200 Top Colleges Receiving AP Scores

Papa_Chicken · November 26, 2007, 9:46am

here’s the list of 200 sorted by #APs per student

<ol>
<li> Dartmouth College 3.09 </li>
<li> University of Pennsylvania 3.07 </li>
<li> Tufts University 3.00 </li>
<li> Cornell University 2.97 </li>
<li> Princeton University 2.90 </li>
<li> Carnegie Mellon University 2.87 </li>
<li> University of Virginia 2.85 </li>
<li> Washington University - St. Louis 2.81 </li>
<li> Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2.79

<ol>
<li> Johns Hopkins University 2.78 </li>
<li> The College of William and Mary 2.77 </li>
<li> Georgetown University 2.74 </li>
<li> Northwestern University 2.73 </li>
<li> Duke University 2.72 </li>
<li> Brown University 2.72 </li>
<li> Yale University 2.70 </li>
<li> University of California - Berkeley 2.70 </li>
<li> Rice University 2.70 </li>
<li> University of Chicago 2.69 </li>
<li> University of Rochester 2.66 </li>
<li> Columbia University - Columbia College 2.66 </li>
<li> Vanderbilt University 2.64 </li>
<li> Boston College 2.63 </li>
<li> University of Notre Dame 2.62 </li>
<li> Emory University 2.61 </li>
<li> Tulane University 2.60 </li>
<li> Wake Forest University 2.57 </li>
<li> Stanford University 2.56 </li>
<li> Case Western Reserve University 2.55 </li>
<li> George Washington University 2.55 </li>
<li> Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 2.51 </li>
<li> University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill 2.50 </li>
<li> Harvard University 2.49 </li>
<li> University of California - San Diego 2.48 </li>
<li> University of Texas - Dallas 2.48 </li>
<li> Lehigh University 2.46 </li>
<li> University of California - Los Angeles 2.44 </li>
<li> Trinity University 2.43 </li>
<li> McGill University 2.43 </li>
<li> American University 2.42 </li>
<li> Bucknell University 2.41 </li>
<li> Villanova University 2.40 </li>
<li> University of Florida 2.39 </li>
<li> SUNY - Geneseo 2.39 </li>
<li> Georgia Tech 2.39 </li>
<li> University of California - Irvine 2.39 </li>
<li> University of Mary Washington 2.39 </li>
<li> University of Maryland 2.37 </li>
<li> Furman University 2.35 </li>
<li> University of Southern California 2.33 </li>
</ol></li>
<li> Boston University 2.32 </li>
<li> University of Texas - Austin 2.31 </li>
<li> New York University 2.31 </li>
<li> SUNY Brighamton 2.31 </li>
<li> University of Maryland - Baltimore County 2.26 </li>
<li> Virginia Polytechnic Institute 2.26 </li>
<li> University of Illinois - Urbana 2.24 </li>
<li> University of Michigan - Ann Arbor 2.23 </li>
<li> Southern Methodist University 2.21 </li>
<li> University of California - Davis 2.21 </li>
<li> University of California - Santa Barbara 2.19 </li>
<li> Texas A&M University - College Station 2.16 </li>
<li> Colorado School Mines 2.13 </li>
<li> Santa Clara University 2.13 </li>
<li> University of Miami 2.12 </li>
<li> University of North Florida 2.10 </li>
<li> The College of New Jersey 2.10 </li>
<li> United States Naval Academy 2.09 </li>
<li> United States Military Academy 2.08 </li>
<li> SUNY - Stony Brook 2.08 </li>
<li> Fordham University 2.08 </li>
<li> Northeastern University 2.07 </li>
<li> University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh 2.07 </li>
<li> University of Delaware 2.06 </li>
<li> California Poly State University 2.06 </li>
<li> University of Wisconsin - Madison 2.05 </li>
<li> University of Texas - Arlington 2.05 </li>
<li> Elon College 2.05 </li>
<li> University of California - Santa Cruz 2.04 </li>
<li> Loyola Marymount University 2.04 </li>
<li> Florida State University 2.04 </li>
<li> St. Louis University 2.03 </li>
<li> University of California - Riverside 2.02 </li>
<li> James Madison University 2.01 </li>
<li> Texas Christian University 2.01 </li>
<li> Baylor University 2.01 </li>
<li> University of Central Florida 2.01 </li>
<li> Loyola University - Chicago 2.00 </li>
<li> University of Oklahoma 2.00 </li>
<li> Drexel University 2.00 </li>
<li> Syracuse University 1.97 </li>
<li> Pepperdine University 1.97 </li>
<li> United States Air Force Academy 1.97 </li>
<li> Florida International University 1.96 </li>
<li> University of Washington 1.96 </li>
<li> Clemson University 1.95 </li>
<li> Rutgers University - Rutgers College 1.94 </li>
<li> University of Houston - University Park 1.93 </li>
<li> North Carolina State University - Raleigh 1.93

