[Childlike Faith]

Will it look bad if I'm taking an AP class and decide not to take the exam?


I know you only need a 3 to pass, but Calc AB/AP is KILLING me now, and I don't feel like I'll be able to pass.
I barely passed the first semester with a C, will it really be hard to get a 3 on the Calc AB test?

My friend told me it would show that I'm a slacker and I should just show that I tried it.

I'm a Junior and I've never taken an AP class/exam in my life and decided to take 3 this year. Bad choice.

I'm taking the other two for sure and I'm pretty confident about both...
Even if I do try and manage to stick in studying time, I don't want to study for 3 exams in two months, and pay $200+ and not pass one of them...

[tony]

It wouldn't look bad. And I know how you feel. Except, I'm not doing well on any of my AP classes, but decided to at least take one exam.

I'm averaging 20-40s out of 100 on my AP Stats tests. I JUST don't understand it. I know more Italian in my middle school years. The only reason I'm still doing well in my AP Italian class is because we don't have tests and there's like one homework given every Friday (to be done during the class period). I have completely no clue what's going on in AP Computer Science, but that's what I think I can actually pull through with. So I'm putting all my concentration on that one class.

What was I thinking when I choose these courses.

[joogrlpekaun]

My advice would be to get some review books, maybe a tutor if you know a fellow student who's cheap enough for you to afford who's already passed the test, and study like crazy to take the AP test starting NOW. In my opinion, taking the AP class is like a wasted effort without the test; there's absolutely no way you can get college credit, for one thing. It does make you look a little less invested, too. Then again, an awful score looks bad, too. Is there a way for you to contact a school you might be interested in or something to ask which is worse: a 1 or 2 or no score at all? You could talk to your guidance counselor, too, since he/she is more qualified than anyone here. In my case, though...well, I don't have a choice with AP tests because my school requires passing the AP test to get high school credit for the class.

[thelivinlegend21]

I'm almost positive it looks bad. Sure, you might have taken the AP class, but you didn't follow through. The question that might pop into the minds of Admissions Officers is, "What's the point of taking an AP course if you're not going to take the exam?" Obviously, none.

If you're not doing too well in the class, find some external sources of help. Half of everything is effort. Here's a really dumb example for you. Say, a student takes the AP Calc BC class, and ends up with a B both semesters, but they don't take the exam (anyone in the right mind would think they knew the subject). It really looks bad. I've been told that by all my AP teachers, as well as my counselor. I'll reiterate myself and tell you how important it is to show that you tried, as your friend said. A 2 on the exam, but passing the class is much more attractive than dropping out at the last minute. Then again, the choice is up to you. I hope this helped.

[yujo]

I want to urge you to take the test. It's really important to do so.

Not just because the college takes consideration of the AP scores (and they do because the test is the best way to evaluate future performance in their college courses) but also because taking an AP helps you even after you've gotten into a college. The credit it stands for really helps you by opting you out of many classes and the less classes you have to take the better because that leaves more room for you to take classes you are actually interested in. And it doesn't put your GPA at risk with some incredibly competitive class that every entry level student has to take.

At the college I go to, getting a 5 in the AP Calculus BC test privileges you to skip Math 1B, which is quite possibly the hardest math course on the entire campus. This is because the course is a weed out course, where the professor is instructed to kill every student with the toughest problems possible. You can skip nearly 200 hours of torture if you just get good AP scores.

And lastly, it's good for yourself to take the test because other than the grade in the course (which hardly anyone cares about anyway) it's the test that really makes a lasting difference and shows on the transcript that matters (your college one). You owe it to yourself to take the test and see how you did especially since you worked so hard on that class (which I assume you did).

I know this seems a bit far away for a high school student just trying to make it into a college but try to think a bit into the future. It'll really help yourself a great deal.

Now for the workload. I too didn't take a single AP class before my junior year, where I took three. It was a hard transition yes but I made it work by cutting friends out and focusing on the work that it took. While everyone else was out hanging out at the local Costco (lame!) I was reading up on AP US History and writing practice code on AP Computer Science. You just have to be willing to put in the work, because there are plenty of people out there who are.

