As you and your student likely know, taking multiple AP classes makes a college admissions application more appealing to admissions offices because it demonstrates a student’s college readiness. If your student is applying to selective universities, AP classes are all but required for applicants. Competitive candidates to these selective universities normally take between 7 and 12 AP courses throughout high school.
The quantity of courses, however, typically isn’t as important to admissions offices as how well your student did in the courses—i.e., it’s usually better to take one class and get an A+ in it rather than taking multiple and getting Bs in each. Knowing this, it’s incredibly important for your student to consider what their course load could look like throughout their high school career so they can create an optimal schedule that challenges them without being so overloaded that it’s difficult (or even impossible) to manage their classes’ expectations and perform well.
You might be wondering at this point: “But what about the score on the AP Exam itself? Do admissions offices even use them? Does the actual score matter at all in admissions decisions?” The short answer is: Yes, most admissions offices use them, but how they use them depends on the institution.
Some Universities Use AP Scores to Determine College Credit and Placement
Besides demonstrating college readiness, a key reason to take AP classes is to receive college credit as an incoming freshman. For many students, it’s the entire reason they’re taking AP classes—to avoid having to pay for far more expensive college courses!
While many universities—and state schools in particular—award college credits for taking AP exams, it’s important to note that each university determines what scores it will accept for credit. Many will give college credits for a 3, but more selective colleges—Emory, for example—may only accept a 4 or 5 for credit. Some will award more credit hours for a higher exam score, like Texas A&M and the University of Texas do. The exact letter grade that will appear on your student’s college transcript for that credit also varies between institutions.
Some selective institutions do not award college credit for AP exams, but that doesn’t mean they’re meaningless to those schools. Some departments at Amherst College, for example, allow students to forgo introductory coursework if they score well enough on an AP exam, which opens up opportunities to take more upper-level courses or participate in research hours later in their college careers.
Some Universities Use AP Scores as a Part of Their Holistic Review
As mentioned earlier, nearly every college will look favorably upon a student taking AP classes, but many also consider a student’s score as a part of their holistic review. Prestigious institutions like Princeton encourage students to submit every score they receive for a standardized test they’ve taken. While that might feel like the admissions office is playing an elaborate mind game on students, as with SAT and ACT scores, test scores are often used to boost a student’s chances of being accepted, but they are rarely the determining factor for who is admitted.
Some Universities Use AP Scores in place of SAT or ACT Scores
Before we go further, it’s important to acknowledge that the majority of universities do not accept AP test scores in place of SAT or ACT scores to fulfill a standardized testing requirement. Some schools allow AP scores to fulfill a standardized testing requirement, but only in exceptional cases, like Harvard does.
However, some schools—including exceptional ones like Yale—have “test flexible” policies, which allow students to submit AP (or IB) scores in place of an SAT or ACT score to satisfy their standardized testing requirement.
So, how do colleges use AP Exam Scores? As you have probably noticed, there are a tremendous number of caveats that come along with answering that question, and the complete answer is always dependent on the policies of each institution.
Keeping track of each university’s policies about AP scores can easily (and understandably) become overwhelming, but The Enrichery’s college admissions consultants can help your student keep track of those details, along with strategizing about how to use AP scores to their advantage on an application. If your student needs help completing their college applications or if they would like help with an AP class or exam, reach out to The Enrichery today to schedule a consultation!
