Anonymous wrote:My kid will get the distinction (and has nothing to put on the honors section…) but got two 3s which they will not report. Would it still be recommended to put the distinction down even when not reporting the scores?

Here's what DC did last year.. Listed the AP Honors with Distinction as an award and also listed those AP subjects with scores of 4 or 5 (in the AP section I believe).

I seem to remember my DC got an email with the certificate sometime over the summer before senior year. She got the AP Scholar with Distinction and listed it. No clue if it helped or not, but if have space for it might as well list it.

Anonymous wrote:My kid also has the scholar with distinction designation but has a low score on one test and a three on another so doesn’t want to list all the scores. From what we understand, colleges use AP scores for placement/credit, not for admissions decisions so we weren’t going to list all the scores but it seems like listing the “scholar with distinction” designation as an honor can’t hurt…

This varies by school. Many do use AP scores in admissions decisions. Some state clearly that they do not.

My kid also has the scholar with distinction designation but has a low score on one test and a three on another so doesn’t want to list all the scores. From what we understand, colleges use AP scores for placement/credit, not for admissions decisions so we weren’t going to list all the scores but it seems like listing the “scholar with distinction” designation as an honor can’t hurt…

Anonymous wrote:My kid will get the distinction (and has nothing to put on the honors section…) but got two 3s which they will not report. Would it still be recommended to put the distinction down even when not reporting the scores?

Same question!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid did not have many honors/awards, so yes, he put AP Scholar with Distinction AND NHS on his list.

Same here.. That's the only National Award my kid had, so on it went. I don't know what people are doing that they "don't have space" to put this.

This. My kids are both at Ivies and they put this down. "Not having space" is some weird flex. Ignore.

My kid will get the distinction (and has nothing to put on the honors section…) but got two 3s which they will not report. Would it still be recommended to put the distinction down even when not reporting the scores?

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad to know DC can use the distinction honor. I figured that it's national and based upon standardized tests, so it's a known quantity.

If you have room for it, I'd put it on. With so much grade inflation and "everyone takes APs" these days, the fact that your kid did well on the AP exams is meaningful.

As far as I know, nothing is actually "awarded" for AP scholar. My son was one at the end of his junior year and never received any type of of certificate or acknowledgement.

He just graduated high school, and I believe he put it on his college applications, but I can't remember for sure.
His sport had "senior night" and they ask each senior to make a list of any accomplishments (athletic or academic) that they announce that evening. He listed AP scholar for that.

Anonymous wrote:My kid did not have many honors/awards, so yes, he put AP Scholar with Distinction AND NHS on his list.

Same here.. That's the only National Award my kid had, so on it went. I don't know what people are doing that they "don't have space" to put this.

We're putting it on. My kid attends a private school that doesn't give awards of any type until graduation.

My kid did not have many honors/awards, so yes, he put AP Scholar with Distinction AND NHS on his list.

My daughter was an AP scholar after junior year but didn’t put it on her application. According to her counselor it’s even more common than NHS and therefore not worth taking up space.

You can put it on whenever you reach the award level. These aren’t very meaningful IMO, just the college board adding more dumb incentives to push kids to take more tests.

If you have them, sure. But you’re likely adding AP scores and there’s only so much room in the common app. You don’t need to say things 2x

Were you able to put that in college applications or does that not get awarded until after senior year? My DC will be taking more exams as a senior, but having just finished junior year would qualify for honors and/or distinction based on where they are right now.



AP Scholar Granted to students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams.

AP Scholar with Honor Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.

AP Scholar with Distinction Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams