AP scores — AP stands for Advanced Placement — are scores that you’ve attained from taking an AP test at the end of a high school AP course. Some basic examples of AP classes in high school include AP Biology (AP Bio), AP Calculus (both AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC), AP US History, and many more. One of the reasons why AP scores are significant is because, by scoring well on AP tests, you may be able to use your success on AP tests to earn credits at colleges you plan to attend. Put another way, if you got the best score on the AP Bio exam, you may not have to take an introductory biology course at your college that’s normally required because you received credit for taking it thanks to your AP test score.
Equally important, however, is not only scoring well on AP tests, but knowing how to send AP scores to colleges and universities. If you don’t know how to send AP scores to colleges, then your high scores on AP tests will come to nothing in terms of college credits.
Read on to find out how to send AP scores to colleges and universities.
How to Send AP Scores to Colleges and Universities
In order to (potentially) get college credit or placement for your AP scores, you must request that College Board send an official AP score report to the colleges you’re choosing. Like with the SAT exam, College Board is the ultimate authority on AP tests and scores.
There are essentially four ways of sending AP scores to colleges. They include:
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Send your free AP score report before the deadline
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Send AP score reports online at anytime
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Send AP score reports by mail or fax anytime
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Send or obtain a copy of archived AP score reports
While there are multiple ways of sending AP scores to colleges, there are some caveats. For instance, if you plan to use your free AP score sending option, you should be aware that you can only send your free AP score to one recipient every year that you take AP tests. If you want to send multiple AP test scores to multiple colleges, you’ll have to utilize some of the other methods of sending AP scores to colleges.
Free AP Score Sending Deadline
Another critical point to be aware of is that, if you utilize the free AP score report, you’ll have to do this by a specific deadline. The free AP score report must be sent by June 20. After that deadline, you’ll have to utilize the other three methods of sending AP scores to colleges, which typically cost a fee.
How to Send AP Scores to Colleges for Free
If you want to send AP scores to college for free, you’ll have to send the AP score report the same year you took the AP tests. Fortunately, much of the AP test and score process is automatic. For instance, once you’ve taken your AP tests, the scores are sent to the College Board. Thus, in order to send AP scores to college for free, you will have to create or have an account at College Board. But from there, the steps for sending AP scores to colleges is fairly easy:
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Sign in to your My AP page on your College Board account
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Click on the link for My AP Profile
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Click on the tab that says Score Send
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To find the college or university to send your AP scores to, start typing in the name of the college or university. Once it appears on the list, click on it, and click Save.
Just like you get one free credit report from the three credit bureaus a year, you get one free AP scores send to college a year. But that doesn’t mean you can’t send AP scores more than once a year. It just won’t be free.
How to Send AP Scores to Colleges Online
If you do or do not take advantage of the one free AP scores send per year, you can still send more AP score reports than only one per year. To send additional score reports or send a score report after the free AP scores send deadline, you can send them online anytime for a fee. If you’re a high school senior sending AP scores to colleges to get credit or placement from your college, take time to review your college’s deadline for receiving AP scores. In order to send AP scores to college online, perform the following steps:
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Choose standard or rush delivery: Choose rush delivery if you need to get your AP scores to your college before its deadline. Even though the process is online, Standard delivery takes about 7 to 14 business days, while rush delivery takes about 5 to 9 business days.
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Pay the online AP score sending fee: The standard delivery is $15 per report. For rush delivery, the fee is $25 per report.
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Sign into the system: Sign into College Board’s online score reporting system using your College Board log-in.
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Send AP scores to college: Click Send AP Scores and follow the instructions.
Sending AP scores to colleges online is very common nowadays. The reason why sending AP scores to colleges online through College Board has standard or rush delivery, however, is a bit confusing and not explained on the College Board website.
How to Send AP Scores to Colleges by Mail or Fax
This is another method of sending AP scores to colleges that can be done at any time, unlike the free AP score report that’s allowed once per year. Though mail and fax may seem outdated, they are still options available for you to take. The steps for sending AP scores to colleges by mail or fax is similar to sending them online:
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Choose standard or rush delivery: Choose rush delivery if you need to get your AP scores to your college before its deadline. Even though the process is online, Standard delivery takes about 7 to 14 business days, while rush delivery takes about 5 to 9 business days.
