How rare is it to get all 5s on APs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is rare. The people whose kids did it don't give their kids enough credit. It is rare.

Now, people claiming their kids did it without showing the receipts -- common.

My daughter had 11 5’s. Went to TJ. 2400’on the SAT’s. Got in everywhere she applied except for Yale. Well rounded - cheerleader and on the state champion crew team.


I never hovered over her or even asked for her grades (I knew what they were). I think a handful of her friends did the same. I think it is largely a maturity issue. Once informed the AP courses were at the introductory level at a reasonably rigorous university, my guess is that she sized these exams up as very doable. Don’t get me wrong - as a relatively lazy parent I knew I was lucky to have a kid who did this well with very little effort on my part but in hindsight I had a bright kid who was unusually mature. Plenty of time for bright kids to catch up.

I don't know if its a cultural thing, but people here have not learned that you can be naturally intelligent or intelligent by school culture and not have parents beating you into education.

Actually, the smartest parents know this. But like any bell curve, there is only a very small percentage at the very top, so you don't see them so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is rare. The people whose kids did it don't give their kids enough credit. It is rare.

Now, people claiming their kids did it without showing the receipts -- common.

My daughter had 11 5’s. Went to TJ. 2400’on the SAT’s. Got in everywhere she applied except for Yale. Well rounded - cheerleader and on the state champion crew team.


I never hovered over her or even asked for her grades (I knew what they were). I think a handful of her friends did the same. I think it is largely a maturity issue. Once informed the AP courses were at the introductory level at a reasonably rigorous university, my guess is that she sized these exams up as very doable. Don’t get me wrong - as a relatively lazy parent I knew I was lucky to have a kid who did this well with very little effort on my part but in hindsight I had a bright kid who was unusually mature. Plenty of time for bright kids to catch up.

so 30+ yrs ago?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It probably is more common among Asians and not as helpful for them, not so common among others and can make one stand out.

+1. Most Asians can get all 5s, so it doesn't mean anything.

As someone who attended what is probably one of the highest performing public high schools in the nation for Asian American students (evidence: Asian American population over 40%, overall NMSF status 15%+ in class of 500+), I can assure you that your statement is inaccurate.

20% or so can get all 5s? Maybe. That’s hardly “most”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is rare. The people whose kids did it don't give their kids enough credit. It is rare.

Now, people claiming their kids did it without showing the receipts -- common.

My daughter had 11 5’s. Went to TJ. 2400’on the SAT’s. Got in everywhere she applied except for Yale. Well rounded - cheerleader and on the state champion crew team.


I never hovered over her or even asked for her grades (I knew what they were). I think a handful of her friends did the same. I think it is largely a maturity issue. Once informed the AP courses were at the introductory level at a reasonably rigorous university, my guess is that she sized these exams up as very doable. Don’t get me wrong - as a relatively lazy parent I knew I was lucky to have a kid who did this well with very little effort on my part but in hindsight I had a bright kid who was unusually mature. Plenty of time for bright kids to catch up.

so 30+ yrs ago?

grandma is clearly out of touch

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we at least agree on this? The percentage of individuals receiving an A in all of their AP classes is at least 10x the percentage receiving a 5 on all of their AP tests?

Grade inflation is insane atm.

absolutely. DC's large VA suburban high school that is supposedly "top two" in the county for publics has an average of A or maybe A- in every AP class yet LESS THAN 50% get 4s and 5s. Versus the top private that has median of B in the hardest AP classes and 85% 4 and 5s. The local public lets too many into the hardest APs, and the teaching is not nearly as good, and re-takes on tests are allowed: less smart cohort, worse teaching= much different scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It probably is more common among Asians and not as helpful for them, not so common among others and can make one stand out.

+1. Most Asians can get all 5s, so it doesn't mean anything.

As someone who attended what is probably one of the highest performing public high schools in the nation for Asian American students (evidence: Asian American population over 40%, overall NMSF status 15%+ in class of 500+), I can assure you that your statement is inaccurate.

20% or so can get all 5s? Maybe. That’s hardly “most”.

ALL 5s on 8 or more is very rare, even at TJ and the top privates, where 25% of the class has above 1500 and are in the 135+IQ range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is rare. The people whose kids did it don't give their kids enough credit. It is rare.

Now, people claiming their kids did it without showing the receipts -- common.

My daughter had 11 5’s. Went to TJ. 2400’on the SAT’s. Got in everywhere she applied except for Yale. Well rounded - cheerleader and on the state champion crew team.


I never hovered over her or even asked for her grades (I knew what they were). I think a handful of her friends did the same. I think it is largely a maturity issue. Once informed the AP courses were at the introductory level at a reasonably rigorous university, my guess is that she sized these exams up as very doable. Don’t get me wrong - as a relatively lazy parent I knew I was lucky to have a kid who did this well with very little effort on my part but in hindsight I had a bright kid who was unusually mature. Plenty of time for bright kids to catch up.

