How AP Scores Factor Into College Admissions
Many colleges pay attention to passing AP scores as part of the admissions process, as they’ve historically been an accurate measure of student success in a college course setting. While Advanced Placement exams have been offered since 1955, only in recent years have colleges started to accept and use AP scores during the admissions process. From 2000 to 2019, more than 1,000 colleges started participating in the AP program. The amount of students taking the AP exams has also more than doubled since 2000: ballooning from less than 1 million students in 2000 to 2.3 million students in 2013. Not only is this a nod to the fact that students are now up against much more prepared peers than before, it’s also indicative of the increasing weight that AP scores have in admissions.
Additionally, the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) releases yearly reports on the state of college admissions. Their 2019 report looked at 16 different admissions criteria to determine importance in admissions. According to NACAC, the top criteria for college admissions in 2019 were:
Grades in all courses
Grades in college prep courses (AP)
Curriculum Strength
Admissions test scores (ACT/SAT)
Not only have selective colleges started looking at AP courses during admissions, they have identified it as one of the strongest pieces of the application. In 2018, 96 of the top 100 schools in the US looked at student AP scores as a part of the application process. Students are directly competing against each other for acceptance in admissions, so the presence or absence of AP scores may make a big difference in where students fall in comparison to their peers.
Lastly, with the removal of the SAT Subject Tests, the AP exams are now the closest widely-accepted test for students to demonstrate proficiency in a specific subject. Because of this, AP course grades and AP exam scores are likely to hold much more weight in college admissions as we look to the future.
