3s on AP Tests - now what?
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Anonymous
DS used a proxy (  ) to see his AP scores early and was slightly disappointed. Here's his breakdown-
English Language and Psychology - 5 Human Geo - 4 Biology, US Gov, European History - 3 He took psych sophomore year, geo freshman year, and bio, gov, euro, and English this year, junior year. What is the proper course of action for these scores? Do these hurt his chances of admissions? Not looking for top 10 schools, but has his sights on schools in the range of UW-Madison and BU (his top 2 right now). |
Anonymous
| He doesn't have to send his AP scores in. Lots of kids do send them in, but there's no requirement that he do so. Does he have high SAT subject test results? |
Anonymous
| Colleges don't see AP scores. You can self report, but you don't have to. You don't send them in officially until you have registered at a school and they use them for placement purposes. Don't worry about them. |
Anonymous
So would a kid be 'penalized' during admissions if he did not self-report scores? |
Anonymous
| Some schools will take a 3 in particular courses --esp. US History. |
Anonymous
What APs has he taken before this year? 5 APs in one year may have been too much for him. |
Anonymous
| Some colleges give college credit for the 4 and 5 scores on the AP tests. So, I wouldn't submit the 3 score. The AP class still is noticed on your child's transcript and GPA. Keep in mind that all schools have different policies on the AP credit. With highs schooler's taking SO many AP classes these days, colleges don't want to credit all the high scores-less revenue. |
Anonymous
To clarify, the AP classes will be noted on the transcript (as "AP World History") , but the AP test scores won't appear on the transcript. Similarly, your kid's grade in the AP classes will figure into the GPA, but again the AP test scores themselves won't figure into the GPA. If you don't send the test scores in, the colleges will never know about them. At the most competitive colleges (USNWR top 10 or top 20), many kids do send in their AP scores. This may be because the applicants to the most competitive colleges usually have mostly 5s anyway. In fact, I don't know for sure, but it's possible the admissions offices at the most competitive colleges would wonder why they haven't seen the AP scores. (My kid sent in AP scores of 7 5s and one 4 and got into a top USNWR college.) Moreover, at the very top colleges, sending in scores of 3s could hurt you, especially if you got an A in the AP class itself, because it sends a signal that your teacher was just an easy grader. I would worry less about this at the less selective colleges - but then these less selective colleges aren't necessarily expecting to see your AP scores anyway. So, if your kid isn't competing for the most selective colleges, I wouldn't worry about AP scores for admissions purposes. Just don't send the scores in during the admissions cycle. Later on, after your kid has been accepted, he may or may not get credit for a class with AP scores of 3s -- but it had no impact on admissions. |
Anonymous
| UCLA is one of many respectable schools that accepts 3s. |
Anonymous
You mean accepts 3s for credit towards coursework, right? Not as part of acceptance in the admissions process, which OP is asking about. |
Anonymous
| He can retest if he wants to |
Anonymous
| How does one "self report" AP scores? |
Anonymous
The teacher that writes your recommendation includes them in her/his recommendation is one way. |
Anonymous
| What is Human Geo? |
Anonymous
Some colleges have an optional section on the application where you can note your AP scores if you want. |