If you missed the November order deadline but it is still before March 13, you can register late through your school for a $40 to $50 per-exam fee. If it is past March 13, you generally cannot test that year. Either way, set a reminder for next year.
The right next step depends entirely on which deadline you missed and how far past it you are.
Email or visit your AP coordinator today. They can add you to the school's exam order. Expect a $40 to $50 per-exam late fee on top of the standard $99 fee.
Schools cannot register students after March 13. Talk to your AP coordinator anyway — there are narrow exceptions for second-semester courses and transfer students. Otherwise, set a reminder for next November.
College Board explicitly states: "If your class doesn't start until the spring or you've transferred to a new school after the exam ordering deadline, your AP coordinator will be able to order your exam, and you won't be charged a late order fee."
The dollar cost is not huge in absolute terms, but it stacks fast if you have multiple AP exams to register for. Multiplied across three or four AP classes, the late fees alone can match a whole extra exam.
Multiplied across three AP exams, the school late fee alone is $120 to $150 — enough to register for an entire additional exam. The reminder is free.
See the full guide on AP exam registration reminders or check the 2026 deadline calendar for exact dates.
Set the reminder for November 14, 2026 (next initial deadline):
Done in seconds. No sign-up required.
Between mid-November and March 13, you can still register late through your school's AP coordinator with a $40 to $50 per-exam late fee. After March 13, schools generally cannot order or change exams at all. You would have to wait for the next May testing cycle.
Most US high schools charge $40 to $50 per exam for any registration submitted between mid-November and the March 13 final deadline. This fee is set by the school based on what College Board passes through ($225 late order fee per school, divided across late registrations).
Generally no. March 13 is the final order deadline for College Board, and after that schools cannot add new exam orders. The only exception is full-year courses or transfers — students whose AP class did not start until spring, or who transferred schools after the order deadline, can sometimes still be registered without a late fee. Talk to the AP coordinator at your new school.
Email or visit your school's AP coordinator and ask to be added to the school's AP exam order. You will likely be charged the school's late fee on top of the standard $99 exam fee. Do this before March 13 — after that, registration generally is not possible at all.
Yes. The $40 unused/canceled exam fee applies to any exam ordered for a student who then cancels or no-shows. This fee applies even to students with a College Board fee reduction. Tell your AP coordinator immediately if you decide not to take an exam — the fee still applies but the school may handle the order differently.
Not directly. Colleges look at your AP course grade and your AP exam score, but missing an exam (with no score reported) is not flagged as a negative on its own. The bigger cost is the lost opportunity for college credit — a passing AP score can replace an introductory college course worth several thousand dollars in tuition.
The $225 fee is charged to the school, not the student, and is applied to schools that submit any exam order or change after the November 14 initial deadline. Most schools recoup this by charging individual students a $40 to $50 late fee per late-registered exam.
Free, no account. Get an email before the November cutoff so you do not pay the $40+ late fee per exam — or miss the year entirely.
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