I’m pretty sure if your explanation for no score is unaffordability, they absolutely will not hold that against you (assuming it is superficially credible–might get a raised eyebrow if you are a double-surgeons’ kid not applying for aid).
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DE is great, but with Yale’s testing policy, that won’t help with required test scores, especially if there’s any assumption that taking an AP class always means taking an AP test and students who do not take the test for any reason are viewed with some degree of suspicion (which may not be the case at all, but what some here are speculating).
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IME the Ivies always held that view the exams are a required part of the AP course, as do many high schools. Fee waivers are available and some schools have funds set aside for those in need. A counselor statement that the applicant can’t afford the test is likely to be accepted.
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same as in our CA public school. That said, the low income kids can get fee waivers with recommendation by their counselor from funds provided by the PTA.
Definitely not the case at our school - it is made clear from the beginning that the test is totally optional and it is not at all unusual for students to skip the test (either for financial reasons or just because they feel taking the class is enough for them based on a personal cost/benefit analysis).
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California does seem to have its own set of practices. I guess that works for kids who remain there
Even if nothing has changed - maybe Yale is merely saying the quiet part out loud, that they will wonder about exams not taken - from the outside it feels like AP exams really shot up in importance. If you had, say, a 10th grader who might one day look at elite colleges, and did very well in dual enrollment English, would you now have them take the AP Lang exam?
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And the College Board will laugh all the way to the bank. After all, they will be the biggest winners in this.
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Thousands already do.
The exams are there for accountability-was the subject matter actually taught, and did most kids in the class actually learn it? There are way too many schools “teaching” AP courses in which kids are getting 1s and 2s on the exam
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In 2020 more than 4.7M test were administered. Not sure how many were free
A (smart and interesting!) 20-something I work with originally from California said he took a bunch of APs for the weighted GPA benefits and didn’t bother with the tests — though he sort of regretted it bc it wd have been nice to place out of sone classes in college. I don’t know exactly how wealthy he was growing up but definitely middle class+ We were talking about it bc I was talking about my kids and colleges.
I know my one anecdote doesn’t mean much but I was surprised. I had thought most kids wd want to take the tests for the possibility of credit, but maybe not.
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I was skeptical of this for a variety of reasons, but after listening to the podcast, this is correct.
(To be clear, I’m not opposed to required testing, though requiring all AP scores is, in my opinion, a different kettle of fish.)
You tell them not to rely on the advice of an anonymous internet poster and instead call the Yale Admissions office and find out directly whether they need to submit all AP scores or if they are allowed to submit only selected ones.
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Depending on where you’re hoping to go to college, you may not get any credit, or you may only get elective credit, or it may only be used for placement rather than credit…So for some students, taking the test is just added stress and financial cost without much real benefit. My daughter took no AP tests and does not regret that at all (but then she did take DE classes and since she attends a state public university all of her DE credit transferred, and more usefully than any of the AP credits would have transferred).
Accurate. I have been teaching in some capacity since 1994 (first in high school, then as a TA in my Ph.D. program, and then as college faculty). The conversation about the generational decline has been constant. If you asked my senior colleagues in the high school where I taught in the mid-'90s, they would have said that they noticed a turning point after the late '80s when students just seemed a little less independent, a little less self-motivated, a little less skilled. Who knows if that was the first shift or just the latest one at the time? But there’s always a reason. First, it was because they had televisions in their rooms, and the parents weren’t home. Then it was because of excessive emphasis on self-esteem and not enough on accountability. Then it was because students had the internet. Then phones. Then Covid. I’m not saying that these causes weren’t real – they were, and are. And Covid learning loss is absolutely real. But it is absolutely not the first time that “Something has changed, and not subtly.”
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Prediction: Future Yale-related threads on CC will be filled with I get X on SAT, Y on ACT, and Z1 through Zn on AP scores. Which one(s) should I submit, X, Y, and/or Z?
This also raises the question: is Yale planning on publishing the 25–75 percentile scores for all 38 AP subjects to help posters here better advise high schoolers/parents? 
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Right. Im wondering about the importance of taking an AP exam following a dual enrollment course that isn’t exactly aligned with the similar AP course.
Prediction- it will never be enough.
Folks say they want a system with more data. Yet they regularly ignore the available data. Which suggests to me that posting the 25/75 won’t have the desired impact. It will just fuel a different kind of frenzy.
In the days when I interviewed for Brown, the U posted detailed and granular stats on the website (maybe they still do). Kids who didn’t have a snowballs chance in heck were still applying. Why?
“You never know”. That’s true. Only the rejection letter knows for sure. “If you don’t apply, your chances are zero”. Absolutely. Go ahead and spend your college fund on Powerball tickets. I’ll hold your beer. “I am not what they are looking for on paper, but I’m a free-spirited social justice warrior who is vegan and gluten free and everyone knows Brown is a great place for the Boho student”. Etc.
These were rational actors who could look at a chart and see that with their stats the chances of admission were in the 2% range. AND a really nice footnote about how exceptional you needed to be in some arena (presumably musical, athletic, literary, artistic) to be in that tiny pool. Being Boho is not an exceptional achievement.
So sure, Yale needs to post MORE stats. So that MORE kids can focus time, energy and attention on wondering “should I update Yale that I spent 30 hours volunteering at the animal shelter in January and not the 25 hours I spent in December?” I wonder what would happen if those kids focused on falling in love with a college where their stats put them firmly in the “admit” category? Would CC cease to exist?
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Could always rebrand as Cocktail Club. Suggesting for “a friend” . . . .
But more seriously, I think in a world like that, it really would be my favorite part of CC that survived: helping give kids and parents leads for those schools, and sharing information where helpful.
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I don’t think it is necessary, since as you note the courses don’t align. That said, Ivies prefer AP courses over DE, so they can judge them accordingly. So my advice would be to enroll in the AP course instead of DE to begin with.
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