TY - JOUR T1 - Shifting College Majors in Response to Advanced Placement Exam Scores JF - Journal of Human Resources JO - J Hum Resour DO - 10.3368/jhr.53.4.1016-8293R SP - 1016-8293R AU - Christopher Avery AU - Oded Gurantz AU - Michael Hurwitz AU - Jonathan Smith Y1 - 2017/05/02 UR - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2017/05/01/jhr.53.4.1016-8293R.abstract N2 - Do signals of high aptitude shape the course of collegiate study? We apply a regression discontinuity design to understand how college major choice is impacted by receiving a higher Advanced Placement (AP) integer score, despite similar exam performance, compared to students who received a lower integer score. Attaining higher scores increases the probability that a student majors in that exam subject by approximately 5 percent (0.64 percentage points) with some individual exams demonstrating increases as high as 30 percent. A substantial portion of the overall effect is driven by behavioral responses to the positive signal of receiving a higher score. ER -