<p>I know my D took AP courses (transcript did indicate that they were AP)and decided not to send the scores with her college applications (she had 4/5s) . It was no problem.</p>
<p>If your question is about the end of that sentence…I worked in Grad school admissions…have also reviewed many job applications…and it may be the nature of these types of positions to “think the worst” when something is left out. However, if an applicant was really strong, in some cases, we would contact them for the missing info.</p>
<p>If your question is about colleges that ask for AP courses and scores on their applications…you can check a few online. The applications for most schools my child applied to asked for a list of AP courses and self-reported scores.</p>
<p>I agree, don’t send the AP scores. Her transcript will show that she took the most challenging classes her hs had to offer.</p>
<p>You don’t need to send AP scores until after the senior AP results are in–and then only to the college you’ll be attending and then only if you want credit or be able to skip ahead in placement.</p>
<p>But some schools ask on the application itself which AP tests you’ve taken and the scores and which tests you plan to take. Do you leave those sections blank?</p>
<p>I filled out lots of applications (didn’t complete them all) and only one or two (maybe) asked for AP scores. These were the most selective schools (Brown? and Georgetown?) I considered. The scores weren’t on my HS transcript (my SATs weren’t either).</p>
<p>I like the reality check on the ACT score. Have you looked at the percentile rankings for that score??? My son traditionally tests poorly on standardized tests. He got a 28 composite – 32 English, 31 Reading, 26 Math/Science, 10 Writing. The composite is 93% and the English, Reading and Writing are 96% and above. </p>
<p>Schools increasingly look at the whole record, including trends in GPA over time. The ACT score is great!</p>
<p>Yes, when the school’s app has a space where you can put your AP score, you can leave that blank. Some haven’t taken the test yet, some not at all, some don’t have the scores yet. It’s not a red, or even yellow, flag. There are just too many reasons you wouldn’t have, or report, that info.</p>
<p>As so many posters have said, send the AP scores to the school where you finally decide to matriculate. And you only need to do that if they want them for placement, or you want the credit or advanced standing.</p>
<p>JMMom, I’ve seen anecdotal reports such as 2Boysima reports. Plus that’s how my beady little mind would work if I saw AP classes without the scores being reported. I understand the counter-arguments. I just wouldn’t want to put my full weight on them. It may be, as one might infer from RainDrop’s post, that it more of a “problem” only among the most selective schools.</p>
<p>I’ve always done well on standardized tests. All they’re good for is earning brownie points at admission time. At all other times, standardized test scores are meaningless. I earned 690V/780M/60+TSWE back in 1991 and was a National Merit Finalist. I would rather have entered college with better motivation, as my academic efforts before then had been driven by the Academic Performance Cult. Once I lost faith in the cult, my motivation was gone. Back in undergraduate school and today, I’d have gladly traded away my high test scores for academic motivation based on something other than the Academic Performance Cult.</p>
<p>I did well on the GRE, earning a perfect 800 in Math. In graduate school, I entered a specialty that I had avoided in undergraduate school, and I worked on two time-consuming projects. I had much better motivation in graduate school, but my GPA was even lower. (In fact, I graduated at or near the bottom of the class in earning my MSEE.) I would gladly traded away my perfect 800 for a stronger prior background and a more productive 4 years of undergraduate school.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think colleges expect students to pay to have AP scores sent to all the colleges they are applying to.They have enough to deal with with all the SAT,SATII and ACT scores! My D is going to Dartmouth in the fall and we got a notice in May saying to have the scores sent for placement purposes (implying that they didn’t expect to have them during the admission process).</p>
<p>Our high school puts scores of 5 on the transcript only. There is no box for AP scores, they just add a line at the bottom of the transcript.</p>
<p>Just another voice chiming in. Only send AP scores if you want to. Colleges will not think the worst if they are not there. :)</p>
<p>“Yes, when the school’s app has a space where you can put your AP score, you can leave that blank. Some haven’t taken the test yet, some not at all, some don’t have the scores yet. It’s not a red, or even yellow, flag. There are just too many reasons you wouldn’t have, or report, that info.”</p>
<p>A student filling out an application in the fall of their Senior year, who had taken an AP course in their Sophomore or Junior year, should have their score. Most HS transcripts will show when the course was taken. Some adcoms will wonder why a score from a class taken in Sophomore or Junior year wasn’t filled in on the application.</p>
<p>As noted earlier, there are schools that ask for SELF REPORTED scores as part of the application. Members of this board have differing opinions on whether leaving the scores out, on an application that asks for them to be filled in, will be a red flag or not. And there is anecdotal evidence for both opinions. So…OP’s child will need to decide which view to follow!</p>
<p>However, I fully agree with those posters who have said that the scores should not be sent from ETS as part of the application process, unless specifically asked to do so. I don’t know of any schools that require the scores sent from ETS as part of the application process, but there could be some.</p>
<p>I’d recommend as a general rule of thumb to advise your kid to answer all questions on this (and any other application… job, internship, fellowship, etc.) honestly and completely, but no need to volunteer information that is not asked.</p>
<p>Hence, if the application asks for AP’s taken and scores received… put them down. If the application doesn’t ask, make sure they don’t appear on the school’s transcript or the GC report, and ignore.</p>
<p>I think you start heading down a slippery slope if you leave out information that is asked for just because you’re not sure that it helps your case. I think we can all do our kids a huge favor at this point in the game by reminding them that there are more important things in life than getting into your first choice college.</p>
