April 2019
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Why should you take AP exams?
Advanced Placement courses, better known as AP courses, are college-level courses designed to be taken in high school. At the end of the year, an optional exam is given which, if passed, gives a student college credit when they start university. Even many selective schools that do not accept AP credit as college credit still expect applicants to have taken and scored well on AP exams in high school to show they are high-achieving students, and AP exam scores can often be used to waive out of introductory courses.

How Schools Use AP Scores: 2019 Updated
Non-exhaustive list of which schools accept AP scores
Penn State: All AP Exams with scores ranging from 3-5, depending on subject, given credit
UPitt: All AP Exams with scores ranging from 3-5, depending on subject, given credit
Drexel: All AP Exams with scores ranging from 4-5, depending on subject, given credit
Villanova: Score of 4 or 5, depending on subject, for foreign language, math, English, social studies and science given credit
Princeton: Score of 5 for foreign language, calculus, science and economics given credit
Harvard: Score of 5 for art, English, foreign languages, math and some history and science given credit
Yale: 5 for English, foreign language, calculus and physics given credit
Penn: Score of 5 for calculus, science, foreign language given credit; score of 5 for economics, art history, statistics and psychology given intro course waiver
Columbia: Score of 4 or 5, depending on subject, for science, english, foreign language, social studies and math given credit
Dartmouth: Score of 4 or 5, depending on subject, for calculus, science, and statistics given credit; score of 5 for foreign language given intro course waiver
Brown: No credit given for AP exam scores, but score of 5 for history, art history, science, math and foreign language given intro course waiver
Cornell: Score of 4 or 5, depending on subject, for math, physics, chemistry, foreign language given credit; scores for other subjects may be given intro course waiver
MIT: Score of 5 for calculus, physics, arts, English, history and social studies given credit
Stanford: Score of 4 or 5, depending on subject, for calculus, foreign language, chemistry, physics and computer science given credit
UChicago: Score of 4 or 5, depending on subject, for math, English, social studies, music theory and art given credit
Johns Hopkins: Scores ranging from 3-5, depending on subject, given credit for science, math, economics given credit
WUSTL: Score of 4 or 5, depending on subject, for science, math, music, art, social studies given credit
Vanderbilt: Score of 4 or 5 for AB Calculus given credit, scores of 3-5 for BC Calculus given credit
Georgetown: Score of 4 or 5, depending on subject, for foreign language, art, science, math and some social studies given credit
Northwestern: Scores ranging from 3-5, depending on subject, given credit for science, foreign language, social studies, math, English and art
AP Test Reality Check: How much do they matter?

While AP exams certainly do help in obtaining college credit, possibly where they are most helpful is in obtaining admissions into college. Admissions officers want to know that students are challenging themselves and are taking difficult courses, such as AP courses. If a high school offers multiple AP courses, and a student does not take any, that is likely a strike against them. However, taking advantage of all the AP courses offered, and scoring well on the exams, shows to admissions officers that a student is hard working and able to handle a college workload.

How do strong AP Test scores help your application?
If you claim to have a strong interest in a particular field, it is important to take challenging courses within that field, and do well in them. Doing well in an AP course and on its corresponding exam in a field that you claim to be interested in shows to admissions officers that you are actively pursuing your interest and you will be capable of handling the coursework in the field in college.
Taking AP courses and exams shows that you have challenged yourself in high school, and your transcript will be competitive relative to others applying to selective schools.
Typical AP Test Scores for Top Schools
Most schools do not state the average AP scores of admitted students. However, as shown above, selective schools generally expect scores of around 4-5 on AP exams to get any type of credit or placement. Scores below a 4 may count against you in the admissions process at a selective school, especially scores as low as a 1 or 2, as they suggest that you may not be prepared to handle major exams in college.


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