What was your daughter’s IQ? Probably over 150, right? She had a very rare cognitive profile. 99.99% of kids cannot achieve 11 5s.

Depends on which APs I suppose, but mine also had 11 5s, is at an ivy, was top of the class, and yes...tested off the charts on IQ, getting many sections 100% correct, with an estimate of 146 IQ or higher(the ceiling is about 145 so they cannot say accurately above that). There are students smarter than they are at the ivy, in the same very difficult stem major, and surely some in other majors. Kid is still easily in the top group, excels compared to peers though the margin is so much smaller than the stem magnet high school , and it is a relief to finally have them challenged by coursework, and have at least some peers who are pushing them. 5s on APs were not hard, however, with minimal prep. Many of the kid's peers got 5's on what are supposed to be hard AP's and yet really struggled to get at or above means on the next level math or science once in college. A reasonable assessment is that while 11 5s may be remarkable, a singular 5 on a specific test is a bit of a floor among most ivy kids, especially for calculus- BC and physics-C. The parents on the social media vent page are always surprised their kid got 5's and then struggles when others got a 5 and are doing well in the next level of the stem course. Some may be high school prep more in depth; the rest is varying natural intelligence as 99.9 is different from 98th, and someone has to be below average on the tests

[Anonymous]

How are AP scores reported on the application? I thought you send them after the application once you are accepted so you can get credit or gen ed waived?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is rare. The people whose kids did it don't give their kids enough credit. It is rare.

Now, people claiming their kids did it without showing the receipts -- common.

My daughter had 11 5’s. Went to TJ. 2400’on the SAT’s. Got in everywhere she applied except for Yale. Well rounded - cheerleader and on the state champion crew team.


I never hovered over her or even asked for her grades (I knew what they were). I think a handful of her friends did the same. I think it is largely a maturity issue. Once informed the AP courses were at the introductory level at a reasonably rigorous university, my guess is that she sized these exams up as very doable. Don’t get me wrong - as a relatively lazy parent I knew I was lucky to have a kid who did this well with very little effort on my part but in hindsight I had a bright kid who was unusually mature. Plenty of time for bright kids to catch up.

What was your daughter’s IQ? Probably over 150, right? She had a very rare cognitive profile. 99.99% of kids cannot achieve 11 5s.

Depends on which APs I suppose, but mine also had 11 5s, is at an ivy, was top of the class, and yes...tested off the charts on IQ, getting many sections 100% correct, with an estimate of 146 IQ or higher(the ceiling is about 145 so they cannot say accurately above that). There are students smarter than they are at the ivy, in the same very difficult stem major, and surely some in other majors. Kid is still easily in the top group, excels compared to peers though the margin is so much smaller than the stem magnet high school , and it is a relief to finally have them challenged by coursework, and have at least some peers who are pushing them. 5s on APs were not hard, however, with minimal prep. Many of the kid's peers got 5's on what are supposed to be hard AP's and yet really struggled to get at or above means on the next level math or science once in college. A reasonable assessment is that while 11 5s may be remarkable, a singular 5 on a specific test is a bit of a floor among most ivy kids, especially for calculus- BC and physics-C. The parents on the social media vent page are always surprised their kid got 5's and then struggles when others got a 5 and are doing well in the next level of the stem course. Some may be high school prep more in depth; the rest is varying natural intelligence as 99.9 is different from 98th, and someone has to be below average on the tests

what ivy is this?

it’s trivial but people don’t get that the difference between 99.9 and 99 is tremendous

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is rare. The people whose kids did it don't give their kids enough credit. It is rare.

Now, people claiming their kids did it without showing the receipts -- common.

My daughter had 11 5’s. Went to TJ. 2400’on the SAT’s. Got in everywhere she applied except for Yale. Well rounded - cheerleader and on the state champion crew team.


I never hovered over her or even asked for her grades (I knew what they were). I think a handful of her friends did the same. I think it is largely a maturity issue. Once informed the AP courses were at the introductory level at a reasonably rigorous university, my guess is that she sized these exams up as very doable. Don’t get me wrong - as a relatively lazy parent I knew I was lucky to have a kid who did this well with very little effort on my part but in hindsight I had a bright kid who was unusually mature. Plenty of time for bright kids to catch up.

so 30+ yrs ago?

grandma is clearly out of touch

I'm a mom of two HS seniors actually, not a grandma yet, but good to see agism is alive and well in DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:lots of kids from our HS only report 5s, not 4s. so it's a matter of having four 5s vs eight 5s

And they're not fooling anyone who looks at their transcript. In fact, it is better to report the 4, than have Admissions wondering what lower score they might be hiding. There is nothing wrong with a 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How are AP scores reported on the application? I thought you send them after the application once you are accepted so you can get credit or gen ed waived?

You can self report scores on the Common App and you can send score reports to all colleges you are applying to. We did both.