Advanced Placement (AP)
Advanced Placement (AP) is a College Board program of college-level courses and exams that high school students can take for college credit and admissions credibility.
Key Facts
- • 38+ AP subjects, from Calculus to US History to Computer Science.
- • Exams are scored 1-5; most colleges give credit for scores of 4 or 5.
- • Taking the exam does NOT require taking the official course.
- • For selective US universities, the number and rigor of APs matters more than the scores themselves.
- • Korean international school students typically take 5-6 APs across their junior and senior years.
Why APs matter for US admissions
AP courses are the most common way US high schools signal academic rigor. When an admissions officer reads a transcript, they don't just look at the grades — they look at how hard the courses were. A 4.0 GPA in regular classes is weaker than a 3.8 GPA in five AP classes at most selective schools.
For Korean students attending international schools, this is usually the mechanism by which your academic profile gets compared to US applicants. The School Profile your counselor sends includes context on which APs were available and how many students typically take them.
Strategy for Korean students
The number of APs matters more than the scores. Admissions officers see the scores but care more that you took the challenge in the first place. A student with 6 APs and two 3s still looks stronger than a student with 2 APs and two 5s.
That said, very low AP scores (1s and 2s) at selective schools can hurt. If you're unsure you'll score at least 3, consider self-studying without taking the exam, or choosing a different AP subject that better fits your strengths.
Korean students at non-international schools can still take AP exams as external test-takers — you just register for the exam without attending an AP class. This is one of the best ways to signal academic rigor to US universities from a Korean general high school.
Reviewed by Sprint Admissions Team · Updated April 2026
Related terms
International Baccalaureate (IB)
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a rigorous 2-year internationally recognized high school curriculum for grades 11–12, respected by US universities as strong evidence of academic readiness when the student earns a full IB Diploma of 24+ points out of 45.
GPA (Unweighted / Weighted)
GPA (Grade Point Average) is a summary of a student's overall academic performance, typically on a 4.0 scale in the US system — with 'unweighted' counting all courses equally and 'weighted' adding bonus points for Honors, AP, or IB courses.
Academic Transcript
An academic transcript is an official record from a high school listing every course a student has taken, the grade earned in each, and the overall GPA or class rank — submitted to US colleges through the Common App as the foundational document of an application.