Hi, I am a student from New Jersey and I got a 2 on the AP Physics 1 exam with 4s on AP Biology, AP US, AP World and 5s on AP Psych and AP Language. Is this going to affect my admissions into Ivy League schools or BS/MD programs? I’m looking into the programs at Brown, Lehigh, GW, and University of Rochester.
I can’t speak for BS/MD programs since I lack familiarity with that process, but generally, AP scores carry little to no weight in the admissions process; they are used mainly for placement. I do think that colleges will judge AP Physics 1 performance less harshly given the 63% failure rate on the exam.
I don’t know about AP scores carrying little to no weight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSRxfV5aphw
For most schools, the grade you received during the year is more important than the AP score. You don’t necessarily have to send in every score you received if you don’t want to. Might want to check with each college to make sure. Best of luck!
Thanks @skieurope can i ask where you got your information from? Thanks for being so helpful!
Thank you! Do you think not sending the score would hurt my chances?
Unless they ask for all the scores, I don’t see how withholding will hurt your chances.
If adcoms see you have taken the AP class on your transcript yet you have not provided the corresponding exam score it’s a bit sketchy.
It may SEEM sketchy but as said before, AP scores barely affect admissions. They matter more for credit. Look at it like this. If you took Bio and only got a 3 (and a 3 doesn’t get any credit from that university), why send the score?
When you mean by BS/MD programs, you mean things like Brown PLME? Honestly, dont worry about the AP scores. What matters a lot more is the grade.
According to my guidance counselor it may look weird if you have an A in the class and you recieve a 2 in the class because it is going to call the difficulty of the class into question. However, with such a high fail rate for AP Physics 1, most colleges won’t care much. Plus, one bad AP score isn’t going to have a major effect if everything else is strong. I know that anecdotal evidence isn’t great because it is only one case, but Ivy League schools can still accept you if you had a C or failed a class. I went to school with a kid who failed World Literature and had a C in American Literature that was still accepted into Brown. He was Asian as well if you are one of those people that believe it was because of Affirmative Action or something like that… The point of the story is you can make small mistakes and still have a really good chance(well as good as anyone can have of course…the admission processes are normally crapshoots) at those upper tier and elite schools.
Yes @cherrybomb876 Brown PLME is my dream school, do you have any experience with it?
Thank you so much @gtownhopeful2016
@faith4ever17820 well not really… but Brown PLME is also my dream school lmao but im a class of 2017 so lol. As for brown plme, my friend got into PLME which i am super shocked she didnt even have a 3.8 UW and didnt even score a 30 on the ACT. Not to mention she didnt even take the hardest course load… and her ECs are pretty average (shes in 7 different clubs but shes only has a leadership role in 1 of them). anyways just to show you that everything is a crapshoot, but im srs still confused to this day how Brown accepted her to not only Brown but also to the PLME.
@faith4ever17820
http://www.totalregistration.net/AP-Exam-Registration-Service/2015-AP-Exam-Score-Distributions.php
If your class appears on your transcript as AP, I’d recommend reporting your score, particularly since you did pass. Withholding scores may cause the AO to assume that:
• Financial hardship prevented you from taking the exam
• You were not motivated enough to take the exam
• You took the exam and performed poorly (1 or 2)
The first one will not affect your application; the last 2 may raise an eyebrow. AO’s can, and have, contacted GC’s to explain why there are no AP scores reported on the application.
If your transcript says AP, it may seem a bit odd to not report your score. But, like everyone said, I don’t think colleges look way too much into AP scores. I’m not an expert or anything, but that’s just based on what I’ve read around the web and heard from others. Plus, did you see that score distribution? That test had a 60+% fail rate. 4% of test-takers got 5s. You did well on your other tests, I don’t think this will hold much weight. By withholding the score, Admissions will probably assume you failed anyways. Better to have them know you got a 2 than wonder if you got a 1. Just IMO. Wouldn’t worry about it too much.
@skieurope Couldn’t the OP simply report that he/she is an AP scholar, rather than list all of the individual AP scores? Would that be an acceptable alternative?
Here’s what the “Ask the Dean” column here on CC said and this subject and the answer is that a low AP score may well affect your admissions chances at the Ivies.
http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/low-ap-scores-elite-college-deal-breaker/