<p>Self- studied APs have come up on CC, and usually the consensus is that it makes a relatively small difference. But I don’t understand why. I personally would’ve thought that it would show a passion for learning outside the classroom. I’m not trying to attack anyone, just asking for clarification.</p>
<p>I think that a lot of the time people choose to self study to “cushion” their applications… Not everyone thinks along those same lines, but if there is a subject you are passionate about go ahead and self study it, it won’t hurt if it’s something you love. I’m sure the rest of your app well probably reflect those interests A’s well, right?</p>
<p>If you have a passion for learning outside the classroom, you shouldn’t need to take an AP test to prove it. Taking the AP test just looks like resume-padding. </p>
<p>Besides, IMO AP test scores count for very little in college admissions anyway, whether self-studied or not. They’re not designed or intended for use as college admissions tests, and the College Board wants to steer colleges toward using its other products, the SAT Reasoning Test and SAT Subject Tests, for that purpose. For their part, colleges don’t want to encourage an “arms race” among students accumulating AP test scores, partly because they’re quite expensive at $87/test, and thus would operate to discriminate against financially less well-off students. So colleges generally just look at how many AP classes you’ve taken (compared to the number offered at your school) to rate the rigor of your HS curriculum, and may look at AP test scores to verify the rigor of your AP courses. If it really counted for a lot in admissions, they’d want official AP score reports sent directly from the College Board as for SAT I and SAT scores; the fact that they rely on self-reported scores suggests they don’t take this information all that seriously.</p>
<p>“If you have a passion for learning outside the classroom, you shouldn’t need to take an AP test to prove it. Taking the AP test just looks like resume-padding.”
Then what DOESN’T look like resume-padding? there are so many things on the application, and a lot of them could be used to “pad the resume.” Why AP tests? You can’t just always expect an ulterior motive if someone works hard.</p>
<p>The AP test scores were applicable at his college and allowed him to become a sophomore his second semester…and thus making registration easier, etc. And he could take the next class up from the introductory class (AP gave him credits for the introductory class)…saving money. It was worth the cost and the time, even for the self studied tests.</p>
<p>@tobeducated thanks for the info., but how does this answer my question? :/</p>
<p>And that, tobeducated, is precisely why we had my kid take an AP exam for a class she had not taken, even though I think the idea of AP exams that teenagers could prepare themselves for is preposterous on its face.</p>
<p>If an AP exam is intended to demonstrate that a serious high-school student has mastered the material he or she would learn in a college-level class, it should not be possible for a teenager with a couple of test-prep books and a lot of Mountain Dew to pass as many of them as people do.</p>
<p>I don’t actually know how much consideration my alma mater gives when students have passed more than a dozen AP exams. I hope it isn’t much.</p>
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<p>Probably because the self-studied APs are usually the ones widely regarded as the easier ones, and which are least likely to be useful for subject credit in university (e.g. Statistics, Physics B, Environmental Science). How many people self-study English Literature, Calculus BC, Physics C, Chemistry, and foreign languages that they are not native or heritage speakers of?</p>
<p>I think it depends on the school. For ivies, it probably isn’t much of a plus.</p>
<p>however, at my kids’ college, my son self-studied or AP English Comp (which supposedly is easy to self-study) so that he could get out of taking 2 frosh comp courses. It worked! and he got 6 extra credits . He entered college as a second semester sophomore because of all of his AP credits. Helped with registration…and helped with his major and 3 minors.</p>
<p>jerevedeparis is the only one who’s reply I’m able to understand. if AP exams are too easy to pass, why would they be used for anything at all?? and I’m not asking about college credit. I know that stuff already.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus then would you say that self-studied APs have more weight if they’re not necessarily the easy ones??</p>
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<p>Stressed, I’m saying that I think AP exams should have little weight, if any, in admissions. High grades in AP courses should mean something about the rigor of an applicant’s schedule and his or her level of academic achievement. But the very fact that so many high-school students can score highly on exams that they have self-studied for says to me that the *exam scores *shouldn’t be worth very much.</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids has probably hit the nail on the head: if you’re applying to colleges that will be impressed with the number of APs you’ve prepared yourself for, you probably don’t need them, and if you’re applying to colleges that won’t be all that impressed, they probably won’t do you too much good. </p>
