AP Scores Sent to Colleges: Automatic or Not?

I'm a bit confused about how AP scores work for college applications. Are my AP scores automatically sent to colleges when I apply, or do I need to send them in separately? Thanks for the clarification!

You have a valid question, and the answer is that AP scores are not automatically sent to colleges during the application process. In most cases, colleges don't require official AP score reports during the application and admission process. Instead, they usually ask you to self-report your AP scores on the application itself, and this is typically sufficient for their evaluation.

If you are admitted and choose to attend a particular college, you will then need to send your official AP score report from the College Board to that institution in order to receive potential course credit or advanced standing. To do this, you can log into your College Board account, select the scores you want to send, and pay the necessary fees (unless you qualify for a fee waiver). Keep in mind that some colleges have specific deadlines for submitting AP scores to receive credit, so make sure you're aware of those deadlines.

In summary, while you'll self-report your AP scores on your college applications, you only need to send official score reports to the college you ultimately enroll in for credit or advanced placement purposes.