Will my poor AP test scores hinder my application towards top colleges?

Biology (4)
Chemistry (4)
Computer Science A (3) YIKES
English Lang (4)
English Lit (5)
Enviro (5)
Statistics (4) YIKES
US History (5)
World History (5)

I have one 3, 4 4’s, and 4 5’s. So I qualify for National AP Scholar (barely).
I intend on majoring in business or statistics (maybe not stats now since I didn’t pull off a 5), but I’ve noticed that I do better on social studies and English APs so maybe I should change my intended major to a humanities major such as history or English???

My dream program is the UPenn Huntsman Program or just UPenn’s Wharton bc atm I want to go into business (but I got a 4 in stats ugh). Otherwise for other top schools I might just choose a humanities major???

Depends upon your other standardized test scores & grades.

You will not be rejected because of a 4 on the AP stats exam

Did you take all these tests this year or is that this year + last year?
What will you be taking next year?

I personally think you will be okay. These are only minor slip ups in a grand scheme of things. That being said, you should have a strong application otherwise. AP tests won’t necessarily knock you out of a university, but they also won’t put you in. You need to be a well rounded student (which you seem to be based on the variety of courses you have taken) to get in to a school like UPenn.

Poor scores? That just sounds disingenuous; to me it comes off as humblebragging. That could hinder you more.

Your scores are more than fine. If you are truly concerned, don;t report the 3 on your application.

You started another thread about your stats AP score (4) keeping you out of Penn. Do you honestly think ALL kids that go to top schools only get 5’s? Stop obsessing on your good scores and move on to other parts of your application.

Your scores are fine.

@MYOS1634 yes, this is combined for 9-11th grade. I will be taking a bunch more APs next year as well, specifically Calc BC, Physics (there is only 1 type offered at our school but idk which one), Euro, US Gov, Spanish.

@CottonTales I understand that my scores are far from poor (probably should’ve rephrased question), but for a student who wants to target UPenn Wharton (a school that emphasizes math ability) and possibly pursue a career in finance, I feel like a 4 instead of a 5 in AP Stats is not on par with other applicants, especially since a lot of financial careers require mathematical modeling/analyzing data/other stats-related stuff. What do you think?

@skieurope are AP scores part of score choice? or do I need to pay an additional fee to hide my 3 in ap compsci from colleges?

You don’t send AP scores in the application stage. You can self report them or not, and you only send if you want credit, after you have chosen a school. To that school only.

You self report the scores on your application. As @VickiSoCal correctly points out, you only need to send an official score report to the college you are attending. At that point, yes, you can pay to hide the 3, but it’s a waste of money. The clerical processing your AP scores for credit/placement won’t care that you got a 3, and you’ll likely never run into her on campus. :slight_smile:

This is my favorite apocryphal AP story. I’ve told it every year for the past three years or so.

A student I knew a few years ago went into the APCS test and realized he wasn’t prepared. He opted to take a nap instead of finishing the test. I think he wound up with a “1”. He went on to NU and I believe he’s headed to Harvard for grad school.

A couple of sub-par scores will not hurt you.

@skieurope that’s great news! If I’m self-reporting, then that means I can just not report the 3 during college applications.

@EllieMom thanks for sharing the story! Although it may not be the case, at the moment, it just seems like every little score matters…

Correct. But be aware that your HS may list all standardized test scores on the transcript.