Hi CC,
Should I report a 3 AP Score to top 20 colleges? The context is that my 3 was for the 2021 AP English Literature and Composition exam, where the distribution was 5% fives, 12% fours, 27% threes, and 56% failures. My other AP exams are Statistics (5), English Lang (5), Calc AB (4), which I will send to colleges. I am planning on applying ED to Penn. Should I send this english lit score?
No- don’t send a 3 to Penn. Even though you point out that only 17% of test takers scored higher than 3, making the 3 a very respectable score, Penn is a school who accepts the top students. They want the kids in the top percentiles, so to them that 3 is not going to enhance your application
For context, please try to align the above quote with the below quote.
Penn only accepts 5s although in a few subjects 4. So no reason to send a 3. If the school accepts a 3, then send it.
Some say that schools don’t even look at AP scores when evaluating candidates for admission. However, if they were, a 3 on an AP exam is unimpressive. The only way that I would recommend sending a 3 is if the student is applying to a school with low selectivity, where a 3 on the AP might help support that the student is in fact ready for college work, assuming that the rest of their application does not indicate that they are ready.
No - it won’t stand out positively.
Instead, the AP class taken will show up in your transcript with whatever grade and then weighted for rigor. That’s where you’ll get your advantage for having attempted the class.