My friend recently checked his scores online and found out he got a 4 in AP Chem. He felt really sad and thought that his chances at getting into chemical engineering will be heavily affected. (He has an 800 in SAT chem though)
So here are his questions: Will a 4 in AP Chem ruin his chances? How many people in chemical engineering have a 5, 4, or a 3? Will his 800 in sat Chem help him alot?
Thanks!
AP scores aren’t even used in any admissions process I know. Maybe I’m out of touch?
They aren’t, only for testing out of coursework, at least as of 4 years ago when my son looked at multiple programs.
No. Scores are only used for credit.
Some schools do consider AP scores. If the school has space for you to self-report your AP scores on the application, then it’s on your application and admissions committees will see it. However, even at these schools, it’s usually not given a lot of weight.
Otherwise, as the others have said, it’s usually not consider in admissions. Especially at the public or private universities, where most students go for engineering.
Last year, less than 10% of the students taking the AP Chemistry test earned a 5, a 4 is a very respectable score. 75% of the students earned a 3 or lower on the test. Compare that to Calc BC, where almost 50% earned a 5.
https://www.totalregistration.net/AP-Exam-Registration-Service/2016-AP-Exam-Score-Distributions.php
2017 distributions:
https://www.totalregistration.net/AP-Exam-Registration-Service/2017-AP-Exam-Score-Distributions.php
Surely, many students attend and graduate college as chemical engineering majors after having had only regular high school chemistry in high school. Having had AP level chemistry in high school is a bonus in comparison.