<p>I'm applying to colleges this fall, and my top choice is one of the top LACs. I have sort of a weird situation because my high school does not give grades. I need a way to show that I would have had a strong GPA, and I'd like to supply my AP scores.
I took US History and Lit at the end of junior year. It was very sporadic - a teacher told me I would probably do OK, so I signed up then took the test. I DID study a fair amount, but I certainly could have been better prepared. My school does not offer any AP courses, and when I took the history AP we were hardly half way through the 20th century. My English class was pretty good, but definitely not "AP" level. Needless to say my school is TINY and these were the only classes offered in either subject.
I scored a pair of "3"'s, which is probably decent for a student who's never taken an AP class. Do you think the adcoms will agree? Or should I avoid mentioning that I even took the tests?
Thanks! I appreciate the feedback!</p>
<p>I think you should mention the scores, but normally people don’t send official AP score reports until senior year to the college they will be attending. Your situation is strange (no grades is very uncommon) so I’m not quite sure if you should send them, but I can tell you most people, including myself, self-report them on the apps. Also, AP scores are, more or less, irrelevant for admissions, but your initiative to take them on your own is impressive.</p>
<p>I have to ask this - how do you know your scores already?</p>
<p>Also, Jalmoreno - I doubt that AP scores are irrelevant on applications, even though that’s the accepted word here. Colleges have to distinguish between applicants with stellar grades and SATs/ACTs somehow. At my school, the kids with mostly 5s got into the top schools; the kids with lower AP scores did not.</p>
<p>That could have been a correlation. Higher AP scores could have just been an indicator of students that were more successful academically and extracurricularly and thus were accepted into better colleges for those reasons. </p>
<p>But I still agree; APs seem to hold some weight. Although I’ve seen many CCers claim APs have little significance in terms of college applications, the Common App and many supplements have a combined total of at least 10-15 spaces for self-reporting SAT 2s and APs, which would allow you to show academic rigor. Plus, there are AP awards like the State Scholar that only a few people get. That also has to be worth something to adcoms.</p>
<p>Actually, that’s not true. Colleges, especially top ones, are picking their candidates based on extra-curricular achievements, essays, and recommendations. Because colleges have SAT/ACT and SAT Subject Tests, they have enough standardized tests information and they don’t really care for more. They want to see the other, more qualitative, aspects of your high school career, beyond grades and tests. </p>
<p>Colleges almost always try to consider APs in the context of your school. So. if your school offers no AP classes, you are not penalized for not taking any. If your school offers 5 AP classes, you should probably plan on doing almost all of them. But if your school offers 20, you’re probably best off taking 10-12 of them (i.e. ~1/2) and pursuing extra-curriculars than taking 20 and being a slave to your curriculum.</p>
<p>Basically, I think the following is the best advice: Would taking X number of AP classes/tests be so time consuming that you would not be able to pursue a strong quality of extra-curricular activities? If so, take less, because the extra-curriculars are more worthwhile.</p>
<p>@TheRealFake, isn’t State Scholar only given to seniors? If so, they’ve already been admitted to college and the State Scholar award is useless unless there is a scholarship attached.</p>
<p>How long can it really take to look at a list of numbers on a scale of 1-5 and evaluate whether that person is strong enough academically? It’s not like it’s a huge burden on colleges to read AP exams. If they didn’t care for the information, applications wouldn’t ask for AP exams specifically (they might be optional, but that doesn’t change the point).</p>
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<p>Yes, after seeing that you are academically qualified for their school. AP exams show this. AP exams can also show independent drive and good time management skills.</p>
<p>What evidence do you have that AP exams aren’t used in college admissions?</p>
<p>No. There is no stipulation to that award that suggests that it is open to ONLY seniors. It is awarded to the male and female in the state that has taken the most APs and scored the highest. So therefore, if a junior male takes 25 and no one else has taken more, he will get it. Pretty simple in retrospect.</p>
<p>Of course, most people who get the award probably get in in their senior year, unless the state is such that a small number(compared to 20) is enough for state scholar(someone at the MIT admissions site said he got State Scholar for Kentucky in his Junior year for 11? exams).</p>
