Colleges require applicants to send SAT Reasoning and Subject scores through CB directly and self report their AP Exam scores when applicants apply for colleges. During the holistic review, both SAT scores and AP Exam scores are evaluated.
It seems to me that the number of AP exams and their scores play as same important role as SAT scores. I do not understand why colleges treat SAT and AP scores differently. Is AP score less important than SAT score? Having self report AP exam scores give errors chances which could effect Admission Officers’ evaluation.
AP scores are not used for admission purposes. They are used for college course credit. The colleges will get the final AP scores in July from CB, so if they were misrepresented on the application they will be noted and no credit will be given.
Colleges also realize that (1) not all students have access to AP courses; (2) not all students can afford the multiple AP exam fees; and (3) many students don’t take their AP exams until the spring of senior year.
On the other hand, all students have access to the SAT in their junior and senior years before applications are due, and the SAT offers fee waivers. (Let’s not get into the “SAT prep course/tutor” debate here.) And the SAT I at least is supposed to test basic principles, not the advanced concepts that are supposed to be tested in AP exams. (Again, let’s not debate whether the tests work as designed; at least this is what they are supposed to do.)
So the colleges consider the SAT as a more universal exam than APs, and they use APs to determine credit once the applicant has been admitted.
“Colleges also realize that (1) not all students have access to AP courses; (2) not all students can afford the multiple AP exam fees; and (3) many students don’t take their AP exams until the spring of senior year.”
AP scores are not used for comparison across schools. It is used for comparison in a school. If a school has 15 seniors applied for MIT, and student A took 3 APs and student B took 8 APs. The difference of Their workload are huge. Does these information should be hiding during the admission process? If it is not, then accuracy of these AP Scores should be considered seriously, not based on self-report.
I do notice the college’s policy, but just do not understand the merit behind the scores.
I think it depends. I don’t believe most colleges base admissions solely on test scores, so your student with all 5’s on his APs is not necessarily going to be admitted over the student with varied test results. Both could be accepted, neither could be, or only one could be, but if it’s one, WHICH one would depend on what the rest of their app looks like and what the college wants. Maybe the student with higher scores applied for an extremely popular major where competition across the country is very tough. Maybe the student with lower scores is an excellent musician and the school’s orchestra leader has a spot to fill. There are a lot of variables we don’t know.
You are right as college uses holistic review to compare applicants. However, when I discuss one factor in line with two applicants, I assume that others factors of these applicants are so similar that AO can not pull one out solely based on these factors except the factor we are discussing. Otherwise every time we discuss one thing, I have to include a list of assumption.
No college requires AP scores to determine admission. There are a few, e.g., NYU, where you can choose to submit AP scores sent by College Board in lieu of sending other tests (SAT, ACT, and subject tests). Most colleges do not use AP scorers for admission. However, a number of high ranked colleges will consider them, along with everything else, if provided, but they do not carry the wieght of other test scores.
Therefore my original question should be “why HYPS treats SAT and AP scores differently. Is AP score less important than SAT score? Having self report AP exam scores give errors chances which could effect Admission Officers’ holistic review at HYPS.”
What kind of “errors” in self reporting are you talking about, @ellicott? If students misreported their AP test scores to try to gain an advantage, whether it would actually gain them one or not, colleges would find out when CB reports the actual scores. Students who lie on their app can have admission rescinded, so it does them no good anyway. Can we say for sure that all elite colleges will treat 2 sets of AP scores exactly the same no matter what they are? No. We may be able to tell from the Common Data Set whether or not colleges consider the scores, but we really have no way of knowing what part they play in admission decisions.
austin - " … but we really have no way of knowing what part they play in admission decisions."
I can’t agree more with you. Not as Gumbymom said “AP scores are not used for admission purposes. They are used for college course credit.” The statement seems incomplete.
Because of that, all official data including SAT and AP scores should be retrieved from CB, not self-report.