<p>And if that’s not the way it is, it’s the way it should be, IMO.</p>
<p>but… then why do they use the exam scores to give you college credit. why wouldn’t they make you take the class? sorry if it’s sounding like I have a lot of ignorant classes. I’m just really confused. I want to get to the crux of the matter once and for all.</p>
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<p>Self-studied or not, the “harder” APs are generally more useful for subject credit in university than the “easier” APs. Although APs often matter little or nothing for admissions purposes, if they do matter, the “harder” ones should be more helpful than the “easier” ones.</p>
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<p>A lot of the time, the “easier” ones (that are commonly self-studied) do not give useful subject credit.</p>
<p>btw I"ll have to go against you in whether the colleges should, Sikorsky 
but for now, I’m just trying to figure out if they do</p>
<p>I’m not sure that there should be so much college credit available for APs either.</p>
<p>But as long as there is, and as long as having the credits can make my kid’s college life easier, I hope she’ll take all the ones she can get. I don’t think it’s a good system, but as long as it’s the system that’s in place, I can’t fault people for exploiting it.</p>
<p>then why do the easy APs even exist if they’re not used for anything???</p>
<p>Wait, are we talking about what they are used for, or what they should be used for?</p>
<p>You can get college credits from APs, whether you’ve taken the classes, or prepared yourself for them. How much credit you can get for what seems to vary from place to place. It’s just my opinion that many colleges probably give more credits than I think they should.</p>
<p>And I don’t actually know how much weight AP exam scores carry in college admissions. I suspect this, too, varies a lot from place to place. It’s just my opinion that they shouldn’t count for very much.</p>
<p>Similarly, it’s just my opinion that I’d like to see smart, ambitious high-school students do almost anything other than preparing themselves for AP exams. Sadly, there does seem to be some correlation between taking a whole lot of AP exams and being admitted to selective colleges and universities. I just hope it’s merely correlation, and not cause-and-effect.</p>
<p>Many highly selective colleges place strict limits on how much college credit they’ll give you for APs. My daughter’s LAC, for example, awards 1 course credit for each AP score of 5 and 0.5 course credits for each AP score of 4, up to a maximum of 4 course credits, or the equivalent of one semester of college. But since they only offer full-year, full-time enrollment and graduate students only in the spring, those are pretty much just token credits–they don’t help anyone graduate faster, but I suppose they give you a bit of a cushion in the event you fail a college class or two. Basically, the college wants everyone to spend 4 years there taking a full load each semester—and that’s what their rules require. So even if they give you a few token credits for APs, it’s not going to matter much. </p>
<p>Where it might matter is in placing out of certain intro-level college courses, but that’s different from getting the college credit for those classes.</p>
<p>Personally, I think AP is a bit of a racket. Although they claim to give HS students college-level work, most HS AP classes are nowhere near as rigorous or as intellectually stimulating as what you’d get in a course on the same subject in a top college or university.</p>
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<p>Imagine a doctor who “self-studied” his way through medical school. Even though he passed the finals in all his classes, many people, including perhaps other doctors, might be suspicious of his qualifications since he hadn’t had the full hands-on experience of going to all the classes, labs, and clinical rounds. </p>
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<p>Good question. Maybe they’re just a way for College Board to make a little money on the exams from self-studiers.</p>
<p>stressedoutt, here is another non-answer to your question (!) but something very practical to consider about presenting your self-studied AP classes. </p>
<p>Look at the Common App and tell me where you are going to put this?</p>
<p>See <a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/CommonApp2011[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/CommonApp2011</a>.</p>
<p>Unofficial coursework, i.e., anything not on a school transcript, will go in the EC section. Report the AP test score where indicated and then list the corresponding class in your ECs as “self-study AP subject” or similar. Note the way in which you are asked to report your time commitment to this activity. You will want to strategically order your ECs so this stands out–that can be tough if you have a number of worthy ECs. You are asked to write a short answer about one of your ECs–you seem very passionate about this undertaking, perhaps you will write about it. But consider whether that is the EC that deserves the added attention and explanation.</p>
<p>I had a kid who self-studied a foreign language–I recall it was challenging to present it.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>