The hectic AP exam season is finally over, meaning you can wave goodbye to stress and happily greet summer! You’ve likely already thrown away your notes and moved past senior year. Regardless of your coping mechanism, you can take a breath and relax.

But wait – what do you do once you receive those highly-anticipated and oh-so-scary AP scores? How do you find your scores, and what do you do with them? Don’t worry, Test Prep Score has answers to your most important AP score questions.

How Do I Find My AP Exam Scores?

AP exam scores will come out on July 5th, 2022. To access your AP scores, log in to College Board with your username and password and click on “My AP.” Next, scroll down to the blue hyperlink titled “See and send past AP exam scores.” From here, you can see all the AP scores you received from the current exam period, as well as previous years.

How Do I Interpret My AP Scores?

AP exam scores range from 1 to 5, with national averages varying from exam to exam (you can find 2021 score distributions here). Regardless of the numerical score you received on your exam, you should feel proud since completing an AP exam is an enormous feat. AP exams are becoming increasingly difficult since the exams measure collegiate comprehension. Don’t feel discouraged if you didn’t meet your expectations.

Using AP Scores for College Credit

When analyzing your scores, you can discover how you may qualify for college credit. Different schools have various score requirements for academic credit – some may require you to score at least a 4 or even a 5, while others may gladly accept a 3. However, most universities will not accept lower scores (1 or 2) for credit. Make sure you keep track of what schools you’re interested in, and their parameters for accepting credit.

Some schools convert qualifying scores directly to college classes. For example, at Boston University, a qualifying score of a 4 on AP Statistics translates directly to the class MA115 Statistics I, meaning that students don’t need to enroll in the course, and some graduation requirements get fulfilled (this, again, is very specific to the school).

On the other hand, some AP exams do not translate directly to a class and won’t help you fulfill graduation requirements. For example, imagine you enroll in Boston University after scoring a 4 on AP English Language and Composition. Boston University will grant you four credits of the 128 credits required to graduate but doesn’t satisfy any general education requirements. Make sure you research the schools you’re interested in and their policies regarding the AP exams you’ve taken (or plan to take in the coming years).

What Should I Do With My AP Scores?

College admission teams do not automatically receive your AP exam scores – you must distribute them through the College Board. You can send out scores for free once each year to a college of your choosing, while any additional schools require a one-time fee of $15 for standard delivery and $25 for rush delivery.

To use your free score send, click on the blue hyperlink titled “Taking an exam in 2022? Choose a college or university to send scores to for free” after clicking on the “My AP” page. Next, create or confirm your profile with your information, and send your scores to the university of your choice. This year’s deadline is June 20th, so mark your calendars immediately!

To send AP scores to more colleges on your list, visit your AP scores page again and click on “send scores” at the top of the page. From here, you can select as many schools as you’d like and make the payment. It takes a little over a week for schools to receive your scores with standard delivery, so plan accordingly.

What’s The Big Deal About AP Exam Scores?

Completing AP exams can also help you during the college admissions process. When colleges see good scores on past AP exams, it sends a signal that those students are strong candidates. We recommend using the free score send once you know what school you are attending, so they have access to your scores and can give you credit accordingly. Regardless, pat yourself on the back for completing your exams – you’re on track to success!