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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]At the time a senior applies they will have 3 YEARS of grades and ECs, they will have test scores, letters of recommendations, and  essays. Let’s say they also have UW 4.0, a rigorous course load and 1550/35+  In holistic admissions, with all that information, why on earth would an admissions committee look at how student performed on a single exam they took in a couple of hours on a day they may or may not have been at their best and scored a 4 vs a 5 as indicative of anything meaningful that overrides all the other data.

Aside from contextual insight,  I don’t see how AP scores add much analytically (notwithstanding Yale’s text flexible approach) All the other info matters far more.

“This student is wonderful….but they got a 4 in APUSH when they were 14 or 15 years old…if only I didn’t see that score….sigh”.

I don’t see that happening.

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I can tell you why they look at it. For kids who have an A+ in AP Chemistry and then get a 2 on the AP Chem test - well, that puts the students entire transcript in doubt.  So would a 3.  Would a 4?  Yes, imo.

Now, an A- in AP Chem and a 4 on the test makes sense. And if the kid is applying to college as a History major, who cares anyway. But if they're applying pre-med and this is a T10 school - then the college will wonder what hope this kid has in Organic Chem, where half their A/5 kids struggle.

If the kid has a 1550/35+, why introduce any of this doubt?

If you're talking about a T50 school, then sure. [/quote]

My top private school kid got an A- (actually a 91.3) in AP Chem and scored a 4 on the exam. She's applying pre-med to a top 20 school, and will send her scores. She has a 35 ACT and 4.3 weighted GPA (they don't provide unweighted GPA in her school, and I don't want to calculate it right now. I have no doubt she has a very strong chance of admission to this school based on Scoir (which shows it at 40% admission rate). Not sending the score is more suspect than sending a 4. Like another poster indicated, the assumption would be that was a 3 or below.
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But what are her other scores? Sure, send the 4 when you have a string of 5s to go along with the lone 4. My kid has all 4s. It is a bit more nuanced in our situation. Send them all or send none? Our school says send them all, our private CCO says ONLY send 5s or maybe send a single 4 but only if not related to major and you have 3+ 5s to send along with the 4. At this point, not sure what to do. [/quote]

She has only taken 3 APs. The other two are 5 in Lang and 4 in Calc. She will send all of them. My older son only had 4s, sent them, and was admitted everywhere. [/quote]

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