XCisforME

Okay, so I bombed my AP tests... not that big of a deal right? I'm not so sure about that anymore. This year the common app added a self reporting section for AP/IB exam scores. Do you think it is best to leave this section blank, post my 2 and 1, or post my 2 and 1 with an explanation for why I received the 1 (I had a substitute the entire course and didn't learn anything.)

dchow08

If you do put your 1, don't come up with some reason and put it there.

XCisforME

I'm just worried admissions councilors will wonder wth is up if they see AP courses but no grades, however a 1 and 2 won't exactly look pretty either. Just wondering which is the better option

azngod1992

No grade > 1 or 2 IMO

XCisforME

but will it look fishy to leave the section blank when they know i took AP courses?

Hamman

nope, do not put that 1
your substitute explanation is nowhere near enough to explain why you couldn't study by yourself and do marginally well on the test
the only way you could explain the 1 IMO is that you weren't in class the whole school year because of a catastrophic illness or accident
other than that, don't bother explaining the grade, just omit it from the application. It looks less suspicious when you don't have the grade (they assume you didn't sign up for the test) than when you have a 1 (they will question not only that class but every single one of your class for grade inflation)

XCisforME

good point Hamman. Thanks a lot! Should I self-report the 2(it was in AP Lang+comp if it makes a difference)

XCisforME

bump .

northeastmom

3 years ago my son scored a 1 on an AP test. Frankly, nobody who was in the same class scored higher than a 2. I was concerned about this so I called my kid's GC. The GC said that you do not need to report it. Also none of the schools my son was applying to considered AP scores as factors for admission (only for placement once admitted). Our hs does not put AP scores on the hs transript, but some high schools do, so you might want to check this. My son got into 10 schools without giving an AP score (he had taken only one AP class since few are offered and they are tough to get into, but he did have some honors classes) and one dual enrollment class for which he got 3 college credits. Hope this helps you.

dchow08

That's great, but you never know what would happen if your son actually put the scores down.

northeastmom

No, but this wasn't an experiment in finding out. This was about my kid's college admission. What would be the point in putting down the lowest score possible? BTW, it wasn't asked on the common app at that time, only on some individual apps, if I remember correctly.

dchow08

Yeah. I don't actually think that putting down that you got a 1 will hurt your chances of admission, because the purpose of the AP exams is for credit, not admission. By the way, colleges are really trying to look for reasons to accept you, not necessarily to reject you. I mean, I kind of doubt that the colleges will say, "Look! This kid got a 1 on the AP test. That's bad." I think they're more likely to do that with the SAT's, but even then I think they mainly use SAT's as a guide and not so much as a determining factor. Like, they might rate you on how good your SAT score is and on various factors, then add up the points. I think that's how they do it at some highly selective schools. That's what I've read.

northeastmom

You can ask or look up if AP scores are part of the criteria in determining admission at a particular school. At the schools my son applied to they were not used to decide admission/rejection. They were only used for credit and/or placement after admission.