What is, if any, the benefit of taking AP exams, which you self studied for in areas that relate to your extracurricular and passions?
Does it show that you can study and are academically capable, along with re-enforcing your passion for the activities you partake in?
Lastly, if I take an AP Exam and achieve a perfect, although my mark for a relating course is low (ie 80s), will this situation “balance out”.
To clarify, for example, if in grade 9, I receive a 80% for my final mark in French, but then took the AP French Language and Culture exam(self-studied) in Grade 11 and got a 5. How would the admissions committee interpret this?
Admissions judges you in the context of your high school. If your high school offers many AP classes, Harvard expects a strong applicant to have taken many AP courses and the corresponding AP tests. Conversely, if your high DOES NOT offer AP courses, Harvard DOES NOT expect a strong applicant to have taken any AP tests.
Self-studying for an AP test demonstrates that a student doesn’t understand what Harvard values. Rather than self-studying for an AP test to show your passion, Harvard would like to see you take advantage of the resources available to you outside of the classroom. What extracurricular activity could you do during the school year, or during your summer break that demonstrates the same passion – and will also demonstrate your maturity, your ability to work and get along with your peers and adults? A self-studied AP test of 5 does none of that, it just shows you can study on your own for a test and get a high grade.
If an Admissions Officer looked at other applicants from your high school, would they see your peers with higher classroom grades in French Language and Culture? Or, is a grade in the low 80% in French Language and Culture one of the highest grades at your high school?
Generally, a score of 5 on an AP test DOES NOT “balance out” a less than stellar classroom grade unless the 80% grade is one of the highest classroom grades at your high school. In which case, your 80% demonstrates your class at your high school has grade deflation. If that’s NOT the case – if other students scored 95% on the French Language and Culture AP class at your school, while you got an 80% – it shows you slacked off during the school year and then ramped-up for the test. Does that sound like the kind of student Harvard would want?
I was wondering what if I take like 4 AP exams(self-studied) and they relate to my extracurriculars, will it show the Harvard admissions board that I have a strength in these areas(knowledgeably)? I know grades can do this, but I want to show them them my knowledge in very vast(college-level) in these areas.
Example, if I have a great interest in literature and I write plays and am the head of a literary magazine at my school and then I take AP English Literature and Composition exam. I want to take it to show them that I am interested in this area and that I do excel in it. What if I do both, heavily participate in the my area of interest and take the corresponding AP exam?
Is this bad, and will this reduce my chances for Harvard?