Are AP exam scores factored into admission decision?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the kids are top private schools don’t take AP classes or sit for the tests. They do just fine for college admissions. As with everything, it will depend on context

Our private has APs abd yiuvare required to take the AP exam or you fail the class.

My Senior had all 5s and submitted them along with a 35 one sitting ACT and I do think it’s why he’s having such a good outcome this cycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not at all.

This blanket statement is false. We know that Emory wants AP scores if you don’t submit SAT scores. See 2023 Selingo interview. Sara Harberson talks about a candidate being rejected for having a 4 instead of a 5 on an exam. We know in Selingo’s book a 4 on AP Calc actually helped an applicant over the hump.

How would she know this?

Because she witnessed it as an admissions officer/dean.

Anything that happened regarding testing of any kind before the last few years is irrelevant. When did she last work in admissions?

If anything, AP scores have become more relevant since then.

[Anonymous]

This is why I think TO is a scam -- at least for the top schools. They may say they're TO, but the kids who get in are generally the ones who submitted scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To increase chances for merit aid, is it better to self report especially if scores are decent?

Sure, with inflated grades to all and sundry, AP scores are the differentiator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why I think TO is a scam -- at least for the top schools. They may say they're TO, but the kids who get in are generally the ones who submitted scores.

This is a fascinating perspective that I’ve never heard before. Really makes you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why I think TO is a scam -- at least for the top schools. They may say they're TO, but the kids who get in are generally the ones who submitted scores.

This is a fascinating perspective that I’ve never heard before. Really makes you think.

Agreed - Dartmouth report says it all

Page 13, top right chart. Advantaged kids, acceptance rate by SAT score. 1500+ and really 1520+ to get out of the single digit scrum. Just facts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why I think TO is a scam -- at least for the top schools. They may say they're TO, but the kids who get in are generally the ones who submitted scores.

This is a fascinating perspective that I’ve never heard before. Really makes you think.

Agreed - Dartmouth report says it all

Page 13, top right chart. Advantaged kids, acceptance rate by SAT score. 1500+ and really 1520+ to get out of the single digit scrum. Just facts

link https://home.dartmouth.edu/sites/home/files/2024-02/sat-undergrad-admissions.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not at all.

This blanket statement is false. We know that Emory wants AP scores if you don’t submit SAT scores. See 2023 Selingo interview. Sara Harberson talks about a candidate being rejected for having a 4 instead of a 5 on an exam. We know in Selingo’s book a 4 on AP Calc actually helped an applicant over the hump.

My DC was accepted at Emory TO with AP scores and AP Scholar.

I think a lot of schools in the Emory tier will look at APs in lieu of SATs. Rochester and NYU say so explicitly in their “test flexible” policies. Schools at this in-between level want to keep your 1400 out of their profile data, but they also really want to admit kids with 1400s ahead of kids with 1150s. Right now AP scores are the best way to square that circle.

I’ve heard a lot of speculation that the test-blind UC scores use AP scores as well, but I haven’t seen any official confirmation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not at all.

This blanket statement is false. We know that Emory wants AP scores if you don’t submit SAT scores. See 2023 Selingo interview. Sara Harberson talks about a candidate being rejected for having a 4 instead of a 5 on an exam. We know in Selingo’s book a 4 on AP Calc actually helped an applicant over the hump.

How would she know this?

I think SH gives lot of good advice. But AP scores is one area where you can agree to disagree with her. OK to submit 4's esp. if the university gives credit for scores of 4.

The U Chicago AO said that they look at AP scores as a backup if for some reason the verbal SAT score is not as high as they would like but everything else looks on point. If AP English score is 5, they pass over the non-optimal verbal score. Same with math I would guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The individuals responding "No" to this question are delusional. Why WOULDN'T admissions consider them? I swear, this era of hiding your test results is really bizarre!

