Rigor Question: Will top50 colleges hold it against my DD that she never took an AP math class (calc at reg level)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First, I want to say that your daughter sounds amazing and I'm sure she will get into a great college and do well. So this is not something to fret about.

Having said that, I do think that her lack of rigor is going to be an uphill battle at most of the T25. I wouldn't completely write off 25-50, but she is definitely going to want to identify some great schools she likes in the 50-100 range too. Not all APs are created equal and she is definitely missing the more rigorous ones, specifically AP Bio or Chem, and an AP level Math. Which histories did she take (hopefully World and/or APUSH) and did she get 5's? Did she get a 5 on her AP foreign language test? I do think strength in these areas can do something to overcome the lack of the other AP's. But it makes her a "pointy" kid rather than well-rounded and I don't think her college counselor will be able to say that she "took the most rigorous course load available."

I think she'd have a great chance applying ED to somewhere like William & Mary.

I don't think you can evaluate OP in the abstract. As several posts pointed out, her school matters the most. Always consider it in the context of her school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First, I want to say that your daughter sounds amazing and I'm sure she will get into a great college and do well. So this is not something to fret about.

Having said that, I do think that her lack of rigor is going to be an uphill battle at most of the T25. I wouldn't completely write off 25-50, but she is definitely going to want to identify some great schools she likes in the 50-100 range too. Not all APs are created equal and she is definitely missing the more rigorous ones, specifically AP Bio or Chem, and an AP level Math. Which histories did she take (hopefully World and/or APUSH) and did she get 5's? Did she get a 5 on her AP foreign language test? I do think strength in these areas can do something to overcome the lack of the other AP's. But it makes her a "pointy" kid rather than well-rounded and I don't think her college counselor will be able to say that she "took the most rigorous course load available."

I think she'd have a great chance applying ED to somewhere like William & Mary.

I don't think you can evaluate OP in the abstract. As several posts pointed out, her school matters the most. Always consider it in the context of her school.

She said its a "rigorous public school" - which I interpret to mean is full of kids who DID take AP Calc, Bio, Chem, etc. Those kids are OP's kid's competition. OP is free to refute this.

[Anonymous]

If her school offers AP math, the most competitive schools will hold it against her.

[Anonymous]

Would she consider doing ED to Wake? They have rolling ED so she'd know her result if she put her app in super early. If it's a no-go, she could ED2 William and Mary.

[Anonymous]

Since OPs subject line asked about T50… my FCPS 2025 graduate got into two T50 schools as a STEM major with only 1 AP science (didn’t report the score) and standard, not AP, calculus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since OPs subject line asked about T50… my FCPS 2025 graduate got into two T50 schools as a STEM major with only 1 AP science (didn’t report the score) and standard, not AP, calculus.

Which two? That might be helpful for OP to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She will be fine if all her AP scores are 5 and her SAT or ACT scores high

you can't just show one piece of the pie and expect a comprehensive answer

One other thought, could consider trying ACT if haven’t. My humanities kid terrible in math had perfect reading, English, high science and bad math, but still landed them with strong score overall despite it.

This is a good recommendation because science on ACT is really just another reading comprehension section...fyi. If she naturally does well on those three verbal sections - she can test prep to bring up the math score to look decent as a component but still could have a high overall score if math is lower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First, I want to say that your daughter sounds amazing and I'm sure she will get into a great college and do well. So this is not something to fret about.

Having said that, I do think that her lack of rigor is going to be an uphill battle at most of the T25. I wouldn't completely write off 25-50, but she is definitely going to want to identify some great schools she likes in the 50-100 range too. Not all APs are created equal and she is definitely missing the more rigorous ones, specifically AP Bio or Chem, and an AP level Math. Which histories did she take (hopefully World and/or APUSH) and did she get 5's? Did she get a 5 on her AP foreign language test? I do think strength in these areas can do something to overcome the lack of the other AP's. But it makes her a "pointy" kid rather than well-rounded and I don't think her college counselor will be able to say that she "took the most rigorous course load available."

I think she'd have a great chance applying ED to somewhere like William & Mary.

I don't think you can evaluate OP in the abstract. As several posts pointed out, her school matters the most. Always consider it in the context of her school.

Baloney. I sincerely doubt that most of the top students in her school only take the soft AP courses or the hard ones and don’t take both. I’ve never heard of a school like that. You gotta figure the top students are taking both.

[Anonymous]

This student isn’t taking any of the top level math or science courses and is applying test optional. That won’t get her into a top 50.

[Anonymous]

Top 50 is a big range. If the AP math classes are offered it will absolutely hurt her if she’s looking at top schools.

[Anonymous]

Why does everyone keep pushing William & Mary? It’s a hard admit and they want to see math and science too. Geez.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does everyone keep pushing William & Mary? It’s a hard admit and they want to see math and science too. Geez.

Lots of data points on this site of them not requiring AP Calc and having a significant amount of TO admits. Especially in ED. Its a good option for OP's child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does everyone keep pushing William & Mary? It’s a hard admit and they want to see math and science too. Geez.

Lots of data points on this site of them not requiring AP Calc and having a significant amount of TO admits. Especially in ED. Its a good option for OP's child.

Wouldn't they be more selective for out of state? OP is not in DMV.

[Anonymous]

only if she is an Asian American male!

[Anonymous]

Yes. Clearly avoiding math/science subjects.