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What are AP Scholar Awards?
By
Gabriel Jimenez-Ekman
Gabriel Jimenez-Ekman is a content editor and writer at Scholarships360. He has managed communications and written content for a diverse array of organizations, including a farmer’s market, a concert venue, a student farm, an environmental NGO, and a PR agency. Gabriel graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in sociology.
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Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.
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The College Board offers AP Scholar Awards to students who perform exceptionally on AP Exams. But what are the benefits of these awards, and how do students apply for them?
In this article, we’ll explain all of that and more. We’ll start by summarizing what AP Exams are and follow that up with a short description of AP Scholar Awards. Then, we’ll get into the benefits these awards have for students and give you some other resources for AP Exams. Let’s get started!
What are AP Exams?
The College Board offers AP Exams to assess a student’s proficiency in a particular topic. These exams are made to match AP Courses, a set of course curriculums that the College Board designs to be taught at high schools all over the United States. After a student completes their course, they can take an AP Exam that assesses their knowledge of everything they learned.
These exams can award the student with class placement and/or class credit in college. Although they do not impact the student’s grade in the class, they can help bolster their college application if the student chooses to showcase their score. And beyond that, they can qualify students for AP Scholar Awards.
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What are the AP Scholar Awards?
The College Board offers AP Scholar Awards to students who perform well across multiple AP Exams. There are a few different AP Scholar Awards for different levels of AP achievement. Here are the different descriptions of the award according to the College Board:
Types of AP Scholar Awards
| Award | Criteria |
| AP Scholar | Must earn scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams. |
| AP Scholar with Honor | Must earn an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and score 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. |
| AP Scholar with Distinction | Must earn an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken and score 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. |
| AP International Diploma (APID) | Visit APID to see the criteria for this award. |
How to receive your AP Scholar Award
If you meet the College Board’s criteria listed above, you should get your AP Scholar Award automatically. They will contact you when they send you your scores and inform you that you’ve won an AP Scholar Award.
If you believe that you have met these criteria, but haven’t heard from the College Board, try contacting them. This could occur if you are using scores from multiple years and there was an incongruence in your account.
Benefits of receiving an AP Scholar Award
The benefits of an AP Scholar Award all come in being able to put it on your resume and college applications. It’s an impressive achievement that demonstrates to colleges, universities, and internships that you have completed several college-level courses and excelled in them.
This could help tip the scales on admissions decisions by colleges and potentially even on scholarships. The benefits of the award also come in the form of the college credit and placement that those AP scores may grant you. This advantage depends on the university you choose, however.
Key Takeaways
Frequently asked questions about AP scholar awards
Do I have to take all my AP tests in the same year to win an AP Scholar Award?
Does the AP Scholar Award come with a scholarship?
Do colleges care about the AP Scholar Award?
However, it’s worth noting that significance may vary by school. Some schools weigh AP Test scores more heavily than others. So, although an AP Scholar Award is definitely a boost to your application, it may be a heavier advantage at some universities than at others.
How do I get a good AP Exam score?
How much do AP exams cost?
