Q&A: What If I Bombed an AP Exam? Do I Have to Report the Score? Should I Cancel It If I Did Poorly?

Q1: Do AP scores have to be reported to colleges?

Not required. AP scores are managed independently by the College Board and are not automatically sent to the colleges you apply to. Whether to report them is entirely up to the student.

• When applying, you can choose to report only the subjects where you performed well.

• Low-scoring subjects can simply be left off, and colleges won't find out on their own.

• If a subject has already been mentioned in your resume or activities list, you should keep things consistent.

Note: A small number of schools (such as certain honors programs) require applicants to report all AP scores, so be sure to check that school's specific policy before applying.

Q2: If I did poorly, do I need to pay to cancel the score?

First, understand the difference between the two options:

• Cancel: Permanently deletes the score, with no possibility of recovery, and the fee is non-refundable.

• Withhold: Prevents the score from being sent to specific schools, at $10 per school. The score itself is still kept on file.

In most cases, there's no need to cancel a score, since colleges don't automatically receive them anyway. Simply choosing not to report it is enough.

Han Education's recommended approach:

① Before scores are released: don't take any action.

② Once you see the scores: only report subjects with a 4 or higher.

③ For subjects with a 1–3: just don't report them. There's no need to spend money cancelling.

④ If you want to use scores for college credit: check each target school's minimum score requirement in advance, as most require a 4 or 5.

If you have any questions towards college application, feel free to reach out to us, our consultants are more than happy to provide more insights to you!