High GPA, high SAT/ACT scores, and (possibly) low AP scores coming. Am I screwed for admissions?

Applying to College
1

Hi, so I’m a junior in high school who took 5 AP classes this year. Before today, I had already taken and done well on 3 of them, and then I took my AP Micro exam today…which I had studied and spent HOURS preparing for (more so than the other ones). I also passed this class last semester with a 93 (which was higher than all of my other AP classes except for Macro), so I felt super confident that I would ace this exam and get a 4 or 5 at least.

I’d say that I had comprehensively understood about 95% of the course content prior to taking this exam.

Plus, I knew it would only be two questions, so I thought to myself, “This can’t be that hard…”

And it really wasn’t that hard, until I got hit up with the 5% of content that I had barely glossed over.

After actually taking the exam, I wouldn’t be surprised if I got a 2. (Or a 3, if I’m lucky.)

I’m so infuriated with myself, because I know I totally could’ve done better if I had only studied harder. :confused: It makes absolutely no sense that I was able to ace 3 other AP exams that I didn’t care about as much, yet fail an exam that I (1) actually cared about a lot and (2) was skilled at. I’ve got my Macro exam tomorrow…which I’m also really skilled at, but what if I fail that one too?!!

The worst part is, I plan on majoring in something business or finance related, so for someone like me, AP classes like Micro and Macro are SUPER important for admissions. Understanding basic economics is like the baseline for business majors, isn’t it? Just like Physics and Calculus are important for engineering majors and Bio and Chem are important for pre-med?

My point is, once colleges see that I failed my Econ exams in high school, I would appear as a less desirable candidate for their programs because based on my AP scores, it would seem like I lack the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful as a business major.

The other worst part is that I’ve already got a solid academic profile. (At least…I thought I did.) I have a high GPA (3.98 UW, 4.38 W), and high standardized test scores (SAT- 1330, ACT- 30). You’d think that someone with those stats would ace ALL of their AP exams…

But no. Not me, unfortunately. I feel like my upcoming AP scores would be a detriment to my solid profile. (Especially my Econ classes- those are the scores that actually matter to my intended major!!!)

This makes me wonder whether submitting my AP scores would actually be beneficial for me or not.

I feel like if I do, it’ll make me look stupid and/or delusional. But if I don’t, it’ll either look shady or make me come off as disinterested.

BOTTOM LINE: Will submitting my AP scores hurt my college application?

(Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :slight_smile: )

2

Take a deep breath. One or two AP scores will not make or break your application.

I have heard from others that the Micro test was extremely difficult this year.

You do not have to submit official AP test scores on many college applications - typically you self-report which means you can self-report whichever ones you want to. The conventional wisdom is to only report those that will enhance your application. Everyone knows this year is crazy, AP tests especially. If you opt not to report, no one should even question whether or not you took the test.

Good luck on Macro!

3

Thanks for your input! And I feel like I did WAY better in Macro than Micro, so I guess that’s an improvement.

And I’m also glad I’m not the only one who struggled with the Micro exam. Again, thanks a lot! I really appreciate it!

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Also, since this year’s AP tests were all over the place, it seems like there would probably be a higher-than-usual amount of kids just deciding to not take the test (especially after all the issues with turning in the tests), so I’d say it probably wouldn’t be too suspicious if you just didn’t submit the scores. And who knows, if everyone else also did worse than expected on the test, you might still end up with a better score than you thought!

5

Actually, no. Your classroom grade is way more important.

Yes, but an intro-level AP is not the proof that you do- or don’t. That is what they are meant to be teaching you, not what you are expected to arrive with.

And both of those things are true even without Covid or this years exam!