<ol>
<li> University of Georgia - Athens 1.92 </li>
<li> George Mason University 1.91 </li>
<li> University of Colorado - Boulder 1.91 </li>
<li> Rochester Institute of Technology 1.90 </li>
<li> Brigham Young University - UT 1.90 </li>
<li> University of Minnesota - Twin Cities 1.90 </li>
<li> Purdue University - West Lafayette 1.90 </li>
<li> Marquette University 1.89 </li>
<li> University of North Texas 1.89 </li>
<li> University of Denver 1.89 </li>
<li> University of Connecticut 1.88 </li>
<li> Ithaca College 1.88 </li>
<li> University of South Carolina 1.87 </li>
<li> Indiana University 1.87 </li>
<li> University of Arizona 1.87 </li>
<li> Christopher Newport University 1.87 </li>
<li> University at Buffalo 1.87 </li>
<li> California State Polytechnic Univ. - Pomona 1.86 </li>
<li> University of Dayton 1.85 </li>
<li> Ohio State University 1.85 </li>
<li> Miami University - Oxford 1.85 </li>
<li> University of Illinois - Chicago 1.84 </li>
<li> University of South Florida 1.83 </li>
<li> University of San Diego 1.82 </li>
<li> College of Charleston 1.82 </li>
<li> Texas Tech University 1.81 </li>
<li> Virginia Commonwealth University 1.81 </li>
<li> Pennsylvania State University 1.81 </li>
<li> University of Alabama 1.81 </li>
<li> University of Nevada - Reno 1.81 </li>
<li> University of Texas - San Antonio 1.80 </li>
<li> University of Arkansas - Fayetteville 1.80 </li>
<li> DePaul University 1.79 </li>
<li> University of Vermont 1.79 </li>
<li> University of British Columbia 1.79 </li>
<li> Oklahoma State University 1.76 </li>
<li> St. John’s University - Jamaica 1.76 </li>
<li> University of Utah 1.76 </li>
<li> University of Massachusetts - Amherst 1.76 </li>
<li> University of Missouri - Columbia 1.75 </li>
<li> Towson University 1.75 </li>
<li> San Diego State University 1.75 </li>
<li> California State University - Long Beach 1.75 </li>
<li> Arizona State University 1.75 </li>
<li> Appalachian State University 1.73 </li>
<li> University of Louisville 1.73 </li>
<li> University of Cincinnati 1.73 </li>
<li> Florida Atlantic University 1.73 </li>
<li> University of San Francisco 1.73 </li>
<li> Auburn University 1.73 </li>
<li> University of Nebraska - Lincoln 1.73 </li>
<li> University of Texas - El Paso 1.73 </li>
<li> University of North Carolina - Wilmington 1.72 </li>
<li> Texas State University - San Marcos 1.72 </li>
<li> University of Iowa 1.71 </li>
<li> University of North Carolina - Charlotte 1.70 </li>
<li> Sam Houston State University 1.70 </li>
<li> University of Nevada - Los Angeles 1.70 </li>
<li> University of Oregon 1.70 </li>
<li> University of Tennessee - Knoxville 1.70 </li>
<li> Colorado State University 1.68 </li>
<li> University of North Carolina - Greensboro 1.68 </li>
<li> Western Washington University 1.68 </li>
<li> Georgia State University 1.68 </li>
<li> Iowa State University 1.67 </li>
<li> University of Kentucky 1.67 </li>
<li> Northern Arizona University 1.66 </li>
<li> Old Dominion University 1.66 </li>
<li> University of Central Arkansas 1.65 </li>
<li> Michigan State University 1.65 </li>
<li> San Francisco State University 1.64 </li>
<li> California State University - Fresno 1.64 </li>
<li> University of New Mexico 1.63 </li>
<li> California State University 1.63 </li>
<li> University of Hawaii - Manoa 1.63 </li>
<li> Washington State University 1.62 </li>
<li> California State University - Northridge 1.61 </li>
<li> Mississippi State University 1.61 </li>
<li> West Virginia University 1.61 </li>
<li> University of Kansas 1.60 </li>
<li> Utah State University 1.60 </li>
<li> Savannah College of Art & Design 1.60 </li>
<li> University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire 1.59 </li>
<li> California State University - Los Angeles 1.59 </li>
<li> Oregon State University 1.58 </li>
<li> University of New Hampshire 1.58 </li>
<li> Temple University 1.58 </li>
<li> Georgia Southern University 1.57 </li>
<li> Howard University 1.55 </li>
<li> San Jose State University 1.54 </li>
<li> Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge 1.54 </li>
<li> Ball State University 1.53 </li>
<li> University of Wisconsin - La Crosse 1.53 </li>
<li> University of Texas - Pan American 1.53 </li>
<li> East Carolina University 1.52 </li>
<li> Ohio University 1.52 </li>
<li> Brigham Young University - Idaho 1.52 </li>
<li> Arkansas State University 1.50 </li>
<li> Grand Valley State University 1.48 </li>
<li> University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee 1.47 </li>
<li> Central Michigan University 1.39</li>
</ol></li>
</ol>

