<p>Are colleges concerned with whether I have straight 5's on AP exams and 7's on IB exams? I'm sure this topic has been discussed by CCers multiple times; I ran a search, however, and was unable to find the information.</p>
<p>I've heard this question answered both ways--that colleges mainly care to see I have a rigorous course load, or that colleges try to gauge grade inflation through AP scores, etc. Are AP/IB scores as important as SAT II scores, though?</p>
<p>At my school, the IB programme is still extremely new (we've graduated a single class of 11 IB students...out of a total school population of ~3300). Most of my IB classes (I am a junior IB diploma candidate) are mixed with AP classes, meaning I have been learning both the AP and IB courseworks this whole year. Having said that, I feel I'll do much better on the AP exams b/c my teachers are more familiar with the AP program. </p>
<p>I've asked a lot of questions in this post, so here's a summary for quick reference:
- Do colleges care whether I have straight 5's and 7's? Will they even ask to see my scores?
- Are AP/IB scores as important as SAT II scores?
- Will it seem strange if I, as an IB student, score better on AP exams than IB ones?</p>
<p>Thank you very much. I greatly appreciate any feedback whatsoever. =)</p>
<p>Not really, they are not that important. I think that what matters is your strength of schedule instead of the AP scores. There is a place on the application to self report them.</p>
<p>I would think that SAT II scores are more important</p>
<p>Straight 7s on IB?? A 7 is like 96 - 100% and I am telling you those IB questions are not easy, okay, what I really mean is that they are so poorly worded, that I doubt anyone gets straight 7s. Straight 6s sound more plausible.</p>
<p>And yes, colleges do care about your IB scores. But SAT scores are more important since they GET you into the college.</p>
<p>I should also note that if you do somehow miraculously get straight 7s on your diploma, I don’t think your SAT scores will just shy away.</p>
<p>I think AP scores are mainly just for college credit purposes. Colleges will look at the rigor of the courses that you took in high school and AP courses will definitely show that you have taken challenging courses. They may look to see if you took the exam if you took the class, and not having a score reported when you took the class looks bad from what I’ve heard. But to answer your question, I don’t think colleges care if you have a bunch of 5s or not as far as admission to the college is concerned.</p>
<p>lemone - How do you know what percentage range a 7 corresponds to? I haven’t been able to find that information <em>anywhere</em>; what’s more, my teachers either don’t know or refuse to disclose that information. You’ve made my point exactly, though, lemone: I will more than likely not be receiving straight 7’s. I’m wondering how that might impact college admissions.</p>
<p>Also, regarding the girl jerrry4445 posted about, that’s actually not so surprising. My sister, who currently attends the University of Pennsylvania, scored 5 on only one or two of her 14 AP exams. In fact, I believe she made a 2 on AP Calc AB, and maybe a 3 on AP Chem. Otherwise, she had mainly straight 4’s.</p>
<p>If you take a lot of APs and score well on them it can mean a couple things:
You can handle college level work.
Your AP grades aren’t inflated (My friend’s stats teacher does NOTHING in his class hence his 100% in that class -.-)
If you self-studied, it can prove that your a self-learner, which is good. Since in college, you’ll have to teach yourself a lot of the times. Also it shows that you can take ownership of your learning and you don’t need a teacher to breathe down your back to get good grades.</p>
<p>Also, depending on the university you apply to, those college credits can save some $$ on books and etc.</p>