How important are AP scores?

[Anonymous]

Are they like grades? SATs?

[Anonymous]

You only send the good ones so they can help. They haven’t been super important but in a test optional world especially, they can really help support your application.

[Anonymous]

To admissions? Not at all.
To placing out of a class that isn’t part of your major, if your student scores well then potentially very good.
Colleges publish which classes/scores transfer in but it can be very nuanced based on what your student wants to study.

[Anonymous]

It seems like they could help in admissions for a TO application if the AP scores are strong despite mediocre (and I submitted) ACT/SAT.

[Anonymous]

DC will submit highest scores and will use at school if they attend somewhere that accepts AP for either credit or to create flexibility in course choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To admissions? Not at all.
To placing out of a class that isn’t part of your major, if your student scores well then potentially very good.
Colleges publish which classes/scores transfer in but it can be very nuanced based on what your student wants to study.

This isn’t accurate. They’re absolutely considered by many selective schools in the admissions process if submitted (and possibly even if not). A college counselor will likely advise you to only submit 4s and 5s. However, one prominent advisor says there are conditions where she wouldn’t advise sending a 4 either because in her experience as an AO, that can be held against you for highly selective admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To admissions? Not at all.
To placing out of a class that isn’t part of your major, if your student scores well then potentially very good.
Colleges publish which classes/scores transfer in but it can be very nuanced based on what your student wants to study.

Not true. They are absolutely interested in how students have done with college level work. It's a much better indicator of preparedness than the SAT/ACT.

[Anonymous]

I think the point is....if you have a bad score, don't submit it. But if you have good scores, it is another plus in areas of rigor, testing. And, if your child has the aptitude to do well on these exams, they should take AP exams for the AP classes (or equivalent at private school) they are taking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like they could help in admissions for a TO application if the AP scores are strong despite mediocre (and I submitted) ACT/SAT.

If you're TO, I don't think any testing is considered, though.

[Anonymous]

You'll get plenty of people on here who claim AP scores are not considered during admissions.

Sorry, but an admissions officer who knows grades are inflated and can't easily be compared between one school system and another will be interested to find that "top" student A earned 5 out of 5 on their AP exams, and "top" student B earned 3.

Same principle for SAT, ACT and IB scores. They all cut across the gpa noise and provide a national basis of comparison. At similar gpa, it really shows you which school inflates grades and which school doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You'll get plenty of people on here who claim AP scores are not considered during admissions.

Sorry, but an admissions officer who knows grades are inflated and can't easily be compared between one school system and another will be interested to find that "top" student A earned 5 out of 5 on their AP exams, and "top" student B earned 3.

Same principle for SAT, ACT and IB scores. They all cut across the gpa noise and provide a national basis of comparison. At similar gpa, it really shows you which school inflates grades and which school doesn't.

Kind of. I see what you're saying and agree to an extent, but there are also students who are knowledgeable but don't test as well. But, it is another point of data to weigh with/against grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You'll get plenty of people on here who claim AP scores are not considered during admissions.

Sorry, but an admissions officer who knows grades are inflated and can't easily be compared between one school system and another will be interested to find that "top" student A earned 5 out of 5 on their AP exams, and "top" student B earned 3.

Same principle for SAT, ACT and IB scores. They all cut across the gpa noise and provide a national basis of comparison. At similar gpa, it really shows you which school inflates grades and which school doesn't.

Kind of. I see what you're saying and agree to an extent, but there are also students who are knowledgeable but don't test as well. But, it is another point of data to weigh with/against grades.

PP you replied to. I say this with love and experience: the "doesn't test well" concept is simply not an excuse. It just means the student needs to address test-taking anxiety and practice test-taking strategies. I have a senior with special needs and a neurotypical middle schooler. One of them takes too long on tests and misconstrues the questions, and the other rushes through and misreads the questions. The result is the same. I have taught each of them how to re-read the questions and identify what the question is looking for, how to manage anxiety, how to pull key concepts from reading comp texts or check units and key factors from graphs or tables. My teen needs to check his watch and assign blocks of time to each section if he has any hope of finishing on time. My middle schooler has to take as much time as possible and go over everything 3 times otherwise she just sits there for an hour waiting for the others to finish.

There is knowledge and test prep. A student needs to master both. "Doesn't test well" means the student mastered the former but not the latter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You'll get plenty of people on here who claim AP scores are not considered during admissions.

Sorry, but an admissions officer who knows grades are inflated and can't easily be compared between one school system and another will be interested to find that "top" student A earned 5 out of 5 on their AP exams, and "top" student B earned 3.

Same principle for SAT, ACT and IB scores. They all cut across the gpa noise and provide a national basis of comparison. At similar gpa, it really shows you which school inflates grades and which school doesn't.

Here's the thing: an admissions officer may say that student B would have gotten the 5 if they had gone to the same school (or had the same teachers) as student A. So while it can differentiate between schools, it may not lead them to saying student A > student B.

[Anonymous]

DD did not send any AP scores at all, though I think her school showed them on the transcript. Either way it was 3's & 4's. Did not hurt as she got into several T40 and some T25.

Looking at it from the finish line...for her it is just mostly for the credits and that can vary widely depending on the college. However, it gave her engaging classes and a good prep which should make the first semester easier. Even if there is no credit for a 4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like they could help in admissions for a TO application if the AP scores are strong despite mediocre (and I submitted) ACT/SAT.

If you're TO, I don't think any testing is considered, though.

That's not what test optional means. It just means what it outright states, that testing is optional. Maybe there are a handful of colleges that will no longer even consider test scores if you submit them, but it's a really small number.