The way in which the AP scores are reported change each year; be certain you know the rules prior to taking an exam. For instance, it has sometimes been the case that scores can be withheld entirely (with no record of having taken the exam); other years, the exam is listed to universities as “score withheld”. Still other years, it’s been possible to completely cancel the record of having taken the test only prior to receiving your score.
If you wish to attend a university whose admission requirements you easily meet but wish to graduate early, this is of no import: take all the tests you might plausibly pass. If, however, a prestigious university would be highly beneficial to your expected goals in life, you would be well advised to calculate your chances of doing well on an exam prior to taking it along with your ability to hide the results if a poor score is obtained. Naturally, if you are taking a high school AP course, failure to take/do well on the exam will look particularly bad. If you simply decided (as I did) that watching Forrest Gump provides adequate preparation for the US History AP, then this does not apply to quite the same extent.
The way in which the AP scores are reported change each year; be certain you know the rules prior to taking an exam. For instance, it has sometimes been the case that scores can be withheld entirely (with no record of having taken the exam); other years, the exam is listed to universities as “score withheld”. Still other years, it’s been possible to completely cancel the record of having taken the test only prior to receiving your score.
If you wish to attend a university whose admission requirements you easily meet but wish to graduate early, this is of no import: take all the tests you might plausibly pass. If, however, a prestigious university would be highly beneficial to your expected goals in life, you would be well advised to calculate your chances of doing well on an exam prior to taking it along with your ability to hide the results if a poor score is obtained. Naturally, if you are taking a high school AP course, failure to take/do well on the exam will look particularly bad. If you simply decided (as I did) that watching Forrest Gump provides adequate preparation for the US History AP, then this does not apply to quite the same extent.