Will Colleges Accept At-Home AP Exam Scores?
COVID-19 Series The Princeton Review
Hi, everyone.
I’m Rob Franek, Editor-in-Chief at The Princeton Review, here to answer a question we’ve
been getting a lot: Will colleges accept at-home AP scores?
Here’s the short answer: overwhelmingly, yes.
For the most part, what we are hearing from colleges is that they will treat this year’s
AP exam scores exactly as they have treated AP exam scores in years past.
The University of California system—which is noteworthy for having gone test-optional
for the SAT and ACT in the 2020 admissions cycle—has said: “UC recognizes the effort
that students have already applied in these challenging courses and will award UC credit
for 2020 AP Exams completed with scores of 3, 4, or 5, consistent with previous years.”
Far from being critical of the at-home AP exams, in fact, many colleges are eager for
the opportunity to recognize students’ hard work, especially at this challenging time.
If you’re considering a public college…here’s something you may not know: Most AP students
live in states where the state mandates that every public college and university give students
college credit for an AP score of 3 or better.
AND: 28 of the 31 state systems that give AP credit have already confirmed that they
will honor this year’s AP exam scores as they have in years past.
These include large state systems like Texas and Connecticut, and—as I mentioned earlier—California.
The 3 systems that haven’t confirmed yet are waiting for their governors to sign off.
It’s not just public colleges—we’re hearing the same thing from private schools:
They will also honor this year’s AP exam scores as they have in years past.
College Board has reported receiving letters of support from USC, Dartmouth, Yale, NYU,
and Cornell—to name a few top schools that will accept your at-home AP scores.
A representative from Boston University, is on record saying that it’s “heartening
and rewarding” to see how College Board is working to provide an exam for students
who have “literally spent their entire high school years preparing for this.”
Now, not every school has signed off.
Harvard, for instance, will no longer recognize AP exam scores in awarding credit toward your
degree (but this change is not just for AP—it’s for any pre-matriculation credentials including
the IB diploma—and it’s also not just for 2020, but for the foreseeable future).
Harvard will still use the AP exams for placement and even fulfillment of the College’s language
requirement.
And take heart that Harvard is the exception.
College Board has said: “We’re confident that the vast majority of Higher Ed institutions
will award credit as they have in the past.
We’ve spoken with hundreds of institutions across the country who support our solution
for this year’s AP Exams.”
We at The Princeton Review are also hearing that same support from the colleges we’ve
spoken to.
So if you’re already registered and you’re on the fence about whether your AP scores
will be valuable to you—they will be.
Given the current economic situation, those college credits could be more important than
ever.
You’ve still got time to prepare, so go get the AP score you’re capable of.
We’re here to help, too.
Check out our free daily AP livestreams right here on YouTube.
We’ve also got practice problems, Cram Courses, tutoring, and more.
Check the description for links to those resources.
Thanks for watching.
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Be back with you tomorrow.