<p>I work in HR for a large corporation… we fired a Division Manager (guy making $350K or so a year) for having claimed a degree which he didn’t earn. (did the coursework but didn’t finish his thesis. Nobody had ever checked before) Get your kids into the habit of being truthful, even if it’s information that think nobody will bother to verify… saves a lot of heartache down the line.</p>
<p>The rules for college are different than applying for a job. It’s not untruthful to leave requests for certain information (race, AP scores, etc.) blank. In fact, it’s quite common and colleges think nothing of it. And it hardly sends the wrong message to your children to advise them that they don’t have to answer questions on college applications calling for information that they don’t think is relevant. The only thing they cannot do is lie.</p>
<p>parent2009-- we routinely ignore job applications where the applicant has left blank the question, “Have you ever been convicted of a felony”. Candidate may think it’s not relevant… and it’s certainly their prerogative not to answer… but we’re also entitled to ignore those applications.</p>
<p>I used to work for a large financial services organization which wouldn’t hire anyone in a money related role who had ever filed for bankruptcy. I don’t know if that’s legal anymore… but I wouldn’t assume that “colleges think nothing of it” if you leave parts of the app blank… presumably there’s a reason they ask the question.</p>
<p>Lost in this discussion is the point I felt much more strongly about: a student who is “test phobic” or otherwise lacking in confidence is a strong candidate for test prep. Having monitored some experiences of high school students at D’s high school the past couple of years, Im much less sure about the next step, how to find a tutor/class that’s a good match for your student. D may have just absolutely lucked out, getting one of those “twins separated before birth” kinds of matches.</p>
<p>I truly think you’re mixing apples with oranges when you’re talking about how companies hire versus how colleges evaluate applicants. Companies are on the look out for gaps or dishonesties in resumes in order to make sure they’re hiring honest employees. Selective colleges take a holistic approach to evaluating applicants, with test scores being only a small part of the picture. I continue to believe that none of the colleges that the original poster has identified will think anything of the student not listing her AP exam scores. They certainly will not think the student is being dishonest.</p>
<p>OP here: I don’t find the “test phobic” comment relevant in this case though perhaps it might be to others. She has an ACT in the 98th percentile which is good enough for the schools she is looking at. I also am confident that she can handle the both the academic environment and the difficulty of work that would come her way in any of the schools she is considering. That is not in doubt. Any of her teachers, including all of the AP instructors, would concur with that. I’m sure her recs will so state.</p>
<p>The question was never whether she should <em>conceal</em> or, worse yet, to <em>lie</em> about anything. After looking at this year’s common app. and the one supplement which she has already received, it doesn’t appear that she is specifically asked for AP scores. Her school will not include ANY test scores on her transcript unless she requests it. Obviously, if they were stellar, it would be in her favor to supply them anyway. Since they are acceptable but not exemplary, I will advise her to not to submit them unless specifically asked. And she will be taking the ACT again with either self-study or some form of instruction, in the hopes that an even higher score (99th %ile) on that will strengthen the one test she is submitting.</p>
<p>I don’t think most of us know what colleges think - there are a wide variety of colleges and most of us aren’t privy to their inner workings.</p>
<p>I agree with blossom - it’s a slippery slope. I wouldn’t want my kid at a school where the admissions office didn’t think (s)he would fit in/belong - if the other students had to be less than forthright (by not being completely honest - and I agree, if scores are not asked for, no need to report, but certainly if asked for I would provide them) to gain admission, I certainly wouldn’t want my kid ‘learning’ from those peers. An application has lots of different kinds of information that should add up to a picture of what kind of student the candidate is. I do worry that a parent that asks a child to hide certain aspects is encouraging a less than fully honest approach to life and is saying, in not so many words, that what they have accomplished isn’t good enough. A ‘3’ is a respectable score. Maybe it’s not Ivy material; maybe it is. Why don’t you let the admissions offices tell you? Do we parents want ANY job, or the job that we’re capable of doing, that matches our experiences and capabilities? Why should getting into college be any different?</p>
<p>With a very demanding daily courseload requiring hours of homework each night, how do h.s. students prep for AP, SAT I, and SAT II exams? My daughter had a research paper, numerous APUS History papers, tests, and major projects, etc. due the weeks of the APs. Then, the one Saturday sandwiched between her APS, she had to take the SAT I with major sleep deprivation and no time for prep beyond working a few math problems in the practice booklet.</p>
<p>She has not received her SAT II scores yet, but felt fairly confident about 2 out of the 3 she took. Somehow, the SAT I was very good. She feels pretty good about APUS due to an outstanding teacher, but terribly about APChem.</p>
<p>If her AP scores are not too decent, I will encourage her not to report them, as they were entirely optional at her school. In fact, she will probably not take the AP exams at the end of senior year due to the cost and to the fact that she doesn’t wish to place into too high of a level in certain areas. That can be a “killer” for a college freshman. (Some of the colleges that she will apply to offer no credit for even 4s or 5s, but rather, higher placement.)</p>
<p>I see no shame attached to withholding AP scores. After all, it is sometimes not the student’s fault at all for low scores. Some of the AP teachers simply do not know how to best prepare their students. High APs usually reflect both a strong student PLUS a strong teacher.</p>