<p>The State AP Scholar award is awarded to the student with the most AP exams in each state above a score of 3, one male and one female. The person doesn’t have to be a senior, though typically they are. In Maryland two years ago a junior won it with 22, and he’s now at Princeton. </p>
<p>Harvard states on its website that applicants are “encouraged to submit additional Subject Tests (which may include one in a student’s first language), Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate test results, or any other eidence of the breadth and depth of their academic accomplishments.”</p>
<p>I think the fact that APs are self-reported hints at their lack of importance. I mean, what would keep someone from lying? People are not required to send in score reports (most should not waste their money) to verify those scores, so their validity is just not up to admissions standards. </p>
<p>I think for top schools, it’s just not a priority. I guarantee based on their admissions philosophy and posts by MITChris, an admissions officer who is a mod on CC, MIT is not breaking “ties” based on AP and other test scores. It’s just something they don’t care about, it’s not their priority. Harvard is another school that is considering people based on extra-curriculars and hooks, not testing. Look at this article:</p>
<p>Yeah, only 45% got 700 on one or more sections. For Harvard, that just doesn’t feel that impressive, considering that they could easily have a class that is 100% with those scores. But, that isn’t their desire. And, as far as tests for admissions, SAT is undoubtedly more important than AP.</p>
<p>I’m sorry to the OP, we’re kind of running wild with our posts, and they aren’t even about her question anymore.</p>
<p>Well, AP exams may not be given as much weight as extracurricular, but if you already have decent ECs, it certainly doesn’t hurt to take a lot of AP exams. After all, it shows one’s ability to self-study and to manage time efficiently. Obviously, one should not forego other important activities to take more AP tests, but they are still a factor. </p>
<p>As for the self-report part, you also self-report whether or not you’ve been arrested. What prevents you from lying on that? I doubt they check the records of every applicant.</p>
<p>You’re right that SATs and GPA ultimately are more important than APs and IBs. However, it appears that some colleges still use these tests as a measurement of academic accomplishments, even if they are not a major part of the admissions process. </p>
<p>Colleges like Harvard still care about academic rigor, but they have figured out that even students with high academic honors can still ultimately be “duds”, so to speak. Many bright students may not have the highest test scores. However, they have what the college is looking for. My advice is to be the best applicant you can be. It doesn’t mean you have to have the highest test scores or most APs. Those are merely a few of the indicators colleges use to measure future success. </p>
<p>Going back to OP’s question, if you believe those scores will help show your success as a student, then you should do it.</p>
<p>I recently graduated from high school. I am applying to college during my “gap year.” Those scores are from last year. After seeing a pair of “3”'s I’ll admit I was a little intimidated by the AP tests, and didn’t take any during my senior year.
I am all for submitting those scores, as long as it won’t have any negative affect on my application. Is there anywhere on the commonapp where I can explain my situation to AdComs? Or should I ask my guidance counselor to do that?</p>
<p>On your application, you should definitely report those scores and/or report that you self-studied and took those exams. However, it is not necessary, not is it recommended (as far as I know), to actually SEND a AP score report. That doesn’t become necessary until you have already been accepted and enrolled and are trying to claim college credits.</p>
<p>Colleges aren’t too concerned with AP scores because they just care more that students take rigorous AP courses in school and get good grades in them. If you had taken the classes and they were on your transcript, I’d probably recommend you not report 3’s.</p>
<p>However, if the AP courses are not on your transcript, those AP scores suddenly become much more valuable. It’s been shown consistently on this forum that being self-motivated and self studying/taking AP exams when your school does not offer them is verrry beneficial to your profile.</p>
<p>There is a section on the CommonApp specifically set aside for reporting AP and other test scores, but I don’t believe it leaves room for comments. You can use the “additional information” section to mention that you self-studied and took three exams and report your scores there. You may wish to mention that your only resources were school textbooks and they were not exactly in line with the AP curriculum.</p>