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Will a 3/3/4/4/5 Keep me out of HYPSColumbia??
powerbomb
3045 replies319 threads Senior Member
Okay, so I think I will end up with a 3,3,4,4,5 (if lucky, 3,4,4,5,5) on my AP exams - will these scores keep me out of said schools? I have heard that AP scores are used "only" for placement purposes, but I am disinclined to believe that...Given that all my other factors are great, 4.0+, 2250+,750+ on subject tests, etc...
Thanks.
25 repliesThanks.
Post edited by powerbomb on
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Replies to: Will a 3/3/4/4/5 Keep me out of HYPSColumbia??
In short, any adcom will give you the stock, politically-correct answer: we look at the WHOLE application, yada, yada, yada. The only thing you can do is apply. If Columbia is your #1, go ED. Good luck.
I guess another way to ask this is - has anybody seen an applicant with similar AP scores as mine get accepted to these schools?
However if "all my other factors" are simply scores as you've listed, then you have a problem.
well, I did say...
I wasn't going to make this into a chances thread...
Whoa nice! Did you report all of them? I'm just curious because so many people are dishonest and want to try and trick the adcoms, but you must have some other amazing activities.
AP is short for "Advanced Placement". The entire point of the test -- the reason it, and the courses, were designed -- was to give students the chance to earn college credit in regular high school courses taught by their high school teachers. It was not designed for admissions purposes and is generally not used by admissions committees for admissions purposes.
You don't even have to report your AP scores on the application. That's not being dishonest, and it's not "tricking" the adcoms. And scoring a 3 on the test and an A in the class doesn't necessarily mean you look inflated. Think about the way college courses are graded: it is entirely possible to get a C on the final exam and still pull a B or an A in the class. Likewise, it's also possible to get an A on the final and still get a C in the class. So it is with AP scores -- it's even MORE possible for a student to get an A in the class (which is an entire semester or year's worth of work) and still get a 3 on the test (which is a high-pressure event that only takes 3 hours tops). It doesn't make your A look any less deserved.
In addition to that, admissions committees look at your entire package. One small thing does not "keep you out" of anything. If you have a 4.0, near-perfect SAT scores, great SAT II scores, and the rest of your package is tight...do you think a school will decline you based on one 3 (especially when by the AP rubric a 3 means "qualified" as in "qualified to do higher-level college material in this area"?
Source: Acing the College Application
Bluebayou - you wouldn't consider my scores to be "horrible" so as to automatically keep me out of those schools, would you?