[CALI-sweetie]

I know how you feel. Last year, I studied for AP psych and I got a 4. I studied a little for U.S. History and not at all for Envisci, 3 on each.


This year I'm just like ok WHATEVER. ap calc means nothing to me. I'm playing music in my head while the teacher is talking. 2 weeks ago the teacher asked me to read my homework out loud (which I copied from my friend) and I read 'ln' as "lane". uh... yeah. I had never heard of natural log until that week. Apparently we've been doing it since algebra??? (which I slept through too)

AH WELL. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a 3 because last year during Envisci-, I didn't even read the probles for the multiple choice and i just put like a, b, d, c, a, a, a, and whatever I felt like. I just tried on the essay portion, which I probably got credit for, earning me a 3. So whatever. I'll just BS the essay on the calc exam and hope it works.

[carol]

Well some schools won't accept APs. Some kids don't want to take the AP exam because they don't want to get the credits for it. Everyone knows math is difficult in college. So why would some want to skip a level just to end up in an even harder math class? That's the logic of some kids. It's better to not take the exam than to take it, maybe do well & skip a level just to fail that course in college.

[plusone]

it looks bad if you had the opportunity to take them, yet didnt. it make look as if you shied away from challenging yourself in high school. i would strongly advise you to take extra time getting help for your AP courses and take the AP test in may

and just a side note, what im hearing a lot is that even though a 3 is a passing grade, most colleges dont think too highly of 3s due to the increased competition in the student pool... many of the colleges wont give you credit for those courses unless you get at least a 4 or a 5. of course, every school is different so dont panic

[xingjing]

As everybody has said, it does sort of reflect badly. Because, why did you take the class if you weren't planning on taking the AP exam? You could have taken another class. And, contrary to what other people have said, it can help you save money in college because some colleges will accept your AP credits. Sure, not all of them accept your AP credits, but having it is better than not having it.

But if you're going to get a bad score, then I would suggest you not gambling that. Because, of course, a 2/3 on the AP exam doesn't reflect too well either.

But, once again, it's up to you.

[MUGETSU]

If you're going to take it later in college, why not just buckle down and work you butt off and study?

You can't run away from math. lol

I felt that the APs weren't even that hard.

I took Psychology, US Government, and Comparative Politics and got a 4 on all of them, enough for credit.

I should have taken more!

[ookikioo]

well taking a course AP is better than taking it regularly because it'll at least say AP on your transcript. if you do bad on the AP test, you dont have to put that down on your transcript. like...i'm taking dual/AP credit for government next year and depending on what college im applying to, ill put down dual or AP (dual is getting college credit based on your grade average in that class and only applies in-state). yea, you should check out what colleges accept for AP tests. i know for sure colleges don't accept 1's or 2's. some accept 3's, but most accept 4's or 5's. a 3 will look nice, but you wont get credit for it (at least not in any of the schools i'm applying for). so yea =/. OR you could take the AP test this year and take it again the next year...i'm doing that for English III AP test...well cause i think im gonna do bad this year -__-;;.

[mp.ARK]

It's gonna look REALLY lame on your college application if you don't take an AP exam for an AP class.
Think of it as ditching the final for a class. By all means, you must take the AP exam. In fact, it's better to take the AP exam and fail than to not take it at all.

[sphynkter]

i don't think it's that hard to get a 3 on the calc ab test. when you get put into ap calc, that means you're at least partially good in math. why wouldn't you just take it? you never know how you will do. you might even surprise yourself. back when i was in high school all the ap teachers would give you hell if you were thinking of not taking the ap test.

[dianahah]

I suggest taking the test. I talked to my counselor about it last year when I took AP World History and she said that it's better to take it and just get it over with. If you don't do well then there's always that possibility of not sending it to the college/university you're applying to. If you pass, then that's great =D Wow, you're taking 3 your first year!? I only took one as a sophmore but I'm a junior now and taking college classes, so it's sorta like AP, except the whole class is a grade, not just the test. I also suggest having a talk with your counselor about taking it or not. And if you do decide to take it, you can always ask the school to help pay for the test (that is if your household income qualifies). I know a few of my friends only had to pay like ten dollars for each of their tests last year. Anyway, goodluck with the AP classes & tests!!!