marite · November 26, 2007, 9:50am

An interesting variable:
The number of international students and the number of students submitting IBs.
Harvard has around 8-10% internationals (who would thus not submit APs) and an unknown number of students submitting IB scores.

newmassdad · November 26, 2007, 10:15am

PC, I believe your list is actually number of ap exams per student who reported, no? To have exams per student, you would need to factor in the percent of students at that college who reported AP scores. I do not think your data does that.

In fact, just looking at the top 5 (too much work to look at more) from your list, I calculated the following number of tests per enrolled freshman:

<ol>
<li>Dartmouth College 2.34</li>
<li>University of Pennsylvania 2.05</li>
<li>Tufts University 2.51</li>
<li>Cornell University 2.24</li>
<li>Princeton University 3.09 </li>
</ol>

The number for Princeton is curious, as it is higher than the list in post 41. Princeton has 1224 freshman, according to their website, yet 1307 reported scores.

And this leads back to the point I made earlier: This data is rather meaningless in and of itself.

tokenadult · November 26, 2007, 10:21am

The data mean 1307 students reported scores to Princeton, whether or not they matriculated there.

To Marite: some international schools do offer AP scores and AP tests.

mathmom · November 26, 2007, 10:23am

Carnegie Mellon offered my son tons of credit for his APs. (Generally full year for 5s and a semester for 4s, nothing for lower scores.) They wanted official score report to grant credit. He’s placed into more advanced classes for some and gotten out of distribution requirements for others. I think he could probably graduate early, but he might also stay and get a Masters. No need to decide right away.

I do think it’s interesting how many students must be matriculating without any or very few APs for the numbers to be so low at top colleges. However I think it’s also possible that if students don’t have sufficiently high scores they might not report them. Threes and fours aren’t good enough at many places. I know Harvard now only gives credits for fives - so there would be no point in reporting if you didn’t have any fives.

Papa_Chicken · November 26, 2007, 10:40am

newsmassdad-- yes, I simply took # of APs reported divided by # of students who reported them…so that listing does NOT measure APs per freshman student.

tokenadult · November 26, 2007, 10:41am

Yes, that might be another issue. Marite’s point, which she expressed better than I, is that a Harvard student who has no interest in electing advanced standing has little interest in OFFICIALLY reporting AP scores to Harvard. Your point, with which I also agree, is that a student who took AP tests and got scores of 3 and 4–eligible for college credit at many colleges–would have no particular incentive to officially report those scores to Harvard, since they wouldn’t fit Harvard’s advanced standing rules at all. But I suspect that a substantial majority of students admitted to Harvard have some decent AP scores in hand before applying, whether they officially report those or not.

marite · November 26, 2007, 10:46am

Tokenadult:

I know some international schools do, and, of course, some foreign schools offer IBs. But the higher the proportion of internationals, the lower the chances of their submitting APs.

originaloog · November 26, 2007, 1:06pm

It is difficult to precisely interpret the AP reporting data. But it does validate our hs’s policy in limiting the number of AP courses that students are normally permitted to take. With very few exceptions, the most AP courses that they can take during jr/sr yrs is 6 total and most student in the top decile do take that max number but the drop off is fairly significant after that.

mammall · November 26, 2007, 1:12pm

" . . . but the drop off is fairly significant after that"

We notice that, too. Our hs does not limit number of AP’s students can take but there has been some talk about it. Can’t say I’d mind if they institute some sort of limit so that D2 doesn’t feel so pressured to take so many.

