AP Scholar Information

Resource 1 > Adapted from Wikipedia

Each year, the AP program recognizes students who have performed exceptionally well on AP examinations. Exams are taken in May and awards are usually granted in September. The following designations can be earned:

AP Scholar Awards

Designation	Criteria
AP Scholar	Grades of 3 or better on three or more AP exams.
AP Scholar with Honor	Grades of 3 or better on four or more AP exams and an average of 3.25 on all* AP exams taken.
AP Scholar with Distinction	Grades of 3 or better on five or more AP exams and an average of 3.5 on all* AP exams taken.
National AP Scholar	Grades of 4 or better on eight or more AP exams and an average of 4 on all* AP exams. Must be a student in the United States.
National AP Scholar (Canada)	Grades of 4 or better on five or more AP exams and an average of 4 on all* AP exams taken. Must be a student in Canada.
AP State Scholar	Top male and female student in each U.S. state (and the District of Columbia) ranked first by the greatest number of exams with a grade 3 or higher and then by highest average on all* AP exams taken.
Department of Defense for Education Activity (DoDEA) Scholar	Top male and female student among all DoDEA schools, ranked first by the greatest number of exams with a grade 3 or higher and then by highest average on all* AP exams taken. Any recipient of this award must also at least meet the criteria for an AP Scholar.
AP International Scholar	Same as the AP State Scholar Award and DoDEA Scholar awards except the student must attend an American international school (which must also not be a DoDEA school).

Note: "All AP exams taken" refers to all AP exams taken. It is not restricted to the year in which the award is issued.

Resource 2 >> AP Scholar Information from the College Board

Resource Review:

This resource is as official as it gets, as it comes from the test-maker itself. It offers a more comprehensive introduction than resource 1, and also offers statistics of how many students were awarded with each award described above last year (these are quite interesting statistics!). Then the resource covers the basic descriptions of each AP scholarship > it is not recommended to use this resource as the above offers the same in a much more concise manner. However, this resource does finally include some further notes, some self-explanatory and obvious as well as the some of the non-obvious ones including which grades to include/exclude when determining the national AP scholar for example. Finally, this official source mentions some exceptions, including which the AP exams that are not included in the calculation process. Worth checking out if you would like to clear up some ambiguities.