Changes to Posting AP Test Scores
As mentioned in a previous article, this year has brought about a lot of change for credit evaluation. The transition of work and creation of the Credit Evaluation Services team, implementation of new systems, and now adjusting the evaluation and auto-posting of Advanced Placement (AP) test scores.
Using the foundational process that Admissions created, the Office of the Registrar made some changes to that process with the help of developer Dale Redmond. In this revised process, scores are loaded from the College Board – this year it was done with the help of Admissions – and on July 8, thousands of AP exam scores were received for incoming freshmen and transfer students, as well as prospective students. Then a query was applied to identify these students and post the credits based on a set of rules.
Changes were also made to the Credit By Exam webpage to reflect accurate and up-to-date information to aid students and advisors in quickly understanding how students may receive test credits.
Using this adjusted process and providing more accurate information, this year the Credit Evaluation Services team was able to turn around all AP scores that it received in less than 24 hours. This quick turnaround has proved extremely beneficial for enrollment and advising at SOAR.
The changes to the process are not the only changes that were noticed this year; the amount of AP scores that were received decreased. The university only received about half the number of records as previous amounts. After reaching out to the College Board, they indicated that the decrease was due a change to their score sending procedures and that participation levels during the first year of this new process are not what they had hoped. Students now need to go online to their College Board account and send the scores from there instead of doing it during exam registration. We’ll also reach out to incoming students. I’m drafting an email to send to all incoming freshmen who have not sent a 2020 AP score.
While the slight changes that have already been made to the AP posting process have shown great results, the Credit Evaluation Services Team does not want to stop there. The team is currently starting work with various departments, especially within the College of Letters & Science, to review exam information and update the query and posting rules for all test scores. And in the future the team will automate other test credits, such as International Baccalaureate (IB) and College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams.