want (or can afford) to and there are no such limits on how many “reach” schools are on a student’s list. In the UK, kids are “tracked” at a much earlier age and only a subset of students can even apply to some of the schools.
The composition of admissions committees is quite different in both systems and they are looking at vastly different things. Professors are an integral part of the selection process in the UK but not in the US. Interviews, which are conducted by faculty, are more substantive in the UK. Here they are often conducted by alumni, admissions officers, or graduating seniors and are of little consequence other than providing an opportunity for students to show “demonstrated interest.” Essays in the UK are more targeted and serve as a statement of purpose. In the US, they have devolved into something that has to “grab the reader” and provide the aforementioned “window into the person” (and, yes, I agree that it’s nonsense. But it matters)
You are quite correct that objective measures in the US (for better or worse – given the socioeconomic factors that can influence access to test prep, etc., I would argue worse) don’t adequately differentiate among students, and ‘soft factors’ come into play. That is precisely why essays and teacher recs matter as much as they do. Whether they should or not, is another matter altogether.
@j@londondad - Trying to compare the US vs.UK college admissions processes is like comparing apples and oranges.
The playing fields and admissions landscapes are entirely different. First of all, in the UK, students cannot apply to an unlimited number of schools and can only pick one of the two most prestigious – Oxford or Cambridge – but not both. In the US, students can apply to as many schools as they want (or can afford) to and there are no such limits on how many “reach” schools are on a student’s list.
The composition of admissions committees is quite different in both systems and they are looking at vastly different things. Professors are an integral part of the selection process in the UK but not in the US. Interviews, which are conducted by faculty, are more substantive in the UK. Here they are often conducted by alumni, admissions officers, or graduating seniors and are of little consequence other than providing an opportunity for students to show “demonstrated interest.” Essays in the UK are more targeted and serve as a statement of purpose. In the US, they have devolved into something that has to “grab the reader” and provide the aforementioned “window into the person” (and, yes, I agree that it’s nonsense. But it’s nonsense that matters in the admissions process.)
You are quite correct that objective measures in the US (for better or worse – given the socioeconomic factors that can influence access to test prep, etc., I would argue worse) don’t adequately differentiate among students, and ‘soft factors’ come into play. That is precisely why essays and teacher recs matter as much as they do. Whether they should or not, is another matter altogether.
@JHS - Yes - you have put into words exactly what I was trying to say and your analysis is spot on.
I don’t recall who asked the question about the four NY Times essays that were printed this year. I thought that they were all excellent, although the fifth (Snapchat) essay only marginally fit the criterion of having “dared to address money, work, or social class” issues. But I thought that all of the essays were well-written and provide a lens through which one can get an idea about who the kids are and what makes them tick (i.e., the essays were much more than “serviceable;” they were good).
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/your-money/standout-college-application-essays.html?_r=0
That NYT article discusses excellent essays from kids in highly unusual situations that are both interesting and inspirational . Those are exactly the type of essay you would expect to stand out.
That said, I maintain that the average suburban striver’s essay, no matter how well written, is not going to make much of an impact in the single-digit minute review described above.
I know, I know - every CC kid’s essays are above average.
The NYT essays are all very good. They become MUCH better when read as a group. But individually would they be enough to persuade an AO at Yale? Who knows?
I also think the essays were very good. Every one of them told a unique personal story and in the words and context that I would expect from a teenager. None of them walked on water or solved world hunger but they were all unique and memorable. Just shared the NY Times link with my D18.
4-6 minutes per application? Does that leave enough time for rock-paper-scissors?
So if AOs are now spending only 4-6 minutes reading applications because they receive so many, why is it a bad thing to send your application to 10, or 20, or even 30 schools?
If the application that you work on for months is glossed over in a matter of minutes, why wouldn’t you want to maximize its exposure by casting it broadly.
Its a vicious downward spiral and something has to give.