newmassdad · November 26, 2007, 1:12pm

originaloog,

You lost me. How does this data validate your HS’s restrictive policy? why does the HS even care?

midmo · November 26, 2007, 1:16pm

^^^My question exactly. My son entered his public hs from a more challenging school, so he was ahead of the curriculum in a couple of fields. He took 3 AP courses his sophomore year and six his junior year. He had plenty of time for other activities, many many other activities. He enjoyed school, got great grades. Was it for everyone? Of course not. It certainly would not work for my current 10th grader. But why deny the opportunity for those who can handle more and want to handle more?

carolyn · November 26, 2007, 2:22pm

Marite,
While the young man you mentioned is certainly amazing, I think it is also important to remind students (and parents) that you don’t HAVE to take 20+ AP classes, or even 8 or 10, to get into a very good college.

I certainly don’t have a problem at all with kids who want and need more challenge loading up on AP courses. Bright and talented kids should be encouraged to challenge themselves. Unfortunately, I also often talk to kids who feel they have no choice about taking on large numbers of AP courses regardless of their desire, ability to handle them, or interest – and then they suffer the the stress and self-doubt that occurs when they discover they are in over their heads.

AP courses are NOT a pre-requisite for college admissions, but we often seem to imply that they are: No AP, no college for you. Only one or two APs? Too bad, you’re doomed to community college because you’re obviously a slacker. That’s really not true at all - there are plenty of good solid colleges that take kids without a single AP course. Again, not suggesting that kids who want and need more challenge shouldn’t take as many as they can handle, but somehow we have turned this into a sort of AP arms-race for everybody, regardless of their readiness for AP, and I think that negates the real purpose of AP, which is to give kids who are READY for college-level work a chance to do so.

In any case, the message needs to be repeated more often that the number of AP courses any particular student should take is a matter of individual ability and choice, not a mandate set by any college gatekeeper in the land. But then, if I ruled the world, it would be a much better place. :)

marite · November 26, 2007, 2:33pm

Oh, I agree. The story illustrates, though, how averages can be skewed. In order to reach an average of 3.7 APs per student, up to six students would have to be admitted without APs. But, I also suspect that 1. students who got only 3s and 4s. did not submit their scores to Harvard. 2. students who were confident that they would not want Advanced Standing did not submit their scores. This would hold as well for Harvard’s peer institutions.
Finally, there is little point in submitting scores to LACs that do no grant Advanced Standing and limit the number of credits to 2, unless it is to place out of certain courses.

notre_dame_AL · November 26, 2007, 10:02pm

From son’s perspective and GC advice, the number oF AP’s you have when applying to colleges, can only help-not hurt you. GC advice was that even if you did not have any APs, you would still be considered for admission to colleges, in other words, you would not be denied admissions based on how many APs you had attained. Son had AP credit, which was sent to colleges. However, he ended up only using 1 or 2 credits (Eng major-did not want to be bumped up into a soph class; he wanted the solid foundation in Math, Chem, etc.). And, we later found out that it really was of no use to have sent the scores separately as part of the admissions process–he still had to re-send the scores to the college he ended up attending. (They told him that they received reels of tape with scores for possible admits–they needed verification when he was actually enrolled and ready to use the credit!). So, I guess that we learned that AP credit is helpful, but not to the extent that one take 8 or 10 AP tests for credit. Colleges do not seem to be admitting students on AP credit. It appears that grades (GPA) and test scores are the first check for being considered.

I would suggest that students carefully consider which AP tests to take. If you are an eng major for example, you might want to take the AP tests for composition (1st yr), history or philosophy and the Math or Science. You will find that not having to take that First Year Composition or History will make your freshman and soph years a little easier if the college accepts the credit/if it is required at your school.

imdamom · November 27, 2007, 8:03am

In Florida, public school students who take AP classes are required to take the tests so they have no choice except in deciding whether or not to enroll in the course itself. The state pays for exams for students enrolled in the course. This is all based on economic policy and has been studied extensively. For links to the studies, some of which also give the policies of other states click here. [Florida</a> Monitor: Acceleration Programs](<a href=“http://www.oppaga.state.fl.us/profiles/2028/]Florida”>http://www.oppaga.state.fl.us/profiles/2028/)

In addition, students whose schools are on the Newsweek list are sometimes, if not often, encouraged to take additional AP courses/tests to bump their schools rankings. The impact of this on the pass rate, of course, depends on whether or not they are high performers.

originaloog · November 27, 2007, 8:30am

newsmassdad, the district has a restrictive AP policy for several reasons. Primarily, they insist that they be taught at a very high collegiate level and feel it is not possible for students to take more than 3 AP’s in addition to the 3 other courses taken, which in most cases will be honors level. Secondly, given the high AP course syllabi expectations, taking more than three/yr(in addition to the other curriculum reqts) would place too much stress on its students and create an overly competetive atmosphere.

