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Some of you have been saying that AP Exams are only important for placement, well I think AP exams carry more weight than SAT II's or even SAT I's for that matter.

AP courses are COLLEGE LEVEL COURSES, and a high grade, like a 5 will show colleges that you know wtf your doing and that you scored very well on a difficult test. I think a 5 on a CALC BC exam or a 5 on a history exam would blow out any SAT II scores if it wasnt already an 800.

So people who think APs are not important besides placement, bring forth your argument.

By L1censet0k1ll (L1censet0k1ll) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 04:22 pm: Edit

Okay... I don't think you'll find too many people who disagree with you anyways.

By Asknot11 (Asknot11) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 06:58 pm: Edit

AP's are considered the same as SAT IIs. Both AP and SAT exams are more important than your SAT at selective institutions.

By Reeses (Reeses) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 07:47 pm: Edit

is that true? I thought some colleges don't even look at AP tests. I did really well on my AP tests and good on SAT 2s, but average on SAT ones...so would the AP test help much?

By Asknot11 (Asknot11) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 11:11 pm: Edit

If you are applying to any top 50 schools they will look at your AP test score. For example if you get an A in AP euro and a 3 on the exam they are going to think that the AP class wasn't that difficult. If you get an A in AP euro and a 5 on the exam they will know that you have mastered a college level class.

By Magicdragonfly (Magicdragonfly) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 11:47 pm: Edit

odd-ball question..just curious-
what do you think the colleges would think if somebody failed or got a D in the class second semester but got a 4 or 5 on the exam?

By Thenarrator (Thenarrator) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 12:00 am: Edit

How would colleges weigh AP test scores w/o AP courses?

By Bullrider7788 (Bullrider7788) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 03:43 am: Edit

Is a 4 considered a good AP grade by top universities (MIT, Stanford, Ivies, etc.). I know that Harvard only accepts 5s for credit, but do they look down on 4's???

By Warrior (Warrior) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 04:16 am: Edit

i dont know about D's and failing.. but i got 3 c's and 5, 5, 5, 4 junior year.
the best i got into are ucla, berk, cmu, and umich.

the c's made it a whole lot easier to "maintain my academic standard" my senior year.

going to umich

By Jaking (Jaking) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 09:44 am: Edit

hey warrior,
do you think that getting 2 Cs in honors pre-calc hurt my chances of being accepted into Uof MD, UMBC or Johns Hopkins?

By Dromedary (Dromedary) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 12:50 pm: Edit

Top colleges don't really care about AP scores... it only matters that you're taking rigorous classes. Many elites explicitly say that APs aren't a big factor in admissions. They are certainly NOT more important than SAT IIs.

By Asknot11 (Asknot11) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 04:23 pm: Edit

Drom, you are wrong. I've talked to admissions officers and they want to know your scores. If you get a 2 on the exam and an A in class They woudn't consider that class to be AP

By Reeses (Reeses) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 04:26 pm: Edit

sorry i posted this on the other board by mistake before...

I think this is good news: In A is for Admissions, the author, who is a former dartmouth admin officer, says that if an applicant gets for example, mid-600 sat scores: 670 bio, 650 math level 1, 660 spanish listening, the scores are not weak, but the applicant does not stand out academically. Then she turns to the student's AP scores and sees a 5 on AP bio, a 5 on BC calculus, and a 4 on spanish literature. "Clearly the 4 is more indicative of ability to do strong college work than the SAT II listening test." For bio, "If the student's AI placed him in the academic 5 or 6 catergory, the officer would probably boost the academic rating to 7 because of excellent AP scores."

"In addition, if the student didn't seem to be that exceptional academically, a number of high AP scores could suddenly change the picture dramtically."

"If you score three or more APs over 3, you are designated an AP scholar by the College Board, a meaningful academic award for any highly selective admissions commitee."

(this is on page 92) So do you guys think a 4 would overrule low sat scores too?

By Asknot11 (Asknot11) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 05:36 pm: Edit

YES! AP scores are very important!

By Jason817 (Jason817) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 05:42 pm: Edit

DAMN THIS SUCKS!!!!! THIS MAKES IT EVEN HARDER THAN IT ALREADY IS!!!!!! ARGGGGHHH!!!