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Pay the delivery fee: You can pay by credit card, check, or money order. Standard delivery is $15 per report. For rush delivery, the fee is $25 per report.
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Compose a written request on paper: When you put together your written request, you’ll need to include the following information:
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Your full name, mailing address, phone number, sex, date of birth, and AP number(s) or AP ID.
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Name and address of your school.
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Full name of the AP exam(s) for which you’re requesting additional score reports; for example, you should write, “Calculus AB,” not simply “Calculus”; also include the year(s) you took the AP test(s).
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Credit card number and expiration date — necessary for fax orders — or a check or money order for the exact amount due. Make sure you write out checks and money orders payable to AP Exams.
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Name, city, state, and 4-digit college code(s) of the school(s) you would like to get your AP scores report.
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A signature from you or your parent/guardian.
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Send the request and payment: The address you send to depends on whether you’re paying by check, money order, or by credit card. Below you’ll find instructions for the various payment methods:
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Payment Method |
Mailing Address |
Fax Number (if applicable) |
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Paying by check or money order (made payable to AP Exams) |
College Board P.O. Box 21535 New York, NY 10087-1535 |
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Paying by credit card |
AP Services P.O. Box 6671 Princeton, NJ 08541-6671 |
610-290-8979 |
How to Send AP Scores to Colleges When They’ve Been Archived
This isn’t an uncommon situation. If the most recent time you took an AP test was more than four years ago, then your AP scores cannot be viewed from College Board’s online score reporting system. Since so much time has passed, your AP scores have been archived and you’ll therefore have to submit an AP Archived Score Request Form. Here are the steps for sending AP scores to colleges that have been archived:
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Download and complete the AP Archived Score Request Form: Fill out the form with your personal and academic information, such as the name and code of each institution you want to send your scores to and sign the form. You can find the AP Archived Score Request Form here.
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Prepare to pay a fee for the request: You can pay by credit card, check, or money order. The fee is $25 per report.
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Send the AP Archived Score Request Form and payment: The address you send the form and payment to depends on whether you’re paying by check,money order, or by credit card. Below you’ll find instructions for the various payment methods:
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Payment Method |
Mailing Address |
Fax Number (if applicable) |
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Paying by check or money order (made payable to AP Exams) |
College Board P.O. Box 21535 New York, NY 10087-1535 |
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Paying by credit card |
AP Services P.O. Box 6671 Princeton, NJ 08541-6671 |
610-290-8979 |
When Do AP Scores Come Out?
Just as important as knowing how to send AP scores to colleges is knowing when do AP scores come out. Your AP test scores are released in July. For 2022 AP tests, AP scores were made available on Tuesday, July 5, 2022. You can find out your AP scores by signing into your My AP page on your College Board account.
What Is an AP Number or AP ID?
Each time you take an AP test, you receive a unique identifier that allows the AP exam administration to track you, your information, and test scores. But here’s something significant to note: If you last sat for an AP test in 2019 or earlier, you would have received an AP number. This AP number was a unique 8-digit number used to identify you and your associated scores. In 2020, however, the AP number was replaced with the AP ID.
From 2020 onward, when you first enroll in a class section in My AP, you will be assigned a unique 8-digit alphanumeric code. This code is called your AP ID and it serves as your official AP identifier for the exam administration. Your AP ID is permanent and it will be used for any AP tests you take no matter the year you take them.
You’ll be given a personalized AP ID label sheet when you sit to take you AP exams. This personalized AP ID label sheet will contain labels with barcodes, with your AP ID printed beneath them. You will then attach your AP ID label to your answer sheet and test materials, which serves as connecting you to your AP test materials.
The Bottom Line on How to Send AP Scores to Colleges
Thus, sending AP scores to colleges can be done in any number of ways. If you’re willing to pay a fee, then sending AP scores to colleges online is probably the most convenient. The main thing to be aware of are any college deadlines in regards to receiving your AP test scores. This could make or break whether or not you potentially receive college credit for your good AP exam scores. Unfortunately, some colleges, especially highly selective colleges like Ivy League schools, often don’t give college credit even for top scores on AP exams. So, it’s essential to review the colleges you’re sending AP scores to and check their policies on giving course credit.
