AP Guidelines | University of Michigan Office of Undergraduate Admissions (2023)

FAQs

Is 5 APs enough? ›

Aim for four to eight AP exams in your junior and senior years. For competitive Ivy League schools, admission officers also want to see AP courses for core subject areas and additional courses. If possible, aim to pass about seven to 12 AP exams if applying to these highly selective schools.

To use your free score send, sign in to My AP, go to My AP Profile, select the Score Send tab and choose the college, university, or scholarship organization that you want to receive your score report.

To be a competitive candidate for admission, you will need to take at least 8 AP® classes, more if you can. It is a good idea to take 1 AP® course in each of the following core disciplines: English, Foreign Language, History, Math, and Science to impress the admissions officers.

Test scores, including AP or IB exams, can be self-reported on your University of Michigan application portal once you have submitted your application. For Regular Decision consideration, the deadline to submit test scores is Feb. 1.

Students looking to earn admission to highly selective colleges should take multiple AP classes to bolster their applications and demonstrate they can handle challenging coursework. Some college admissions experts recommend taking as many as 7-12 AP courses before applying to the most elite universities.

Harvard does accept AP Credit for classes in which a student earned a 5 on the AP Exam. These credits are accepted under a program called “Advanced Standing.” To qualify, students must earn a 5 on a minimum of 4 AP tests, transferring a total of 32 credits.

Granting of credit for Advanced Placement Examination scores is determined individually by the faculty in the University of Michigan undergraduate schools and colleges. Some departments grant credit and placement for a score of 3 or above on a few examinations, most departments require a score of 4 or 5.

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.

While your AP scores won't affect your college admission chances, many schools may still request (or even require) that you submit the information once you receive your results.

If that answer isn't fully satisfying, here is a look at the average number of APs students tend to take over the course of their high school years, broken down by college selectivity: Selective schools: around 7–12 APs. Semi-selective schools: 4–8 APs. Less selective schools: 1–5 APs.

Is 10 APs enough? ›

For students aiming for the Ivy League and Top 20 schools in the United States, a good target is to take (and pass) 10-14 AP classes throughout your high school career — or 3-4 each year.

If your goal is to get accepted into an Ivy/Elite/1st Tier Liberal Arts College, then 5-6 APs is on the low side. Most successful admits have 8-12 APs, probably 9-10 is the average and norm.

The College Board

Your score report includes all your scores from all the AP Exams you took in the past. Your entire score history will be sent to your designated college, university, or scholarship program unless you choose to withhold or cancel any of your scores.

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.

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.

To be competitive at some of the most highly selective colleges in the country, 8-12 AP courses may be the sweet spot amount, assuming the student can handle that level of rigor. There are no colleges out there that require you to take 14, 17, or some other obscene number of Advanced Placement offerings.

Take as many as you can handle without spreading yourself thin, and make sure you will have time to study for the ACT or SAT this year. An Ivy League hopeful might take 3 to 5 AP classes, while if you're aiming for less-selective schools, 2 to 4 would be enough.

If you have a good GPA, a solid SAT/ACT score, a few extracurriculars, and a good story for your college essays, then 2–3 AP courses isn't something bad at all. You can still get into college, and you might find it easier than others who murdered their GPA's with taking too heavy a load of AP classes.

It depends on the rest of your application. There is no guaranteed way to get into an Ivy League college. Because of this, there is no magic number of AP classes you should take. A typical Ivy League applicant, however, will have taken between 7 and 12 AP classes.

Physics 1

This class combines physics, scientific inquiry, and algebra. AP Physics 1 is considered one of the hardest AP classes, covering topics like Newtonian mechanics and electrical charge and force. Students also spend about 25% of their class time performing college-level lab experiments and writing reports.

Does Harvard prefer AP or IB? ›

Does Harvard prefer IB or AP courses? Harvard does not explicitly state a preference for IB or AP courses. To receive credit for IB classes, accepted students must earn an IB diploma. Incoming students must earn a score of 5 on at least four AP exams to earn college credit at Harvard.

Yes! It's important to remember that AP scores are not only part of the college admissions process; they can also be valuable once you get to college. Policies vary quite widely in terms of which colleges grant credit for which tests.

Credit or advanced standing may be granted to students who have participated in the College Board Advanced Placement Program in their high schools. On most Advanced Placement Examinations a score of 3 or better will earn waivers or academic credit for equivalent courses.

A cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher with strong grade performance. 24 or more credits deemed transferable to MSU, earned after high school graduation. Applicants with less than 24 transferable credits are required to provide final high school transcripts.

To withhold a score, you must notify the College Board by sending them a Score Withholding Form —filled out correctly with your parent/guardian's signature—and mail or fax it to the address on the form by June 15 of the year in which you took the exam. The fee to withhold an AP score is $10 per score per college.

In fact, on the AP® rubric, a 1 is described as “no recommendation”. Because of that, no college in the United States of overseas will accept an AP® score of 1 and give you college credit.

Students who earn AP scores of 2 are well prepared to succeed in introductory college coursework. Compared to academically similar college peers who did not take the AP course, AP students who earn scores of 2 perform as well or better when they take those introductory college courses.

AP scores have very, very little impact on college admissions, especially if the exam has nothing to do with your major. If you don't report, they probably won't really notice. They can't assume you failed, as maybe you never took the exam in the first place. They care more about your grade in the class.

Colleges will not look at your score

If you are still worried that your college may be off put by a low score, you can opt not to send your AP score. Students have the option not to send their scores to any schools; you can wait until you get your score back to make any decisions.