HS is quite different than college and our district recognizes that. Most of the high achieving students do not have an opportunity to begin homework assignments until 5 or 6 pm. To expect them to complete hw assignments for more than 3 rigorous AP classes + 3 other academic classes is not a reasonable expectation.

The reason I noted that the OP data validated our district policy is that even at the most selective universities, taking a total of 6 AP classes seem to make our students competetive with other applicants.

Finally, I have always questioned the rigor of AP courses in districts that permit students to take 5 or 6 at a time. This would be a physical impossibility in our district because the students would be asked to put in about 17 hr days every day during the school week, ie getting to school at 8am and doing hw after dinner from 6pm to 1am. That is not sustainable over the course of an entire school year IMHO.

newmassdad · November 27, 2007, 9:04am

OO,

Thanks for the explanation of the policy. I am aware of other districts that are as rigorous as yours, and quite successfull in AP exam performance, as shown by the test scores (yes, I saw the school report my D’s senior year - almost all 4 & 5. In fact, in AP Bio, 92% were 5s). Yet, they see no need for such a restrictive policy, as the situation is self correcting.

I guess the issue is one of approach. It sounds like your school district treats these courses like a high school course, with lots of tedious homework, no doubt graded and such. Not all districts approach it this way.

Each community is unique, though, and it is nice to learn how other school districts approach APs. Some encourage everyone to take APs (the Jay Matthews/Newsweek approach). Some control who can take them through teacher recs. Some, like yours, limit the total number. Some, like my D’s, let anyone take them, but weed out a lot the first few weeks. They offer drop down opportunities, though so no one gets hurt in the process.

Interesting!

originaloog · November 27, 2007, 10:34am

Newsmassdad, nice shot. In case you had not heard, most rigorous colleges expect 1-2 hrs prep time for every 1 class hr. Yep, I guess HYP offer merely glorified hs courses.

I will give you a few examples of why our district generally limits AP courses taken because of workload. AP USHistory assigned two primary texts, two supplemental reading compilations consisting of academic essays. In addition students were required to read five addition books from a reading list of historical nonfiction/fiction, one of which was assigned summer reading. This allowed students to concentrate on one era of US history if they desired. Finally there was a capstone research paper which encouraged students to use original source material. Our son researched county census and church burial records to estimate trends in the AA population during the post Civil War era.

AP Calc I will give you a few of comments his students made about him.

My inspiration for becoming a math teacher. Has high expectations for all of his students, and won’t let you take the easy out.

I still remember *****! Such a great teacher and prepared me for life. If you do pass his class your ready for life! YOUR THE BEST!!!

Way cool teacher. I’m proud to get a C in his class! If only other teachers would push us like he does. He’s inspired me to consider becoming a math teacher.

How about 100 times, **** was the best teacher i had in h.s., prepped me for more than just college calc

I will probably never have a math teacher as good as *****. If you survive his class, you’re good for life.

Wouldn’t coddle or babysit students, but demanded they put forth effort and tried to learn.

It takes a little to get used to him, but i passed my calc ap exam after nearly failing the class - he went so far into the material, the ap exam was easier!

Our son could echo these comments. He got a final grade of 83 in his AP Calc class, a 5 on the AP exam and a 3.75 gpa in the 4 math courses he took in college.

Following the AP exam in May this teacher began units in linear algebra and instead of teaching himself, he assigned each student a class to teach so that they had to learn the material on their own. BTW, that 83 was a higher than average grade in the class.

rodney · November 27, 2007, 11:12am

original: Your AP’s sound much more like ours than most of the posts on CC…My d will graduate with 5, including an AP Calc that only has 18 students in the class (from a graduating class of over 300 students)…AP here is taken AFTER you have taken the honors designation in the course, not instead of, therefore, with a few exceptions, you cannot take umpteen AP courses before you graduate, due to the stringent requirements…Some students do attempt placing out of the prerequisites by taking them in the summer; most students, however, have normal lives and normal summer experiences making that impossible…

200 Top Colleges Receiving AP Scores

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