shifting college majors in response to advanced placement exam scores

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.