For most applicants, if you submit an application test optional, OF COURSE they don't think it's because you couldn't afford the ACT/SAT test registration fee, or that the available test center was too far from your home. They think you bombed the test.

Likewise, if you submit your grades and the submitted transcript shows all A grades in AP classes that have been grade-inflated into oblivion, but you don't disclose your AP test results, OF COURSE they don't think it's because you couldn't afford the test registration fees, or that you had to take care of your kid brother during the test window(s) in May, etc. They think you bombed the test(s).

And when it comes to the AP tests, electing not to report your scores is even more damning because it only takes a 75% or whatever to attain a 5 on these tests. What does it say about your A grades if your mastery of the subject matter cannot even satisfy a 75% threshold?

I think the focus AP test scores and prep varies from school to school and sometimes teacher to teacher. At DC's above-average high school, most of the AP teachers focus on a deeper understanding of the subject and not the test. But the AP teachers at DC's rival school reputedly focus their curriculum almost entirely on preparing for each AP test. It's become something of a controversy at DC's school, with a certain camp of parents appreciating the "deeper understanding" approach and another camp just wanting the teachers to do whatever possible to get their kids into the best college. I find myself in the middle. I worked in Asia for a couple years and have real misgivings about test-centric pedagogy. On the other hand, it sucked that my DC had to do a lot of extracurricular self-study to get good scores on her AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not at all.

This blanket statement is false. We know that Emory wants AP scores if you don’t submit SAT scores. See 2023 Selingo interview. Sara Harberson talks about a candidate being rejected for having a 4 instead of a 5 on an exam. We know in Selingo’s book a 4 on AP Calc actually helped an applicant over the hump.

This is absurdly stupid. Kids spend 4 years putting together their accomplishments, grades, ECs, essays, etc. And A SINGLE AP EXAM GRADE rules them out?

Fu---ing absurd.

[Anonymous]

Latting said Emory’s admissions office has retooled its rankings system for applicants, formally incorporating nontraditional measures such as creative output and educational opportunity for the first time this year. They’re also weighing “external assessment” more heavily than GPA, with a particular focus on AP scores.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2023/10/23/assessing-college-readiness-pandemic-generation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The individuals responding "No" to this question are delusional. Why WOULDN'T admissions consider them? I swear, this era of hiding your test results is really bizarre!

For most applicants, if you submit an application test optional, OF COURSE they don't think it's because you couldn't afford the ACT/SAT test registration fee, or that the available test center was too far from your home. They think you bombed the test.

Likewise, if you submit your grades and the submitted transcript shows all A grades in AP classes that have been grade-inflated into oblivion, but you don't disclose your AP test results, OF COURSE they don't think it's because you couldn't afford the test registration fees, or that you had to take care of your kid brother during the test window(s) in May, etc. They think you bombed the test(s).

And when it comes to the AP tests, electing not to report your scores is even more damning because it only takes a 75% or whatever to attain a 5 on these tests. What does it say about your A grades if your mastery of the subject matter cannot even satisfy a 75% threshold?

I think the focus AP test scores and prep varies from school to school and sometimes teacher to teacher. At DC's above-average high school, most of the AP teachers focus on a deeper understanding of the subject and not the test. But the AP teachers at DC's rival school reputedly focus their curriculum almost entirely on preparing for each AP test. It's become something of a controversy at DC's school, with a certain camp of parents appreciating the "deeper understanding" approach and another camp just wanting the teachers to do whatever possible to get their kids into the best college. I find myself in the middle. I worked in Asia for a couple years and have real misgivings about test-centric pedagogy. On the other hand, it sucked that my DC had to do a lot of extracurricular self-study to get good scores on her AP classes.

Same experience. My kid's school doesn't adhere to the AP curriculum closely (as they are supposed to), and in one class the teacher left the students to self-study an entire unit. As a result, the AP scores are not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not at all.

This. Not at all

[Anonymous]

My kids have always reported AP scores