Does a 1 on an AP Test Matter after Admission

My cousin’s D did decently on most of her APs last year, all 3-5s. The one exception is that she got a 1 in AP Chemistry. The teacher was new and while she did fine in the class, almost everyone in her class got 1s and 2s (she thinks). Her D was accepted ED to a top 10 school. She is thinking about being a science major.

I realize that AP scores only matter for credit but she is embarrassed about the grade. Plus if she majors in Chemistry would anyone see this grade and question it? There is a program she will have to apply for at the end of her first year.

Should she have the score removed before she sends her AP report to her school? From what I understand, if you do not remove the grade you have to send your entire testing history.

It won’t matter, but if she worried about how it looks to her college after enrollment, she can always withhold individual scores from her AP score report, or even cancel them altogether (deleting it from the records).

It will not matter if she is already admitted. But she should take notice that the AP chemistry course where everyone got 1 or 2 scores is poor quality. Obviously, she will not get advanced placement with a 1 score, and she may want to figure out if she learned enough high school level chemistry to be ready for college chemistry, if needed for her major.

Nope, doesn’t matter at all. I got a 2 in AP Physics (so did the rest of the class), and it didn’t affect my admission at all.

She is more concerned because she is embarrassed and because there is a competitive program that her school has that you apply at the end of Freshman year and she is concerned they will see this score and think she is not on par with everyone and not take her

Some top 10 schools do not even give credit for AP courses, so is she submitting them at all? If no benefit is given, just withhold the AP report.

She will be getting credit for some humanities classes that she got a 5 in. She is most concerned because there is a special program she has to apply for at the end of first year and she is not sure what will be required in the application, she tried calling but the department is not responsive.

I think it’s hard to know the answer to your question without more details on the program.

It won’t matter. She just won’t get advanced placement for it.

It won’t matter for her — but for future applicants, if many AP students at her school consistent score poorly, the school’s AP classes’ rigor will be called into question. And the school’s rep will fall in observant admissions officers’ eyes. I’ve seen that happen at a supposedly-advanced area HS. The 4.0 students with tons of APs – all getting 1s and 2s. In the eyes of selective colleges, that school’s reputation was tarnished. It didn’t help that the doggone AP English teacher’s recommendation letters had poor grammar!