3s on AP Tests - now what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you use a proxy to see the scores early?

How reliable are these reports of the scores?

Very reliable, considering you're on the actual College Board site...you just change your IP address (or something along those lines) to one that belongs to another location (a location that has access to AP scores - California, for example) and you're in.

[Anonymous]

Can you send in just some of the AP scores? Or do you have to send in all of them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you send in just some of the AP scores? Or do you have to send in all of them?

Sure, but the transcript shows which AP classes the student has taken, the rigor of the program will be questioned if there isn't a 4 or 5 associated with each of those AP courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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).

In my opinion -- based on the college application process we just completed (for admission to Class of 2018) -- colleges give little, if any, weight to AP test scores for admissions* but instead use these scores for placement/exemption from course prerequisites and/or awarding college credit once the student has been admitted -- and more importantly, has enrolled at the college. By the way, at the time my daughter applied (fall 2013), she'd taken four AP tests and had received two 4s (English Lang. & NSL) and two 3s (Bio & Calculus AB) and was accepted at 3 of the 5 Ivies she applied to (Yale, Columbia & Brown; waitlisted/rejected Harvard & Penn) and accepted to the remaining five private colleges she had applied to including UChicago and Swarthmore. So I don't think (at least in my daughter's case) that the AP test scores helped or hurt her your college application particularly since she didn't receive her first 5 until this year/her senior year, which was well after the college admission process was completed. So, in my opinion, there's nothing to do "now" regarding the 3's other than to take comfort in the fact that your son "passed" all of his AP tests and, depending on where he actually ends up, he may even get college credit (though probably not for the 3s) and/or skip the basic course in the particular subject area (even for the 3s -- for example, even though my daughter won't get any college credit, it appears that she won't have to take a first-year Calculus course since she got a 3 on the AP exam but will be able to start in second-year or higher Calculus course at her college).

*I think, for admissions, colleges give the greatest weight to SAT/ACT scores and GPAs, and then use ECs to distinguish between students who have similar academic profiles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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).

In my opinion -- based on the college application process we just completed (for admission to Class of 2018) -- colleges give little, if any, weight to AP test scores for admissions* but instead use these scores for placement/exemption from course prerequisites and/or awarding college credit once the student has been admitted -- and more importantly, has enrolled at the college. By the way, at the time my daughter applied (fall 2013), she'd taken four AP tests and had received two 4s (English Lang. & NSL) and two 3s (Bio & Calculus AB) and was accepted at 3 of the 5 Ivies she applied to (Yale, Columbia & Brown; waitlisted/rejected Harvard & Penn) and accepted to the remaining five private colleges she had applied to including UChicago and Swarthmore. So I don't think (at least in my daughter's case) that the AP test scores helped or hurt her your college application particularly since she didn't receive her first 5 until this year/her senior year, which was well after the college admission process was completed. So, in my opinion, there's nothing to do "now" regarding the 3's other than to take comfort in the fact that your son "passed" all of his AP tests and, depending on where he actually ends up, he may even get college credit (though probably not for the 3s) and/or skip the basic course in the particular subject area (even for the 3s -- for example, even though my daughter won't get any college credit, it appears that she won't have to take a first-year Calculus course since she got a 3 on the AP exam but will be able to start in second-year or higher Calculus course at her college).

*I think, for admissions, colleges give the greatest weight to SAT/ACT scores and GPAs, and then use ECs to distinguish between students who have similar academic profiles.

Did your daughter submit her AP scores, or list them on the Common App, as part of her college applications?

[Anonymous]

Sorry for the delay in responding (I'm a DCUM Dabbler) but my daughter, who's currently out of the country, handled the college application process on her own so I don't know if she included her freshman-junior year AP scores on the Common Application or if the scores were submitted as a part of the high school counselor's report (I don't specifically recall paying to have them sent directly from the College Board like her SAT scores but maybe we did). If this thread is still active when she returns, I'll ask her and report back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry for the delay in responding (I'm a DCUM Dabbler) but my daughter, who's currently out of the country, handled the college application process on her own so I don't know if she included her freshman-junior year AP scores on the Common Application or if the scores were submitted as a part of the high school counselor's report (I don't specifically recall paying to have them sent directly from the College Board like her SAT scores but maybe we did). If this thread is still active when she returns, I'll ask her and report back.

Thanks, I would appreciate the advice so I can pass it on to my rising senior when he returns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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).

Clearly only ritual suicide will even come close to erasing the permanent stain on your honor.

Christ, do people like you ever listen to yourselves?