What you Need to Know About AP Exams and Score Reporting Before Taking the Exam - College in 321 (2024)

FAQs

Should I send my AP scores to colleges before applying? ›

Applicants should send a college their AP scores only after being accepted into a program. Students should check their individual college's deadline for submitting AP scores.

Interpreting AP Scores in Admissions is a Human Process

But there are no hard and fast rules, such as not submitting 4s or 3s, as some suggest because, in some cases, students should submit those lower scores since admissions officers will assume even worse if they withhold them.

Colleges and universities use AP exam scores as a factor in the admissions process, but they do so while considering them alongside the student's GPA, extracurricular activities, and other application information. Said differently, AP exam scores are just one factor in making admissions decisions.

Usually, a 70 to 75 percent out of 100 translates to a 5. However, there are some exams that are exceptions to this rule of thumb. The AP Grades that are reported to students, high schools, colleges, and universities in July are on AP's five-point scale: 5: Extremely well qualified.

As with many college-admissions related questions, the answer to this question is, “It depends.” However, as a general rule, your AP exam scores aren't going to be a major make-or-break factor in whether you get into a college or not.

Do Colleges Look at AP Scores for Admission? While you don't typically need to send official AP score reports to colleges you're applying to, some schools will have space on their applications for you to self-report your AP scores. And if your scores are on your application, admissions committees will see them.

For these reasons, an AP® score like a 4 looks great on your application. If you score a 3 or higher, then more selective colleges will begin to accept your AP® exam scores. The score of 4 is deemed by the College Board as “well qualified”, meaning that you know the material and could do well in the college class.

Sending your AP exam score to colleges is optional.

If your exam score is eligible for credit, self-report it on the college application and send the official report through the CollegeBoard. Never report or send an exam score of a 1 or 2. They are not considered “passing” scores.

Colleges will not look at your score

You will not be required to send your AP score to your colleges unless you want to earn college credit.

"If you have Advanced Placement (AP) scores, we recommend that you self-report them in the space provided in the testing section of the Common Application, Coalition Application, or QuestBridge National College Match Application."

Do low AP scores matter? ›

Scores of three or lower aren't usually enough to give you any edge in admissions and might even have an negative impact on your application. These are best left off when you self-report your scores.

Generally, AP scores from your senior year aren't considered as much in the admissions decision process because many students don't receive their scores until July, often after admissions decisions have been made. However, they can have an impact on your college experience in other ways.

As a general guide, though, you can consider roughly more than 70% correct as being in the 5 range, 50-69% for a score of 4, 40-49% for a score of 3, 30-39% for a 2, and below 30% would likely be a 1. Again, these ranges are approximations and can vary by subject and by year.

To clarify, it's quite rare and quite difficult to get a score of 0 on an AP exam. Typically, scores range from 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest possible score that indicates the student likely wasn't prepared for the level of the content on the exam.

What are the hardest AP classes? If you're looking at pass rates, Physics 1 is the toughest AP exam. And less than 8% of test-takers received a perfect score. Of course, the hardest AP exam depends on your strengths.

An AP Score of 3 or 4 will likely not get you any college credit or respect at a top school like Stanford/Ivies/MIT. A score of 5 may not either — top colleges like to think that their courses are more rigorous than APs and thus should not be passed out of, and earning a 5 is simply expected for top admits.

If you're taking AP Exams as a junior or sophom*ore and you know you'll be applying to a specific college, we suggest you use your one free score send to designate that college as a score recipient. You have until the June 20 deadline to use your free score send online.

Your SAT score report emphasizes your college readiness to admissions officers. Be sure to send SAT scores well before any application deadlines. The College Board offers three ways to send SAT scores. You may qualify for a fee waiver for sending SAT scores.