@STEM2017 I think your right - I also think that for 90% of decisions the file is stamped yes/no/maybe just based on the applicants grades and test scores. That frees up 4 - 6 minutes of time to work on the “maybe” files.
One caveat to the stats only plan…Yields are up everywhere right now, which would suggest that schools are not accepting based solely on numbers. If they were, many of the same kids would be getting most of the acceptances.
@STEM2017:
“If the application that you work on for months is glossed over in a matter of minutes, why wouldn’t you want to maximize its exposure by casting it broadly.”
Because being memorable in good way over 4-6 minutes is harder than being memorable over 15 minutes.
Of course it’s harder. I’m not sure how your point addresses my point. Applicants want their essay to be memorable no matter how much time is spent on it. But if it’s only going to be 4-6 minutes, they are certainly better off sending it to more targets.
ETA: If I know AOs will spend 30 minutes on my application, I would send it to 3 or 4 top choices. If I know its only10-15 minutes, I would send it to 10-12 top choices. If I know its only 4-6 minutes, I’ll probably send it to 15-20 choices.
The applications will all be similar, but sent to a broader target list.
@Chembiodad “agree that first generation and URM continues to be a bigger focus for the top schools, and I think it’s great.” I agree as long as these kids are from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and not wealthy applicants who are able to tick one of those boxes.
“A truly exceptional essay has to have topic first, tone second, writing and grammar third…but all top notch. It’s very difficult to achieve all three,”
Do you seriously believe this? My kids have been writing school essays with these requirements since they were at least nine years old (although with varying degrees of success). In many cases, based on what we see here, it seems that the kids who have had some sort of exceptional experience, challenge or even a glorified sob story are the ones who seem to believe that their essay made some difference, although they will never know for sure.
It enables justification for what seems like an unreasonable or unexpected outcome, that frequently plays to a racist or class based stereotype. When a boring, middle class kid gets into HYPS, it’s because they are incredibly bright. When a kid with a story gets in…it’s diversity. What you have no sense of is the number of kids with “a story” who write average/poor essays and don’t get into those schools. Exceptions become the norm because you are unaware of the carnage within that group, and you justify your result by generalizing about your disadvantages within the application process.
Wowzer, those are great essays.
In response to threads 248 - 250, I think that one of the problems that brings about subjective admissions is the inability (or lack of desire) of Unis to distinguish between the very smart and truly gifted students. In the UK, the top Universities and programmes (medicine, PPE, etc) try to identify the tippy top students through GSCE/A-Level results, academic interviews and specialised exams such as the Clinical Aptitude Test. For my DD and her friends many of whom have perfect GSCEs and AS levels they are getting spots at Oxbridge or medical schools but not at any of the Ivy League. By comparison, for the Ivy League in particular, identifying the smartest kids was historically not the principal goals of these schools. As a result, the situation has arisen where the final cuts for top schools often comes down subjective elements such as hooks, essays and ECs.
Also, in response to an earlier thread about whether kids know who the truly smart kids are in his/her class, for my kids they definitely do. My daughter’s school has had a record year with half of the kids getting accepted to Oxbridge or medical school. I asked her if she thinks whether the top UK Unis and programmes are picking the best kids from her school and she says that this year, the Unis got it around 80% right. Although this is anecdotal, this is a lot higher than many US kids would say about their schools.
oops - Sorry for the replicated verbiage in my last post; looks like I needed a better editor 
@STEM2017 - the amount of time spent on reading your application should have no bearing on how many applications you send. It does, however, inversely correlate with how many applications are received – the fewer applications a school receives, the more time AOs can spend reading them. The more applications that students send, the more applications a school receives, and the less time spent on each one.
The inverse proportion between number of applications and time spent really comes into play with how respect to much time time a student spends preparing the application. The more applications you send, the less time you can spend preparing each one. And it shows. A 35 word or 50 character well-crafted and illuminating response to a prompt can be more time consuming to come up with than a 500 word essay.