S/O Help with Course Selection for Competitive LAC Non-STEM

[Anonymous]

On the other thread, folks were saying "Let DCUM be your college counselor" so let's try this out.

I have a current freshman at a DCC HS, but am at a bit of a loss when it comes to helping him maximize his class load for competitive liberal arts college admissions. Not Ivy League type schools, but along the lines of the honors college at a large state school or a school like Davidson. I realize those are reaches for most/all kids, and he will have backup plans, but I just don't want him to lose options because I didn't know something back when he was 14.

My son is hard-working, gets good grades, and is engaged in high level extracurriculars, so please assume that side of it is under control.

He's in Honors Algebra 2, Honors Biology, AP Government, and World Language 3 this year.

He's doing PE this year but hasn't done Health or Tech requirements. If you were me, would you advise him to do Health and Technology over the summer? I read something here about an option to do Health at Montgomery College. Is that a real option? Summer is when he really has a chance to practice his extracurricular with kids at a similar level, so I'm a little nervous about making him do online classes all summer if he doesn't have to.

How would you suggest he fill other open slots? If he truly knows he's not looking for a STEM major, should he still sign up for "extra" science or is just doing AP/Honors versions of the regular track enough? If he does the classes he wants, like one of the AP Literature classes, does that make him look too one-sided? People say that American colleges want kids to be "well rounded" but I don't know if that means sports + academics or different types of academics.

Are there other things someone new to the American admissions system wouldn't know?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I recommend AP Computer Science Principles for the tech credit. It's one of the easiest APs, and you don't need any CS background.

[Anonymous]

He should take at least 1 AP in HS in each of the five core areas (English, Social Studies, World Language, Math, and Science). Looks like he’s well on track for that. He should take AP Calc. For number of APs, I’d recommend doing 1-2-3-4 (grades 9-10-11-12) if he’s doing well so that he ends up with a strong number of APs but not overwhelmed any one year. If he’s a really strong student, he might add another junior year.

Health would be good to knock out next summer but not necessary if he doesn’t enjoy art and music electives. But to take those, many kids need to use summer school for health unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

I would have him talk to his counselor. A school like Davidson will expect the most rigorous schedule box to be checked, so he will have to schedule accordingly. That being said, I think a boy who strongly leans humanities going for a SLAC will have a slightly easier time of it.

[Anonymous]

He is doing plenty. We choose to take health over the summer to free up for more electives. Tech class was done in MS. Don’t stress over it. No extra science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recommend AP Computer Science Principles for the tech credit. It's one of the easiest APs, and you don't need any CS background.

+1 easy AP class. Most of his studying will be AP Gov and Hon Alg 2. Take health over the summer online (lots of busy work but not difficult).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He should take at least 1 AP in HS in each of the five core areas (English, Social Studies, World Language, Math, and Science). Looks like he’s well on track for that. He should take AP Calc. For number of APs, I’d recommend doing 1-2-3-4 (grades 9-10-11-12) if he’s doing well so that he ends up with a strong number of APs but not overwhelmed any one year. If he’s a really strong student, he might add another junior year.

Health would be good to knock out next summer but not necessary if he doesn’t enjoy art and music electives. But to take those, many kids need to use summer school for health unfortunately.

Thanks for this. If I might ask a follow-up question, is it enough to get to AP calculus by senior year? He's on track to take AP calculus in 11th, but if for any reason he decided to slow that pace, would it hurt for the "most rigorous course load" requirement?

It's funny, because he would be well beyond this if we were in my home country, but they also teach math very differently there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He should take at least 1 AP in HS in each of the five core areas (English, Social Studies, World Language, Math, and Science). Looks like he’s well on track for that. He should take AP Calc. For number of APs, I’d recommend doing 1-2-3-4 (grades 9-10-11-12) if he’s doing well so that he ends up with a strong number of APs but not overwhelmed any one year. If he’s a really strong student, he might add another junior year.

Health would be good to knock out next summer but not necessary if he doesn’t enjoy art and music electives. But to take those, many kids need to use summer school for health unfortunately.

Thanks for this. If I might ask a follow-up question, is it enough to get to AP calculus by senior year? He's on track to take AP calculus in 11th, but if for any reason he decided to slow that pace, would it hurt for the "most rigorous course load" requirement?

It's funny, because he would be well beyond this if we were in my home country, but they also teach math very differently there.

I would do AP Calc AB in 11th - I’m not sure how he could otherwise slow down (Calc with App in 11th I guess?). But he should be fine to do Calc AB in 11th and then AP Stats in 12th. I wouldn’t reverse those because of the flow of the classes. As a non-Stem student he doesn’t need BC, especially if not gunning for Amherst or Williams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recommend AP Computer Science Principles for the tech credit. It's one of the easiest APs, and you don't need any CS background.

+1. Plan for taking World Lang 4 or AP Foreign Language next year and AP Lang/Lit in the future.

[Anonymous]

Your student’s classes should reflect their strengths and interests. They should be able to show who they are to a college when they apply and why it’s a good fit for them.

Are they in a special program at one of the DCCs? If not, it’s fine - all the schools have plenty of APs and other electives. Believe it or not, the schools just don’t look for APs.

As far as extracurriculars, they should be getting involved and working their way up to a leadership position (President of club, captain of sports team, student leadership positions).

They should have a lot of SSL hours. There is an award for students with over a certain amount. For the Liberal Arts schools, they will likely will want to see involvement in the fine arts.

Be prepared to answer questions on applications about how your student helped out community and make the world a better place, how they will contribute to DEI on campus and so on.

[Anonymous]

Davidson is interesting because you actually need a reference from a fellow student, not just teachers. DD was proud she wrote one for a friend who got in

[Anonymous]

Don’t let anyone kid you, grades matter most of all. Weighted and unweighted GPA. Whatever classes they take, they need to do well. There are cutoffs for these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your student’s classes should reflect their strengths and interests. They should be able to show who they are to a college when they apply and why it’s a good fit for them.

Are they in a special program at one of the DCCs? If not, it’s fine - all the schools have plenty of APs and other electives. Believe it or not, the schools just don’t look for APs.

As far as extracurriculars, they should be getting involved and working their way up to a leadership position (President of club, captain of sports team, student leadership positions).

They should have a lot of SSL hours. There is an award for students with over a certain amount. For the Liberal Arts schools, they will likely will want to see involvement in the fine arts.

Be prepared to answer questions on applications about how your student helped out community and make the world a better place, how they will contribute to DEI on campus and so on.

Thanks, PP. Yes, he's in a special program and is very involved in the fine arts. He already said he's not interested in pursuing his art professionally, so he says he doesn't want to do conservatory or a BFA.

He isn't involved in sports but there's a student club that's different from his main extracurricular and he's really excited to join. Thanks for the advice that he look to work toward leadership.

Thanks also for the advice about SSL hours. He should finish up his hours for HS this year from some activities in MS, but I'll encourage him to go well beyond the requirements.