<p>I've been hearing that AP is more favored by universities down in the states (I live in Canada) than IB.</p>
<p>So that got me thinking, would admission be more likely if I took both AP Physics C's and the Calculus BC exams (hopefully with a 5 in both) besides the IB exams?</p>
<p>I can pretty much guarantee a predicted 7 in HL math and physics, and I'll be taking further mathematics SL next year. I'm in my junior year as of now, and from the practice tests it seems that I could pull off an 800 in both math II and physics, both to be taken this January.</p>
<p>And how important are AMC/AIME scores if you're applying to MIT?</p>
<p>As far as MIT is concerned, AP's do not factor in the Admissions decision. They are looking for a student to be taking a challenging academic program, and at most (non-IB) high schools, that means taking AP classes.</p>
<p>AP exams can count at MIT to help place out of a class, exactly what they are used for vary from department to department.</p>
<p>MIT does consider AP scores if you specifically mention them for the purpose of backing up things like self-study. I remember very specifically mentioning my AP scores several places on the application to make sure certain scores got through (IMO it was important to see the scores while looking at the class I took). </p>
<p>Also I'm a little bit confused as to why MIT doesn't consider AP scores for admissions. AP Exams are standardized, and can serve as a useful calibration tool. If you just look at the class grade, then you aren't normalizing for grade inflation, etc.</p>
<p>I obviously do not know, but I can think of at least several reasons:
1) At many schools, AP's are primarily taken in the last year of secondary school. The exams are only taken at the end of the school year (ie long after the admissions decision has been taken). Therefore, the question either becomes "Guess what you might get 4 months from now" or for EA applicants, "Guess what you might get without much if any exposure to the material on which you will be tested".
2) If they started to look at AP grades, then that would encourage students to try to take them in their penultimate year. Now many students do take a limited number of AP's in that year, but MIT does not want to further put pressure on the students, and leave them with no course options for their senior year.
3) AP classes are classes, MIT does get, and does look at the student's grades in these classes. These often serve as indicators of performance, so the AP exam grade is not providing much more information.
4) A significant number of secondary schools do not provide any AP classes. Some only provide one or two. This is not merely the vast number of American high schools who do not offer them, but there are also just under 3000 international applicants who have never heard of AP's. MIT has long had a policy of treating all applicant's equally. It is impossible to do this with AP's.
5) Whether a candidate has taken a large number of AP subjects is usually a way to distinguish between secondary schools, rather than candidates.</p>
<p>Mikayle, how do you know AP scores do not factor into admissions decisions?</p>
<p>I took a lot of AP classes that aren't normally taken by/offered to non-seniors - some of this was just luck (there weren't enough seniors in AP French, so the juniors took it too), but a lot of it was because I wanted to learn harder material, and enjoyed the challenge of AP classes (I had taken calculus and statistics because I love math and wanted to move faster in math than my school's curriculum normally allowed; I learned the C topics of calculus BC, the B topics of computer science AB and all of physics C mechanics without having those classes at my school). I think I definitely needed scores/to have taken the exam for calculus BC, computer science AB and physics C mechanics, because firstly, taking the AP was great motivation for me to self-study the material, and secondly, the scores backed up my motivation.</p>
<p>Sometimes, yes, a lot of AP scores are an indicator of a great school. But I think someone with a lot of AP scores who goes to a school that offers few AP classes can really show a lot of initiative and love for learning by taking AP classes and self-studying for AP exams. So, maybe it's LESS about the scores than it is about the initiative, but the scores can help show the initiative. Basically, like what differential said about self-study.</p>
<p>At the OP regarding the AMC/AIME scores- if you did really well, that's great. If you didn't take them (or didn't even know what they were until you saw them mentioned on the application, like me), it won't hurt, either. Granted, if your school has a history of people doing great on the test and you don't list a score, that's going to be a bit sketch.</p>