3s should absolutely be reported. If you took the class but have no score, then admissions officers will assume a 1 or 2. The main exceptions are that you had financial hardships or were seriously ill.
To judge acheivement in specific content areas, admissions officers have:
class grades (subjective).
subject test scores.
AP scores.
olympiad recognition, literature or writing awards, national language exams, etc.
reccomendation letters (subjective).
I know someone who took AP Spanish Language and had this breakdown:
A / A
Spanish w/ Listening: 780
2
National Spanish Exam Gold
“best student…”
The low score will be viewed as an anomaly.
Someone I saw a while back who took AP Chemistry:
A+
680 (highest of two attempts)
3
(different teachers)
While a 3 is still passing, the moderate AP and SAT II scores suggest some degree of grade inflation.
This issue concerned me as well, because watching those well-publicized videos of the Stanford Ad-Com indicated that even one 4 among the rest 5s, could lead to raised eyebrows (simply because of comparison and “missing tile syndrome” - where your eye is drawn to the one wrong thing).
This probably won’t really answer your question, but I’ll put it out there anyway. For neuro, at least, psych really isn’t all that relevant. Chemistry (specifically biochem) and biology are really at the heart of that discipline. Sure, one of the end results is to help explain behavior (psychology). But people doing neuro research are concerned with discovering in detail how the brain works at a molecular level. They don’t really have to know if what they are seeing and explaining has any real world impact on behavior or is an artifact of evolution and no longer manifests itself in some kind of outcome. Much like molecular geneticists long ago discovered and continue to discover many dormant or discarded genes that apparently at one time were active and had some kind of purpose to survival.
Another example: it is a bit like someone that understands at the quantum level what is going on that explains the properties of polymers. It is nice if they also understand at a macro level how this results in properties that concern a materials engineer, but they don’t have to at all. They are more interested in the pure science and often let others worry about how that translates into “real-world” discoveries. Interestingly, this is why more and more these days the hard sciences are being housed with the engineers, so that there is more cross-pollination between theory, micro discoveries, and macro applications. Also the way I have described it is with brighter lines than currently tend to exist. The bleed over in knowledge is greater all the time, not insignificantly because of the breaking down of these walls between the “pure” sciences and application driven science.
Now that is all well and good, but whether admissions people understand all that is another matter. Which is why I say it really doesn’t answer your question. But to whatever extent that might help in an interview or something, unlikely though that may be, there you have it.
I’m having trouble understanding whether or not 3’s should be reported. I know if they are not reported, they might assume you got a one or two, but then again 3’s on more than one AP exam will make AO’s question the true rigor of the course. Which one looks worse?
I have seen posts over the last 2 admission cycles where colleges have asked to see AP scores when the student didn’t self report them. I am pretty sure there was a Yale post this year.
That’s different. AO’s can (and do) contact the GC (or the student) about any of a number of things regarding the application, including AP scores not being reported where a class appears on the transcript. Yale does not require AP scores to be reported. Personally, I am not aware of any college in the US that requires the score to be reported, although I am sure there are some.
Likewise, I haven’t personally encountered a domestic college that requires AP scores from all applicants for admission purposes. However, there are “test flexible” schools that demand AP test results from students who refuse to send SAT or ACT scores … or from those who didn’t take the SAT or ACT at all. So that doesn’t really count as an AP “requirement” since the students do have choices.
But, as suggested by @skieurope, there are times when admission officials need additional information and may contact the high school counselor to get it. This additional information might include AP results, although I bet that this happens infrequently.
Also beware of transcripts: Students may THINK that they are withholding AP exam scores but the high school may put the scores (along with SAT and ACT scores) right on the transcript that the colleges will see. This practice seems to be decreasing, as privacy concerns escalate, but it’s still wise to find out exactly what colleges will don the transcript. (I’ve even seen transcripts that list all the colleges to which other transcripts have been sent … talk about a privacy violation!). #-o
How bad will a 2 on one AP exam (physics 1) affect my chances for top 20ish schools, given that it was the first year of the test and over 60% of kids were in the 1-2 range. My other 4 scores are all 4’s. Will a 700+ subject test score likely draw attention away from the 2?
If I’m not mistaken, this is a change from the past, when I think they instructed you to self report the scores. You really have to look at the application and instructions for each college for the year you are applying.
Do colleges take in to account the grade level at which a student took a certain AP test? For example, is there a difference between getting a 5 in AP Calculus BC as a sophomore versus as a junior?
@Sally_Rubenstone Hi, about what you said about the “non-binding” major on college apps, do you recommend tailoring a college app to highlight your strengths of a specific major (such as the arts), but really in the future you plan to major in something else? Because I currently have really strong test scores, extracurriculars, and interests in the arts and humanities field, but I want to major in a science (even though I’m weak in math and science in my test scores). Should I put down an art/humanity major to make my app look whole, or will having an arts background and choosing a science major make me seem really ambiguous during the selection process?
Not from what I can tell. Mostly As and some Bs doesn't send off any red flags, and I doubt any AO will assume grade deflation based on these stats.
AP Scores are really just a tie breaker and for anything less than the top schools, I'd say their impact is negligible. Your SATs and GPA mean way more from an academic perspective. The 5s should get you out of some classes though, especially at a T2 school, so that may help you.
@Ksty1098 - sorry for the delay, did not have the computer handy - one of the videos appears here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96XL8vBBB7o
…and there is a series of them. I don’t remember exactly which one made me think, “missing tile syndrome” now, but it was one of those!
I thought AP scores carry little to no weight in college admission in general?
Yes, 2 or 1 in AP test look unfavorable, but is it harmful enough to be a deal breaker?
Perhaps it’s semantics, but no, scores need to be cancelled by June 15th of the year in which you took the exam and the exam is never scored. You can, however, withhold scores from the score report for a fee.
@skieurope -You can withold scores from a score report for a fee?
I didn’t know that, but this is a new low for the US admissions process in my view. I haven’t lived in the US for a while, so I’m not sure what people think of this arrangement. Is this considered normal? Does anyone care to make the case that this is any different from blackmail?
It’s also completely against most colleges’ stated goal to maximize opportunity for those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. You can’t say you look to give low-income applicants all the help you can, and then turn around and condone the College Board’s decision to send low AP scores only for those students who can’t afford to pay the CB what is essentially hush money. The SAT essay was introduced mostly at the urging of several big college systems (e.g. the UCs), so we know that when colleges demand change to the College Board’s policies and testing, the CB will toe the line. That they haven’t done so yet shows how much they really care about giving the disadvantaged a fair shake.
I think most people know the College Board is glad to charge extortionate fees for testing, for its blue books, and all the rest. And that’s their prerogative-people will continue taking the SAT or ACT for as long as most top colleges require standardized test results. The SAT is still the same for everyone taking it. Any student who wants to can cancel a score on test day. But if they want to cancel a bad score after receiving it, they’re out of luck. Letting students cancel AP scores selectively, and tethering this service to an additional fee, crosses the line from duopolistic pricing to outright bribery and hurts those applicants who can least afford another strike against them.