Which AP scores to report

Applying to College
1

My son is applying early to a top school and will be self-reporting some AP scores. He doesn’t want to report his 3 in AP Chem. I’m concerned that if he doesn’t report it, they may assume it’s even lower. Plus, he took a few AP courses for which he didn’t take the tests, and they might assume the same about those. Also, in his AP Chem class, he got an A in the fall but a C in the spring. I feel like the 3 on the AP actually makes his C in the class not look as bad, since he clearly learned something and it shows the class was rigorous.

Below are the AP courses he has taken, his grades, and his AP scores. His plan is to list only the 4s and 5s. My suggestion is to list all the scores and add a note that no other tests were taken.

9th grade:
Human Geo (A) – didn’t take AP test
US Gov (A) – 4

10th grade:
Calc BC (B/B) – 5
Chem (A/C) – 3
Spanish Language (A/A) – 5
World History (A/A) – didn’t take AP test

11th grade:
English Language (A/A) – 5
Physics Mech. (A) – 5
Physics E&M (B) – 5
Spanish Lit (A/A) – didn’t take AP test
US History (B/A) – 5

2

You are going to get a wide array of opinions on this, but I would report all the4s and 5s and not the 3. One of my Ds also had a 3 and did not report it and did very well in admissions.

3

Agreed, although really, it’s not going to move the needle one way or the other.

Indeed, they may well think that. They may also think that about the three AP tests he didn’t take. Or they may think he wasn’t motivated enough to take the 4 exams… But you don’t know, and can’t control, what they may think.

4

I think that you are a special case because he already isn’t showing scores for some AP classes on the transcript because he didn’t take the exam.

5

Thanks – it looks like people agree with him. Clarification: his school does not list the AP scores on his transcript.