Particularly high AP scores (i.e., 5s in a variety of subjects) may be helpful for very selective institutions where every bit of edge to differentiate you from other elite students can count. Similarly, low AP scores (i.e., 1 or 2) can be a red flag to selective institutions.

Is 5 AP classes too much junior year? ›

You can definitely take 5 APs, but just make sure to stay on top of your work and spend a good amount of time studying to make sure you know the material.

Many schools treat AP classes differently when calculating a student's grade point average (GPA). Rather than the traditional 4.0 scale, AP classes are weighted on a 5.0 scale — in an AP class, an A is equivalent to 5.0 instead of 4.0, and a B is equal to 4.0 instead of 3.0.

Many competitive applicants at top universities take anywhere from 7 – 12 AP classes throughout high school. In fact, some universities even require students to take multiple AP classes in order for any of them to count as college credit.

Colleges like them both. Both honors and AP courses are rigorous courses that most high schools weight more heavily on your transcript. AP courses, however, culminate in the AP Exam. Good AP scores show colleges you are ready to succeed at college-level work and can even earn you college credits.

Generally, highly selective schools will want to see you take as many AP courses and exams as possible (and do well in them), whereas less selective schools or state universities will care less about the rigor of your transcript.

The record for the most Advanced Placement tests ever taken is 30 — AP scholar Justin Zhu even earned the highest score possible on 26 of the 30 tests he took. Is it a good idea to encourage your child to break Justin's record? Absolutely not.

If you are already have a 4.0, have taken a few AP classes, and like the challenge, then you can probably handle four AP's. My son is a junior and currently taking 4 AP's. It's can be difficult at times, but manageable if aren't over committed with EC's or a job.

United States History, Biology, English Literature, Calculus BC, Physics C, and Chemistry are often named as the hardest AP classes and tests. These classes have large curriculums, tough tests, and conceptually difficult material.

You, the college, university, or scholarship program you designated in My AP, and educators in your school and district, including your AP teachers, will automatically receive your scores once they're released.

Do AP Exams matter senior year? ›

Remember that if you take an AP Exam in your senior year and designate a college to receive your scores, that college will receive your entire score report from all AP Exams you've taken throughout high school unless you have requested score(s) to be withheld or canceled.

Students take it because they want to. However, colleges can rescind admissions if your senior year grades drop below par. They do not like to see anyone “slacking”; make sure to continue trying your best. Lots of colleges want to see mid year and/or final transcripts.

In most cases, a 3 or higher is considered a solid AP score. But you can get an even better idea of how good your AP score is by comparing it to the average score for that test that year. For example, the average score for AP Biology was 2.83 in 2021. Anything higher would be considered above average for that test.

For AP tests, you can self-report your scores." Stanford and MIT said the same thing as well. Princeton puts this policy directly on their website: "We recommend that you self-report all of your AP or IB scores on your application.

Institutions generally acknowledge a 4 or a 5 on the AP exam, but some may even grant credit and/or placement for a 3. These scores indicate that you are qualified for an introductory-level college course.

Evidence of rigor: Students with AP on their high school transcripts show exposure to rigorous, college-level curricula—a key element of college readiness. Priority admission: AP Exam scores can be used as admissions criteria for special programs or honors colleges.

Students may receive credit for some courses by taking the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) exam. Test scores are valid for five (5) years. View accepted courses for college placement and/or credit below.

An AP® score of 5 is the best that you could have done on the AP® exam. If you earned a 5, then congratulations! Getting a 5 means that you have agonized over this exam, studying and working over all else.

Institutions generally acknowledge a 4 or a 5 on the AP exam, but some may even grant credit and/or placement for a 3. These scores indicate that you are qualified for an introductory-level college course. In most colleges, however, you will see that they have different score requirements for different courses.

A 4 or a 5 is the AP score that will most likely earn you college AP credit. Of course, no matter how you do on the AP test, you still get a grade for that AP class from your high school. Good grades in AP courses always look good on your transcript!

Is it hard to get AP score of 5? ›

The odds of passing with a 5—the highest score—are quite low on any exam: between 10% and 20% for most tests. They are even lower for popular tests, such as AP English Lit and AP Environmental Science, which have 5 rates below 10%.

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.

The College Board considers a score of 3 or higher a passing grade. That said, some colleges require a 4 or 5 to award credit. Whether a 3 is a good AP score depends on the colleges you're applying to.

No, if you only answer 50% of the questions correctly on an AP test, you are extremely unlikely to score a 5. As an example, one of the hardest AP exams, AP Physics C: Mechanics, had a 55.6% cutoff to earn a 5 in 2022.

The Key Number

If that answer isn't fully satisfying, here is a look at the average number of APs students tend to take over the course of their high school years, broken down by college selectivity: Selective schools: around 7–12 APs. Semi-selective schools: 4–8 APs. Less selective schools: 1–5 APs.

The good news is that a failed exam does not affect your GPA. In addition, you can retake the AP exam the next year. To prepare, you can re-enroll in the class, study on your own, or hire a tutor who can help you tackle the more challenging subjects on the test.

The first thing that you should do is check the AP Score credit policy for the colleges that you are applying to. If they will give you credit for the 3, then by all means report it! On the other hand, if they only give credit for a 5 on that exam (not even for a 4), you may want to hold off.

At many high schools, AP Physics is notorious for its difficulty level. In addition, it has the lowest overall pass rate of any AP exam.