How Important Are AP Exams to College?

Dizzying
Thu, 05 May 2011 11:14:57 +0000

A well rounded student that does music,art,sports, and has grades that are at least a 3.75 gpa, a 2000 or above on SAT, then you will most likely get into an Ivy League school. Schools care more about a well rounded student than a student with 5’s on every ap exam and 4.0s through high school that does nothing else. If you are well rounded and



that’s a little too optimistic. there are tons of kids who have 4.0s, perfect SATs, have gotten national awards, and have awesome extracurriculars and still get rejected. having a 3.75 gpa and 2000 SAT does not mean you will most likely get into an ivy. look at the acceptance rates - there are very few things you can do to ensure that you will “most likely” be accepted, because in reality, you will most likely be rejected. they have thousands upon thousands of qualified applicants. sometimes it’s not because you aren’t good enough, it’s because someone was better in their eyes.

i’m not saying that there aren’t people who have less than perfect grades and test scores who have gotten in, but the nature of college admissions, as far as top tier schools are concerned, makes it difficult to say “do this and this and this and you’ll get into harvard!” there’s no formula or certainty to it; you do what you can and hope that it’s enough! i’ve had many friends who have had their hearts set on dartmouth or yale, all with great stats and ecs, and they’ve been rejected. most of them have gone on to attend schools that are better fits for them anyway.

but yeah, doing well on your ap exams can only help. doing poorly on one or two won’t kill you, but i do think that it might reflect badly on you if colleges see a bunch of 3’s if you’ve gotten high A’s in all of the classes.