AP course selection - advice needed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care about AP courses in the 5 subjects:

math: AB or BC plus or minus Stats
english: Lang and/or Lit
history: US and World
foreign lang: Lang and/or Lit
science: Bio, Chem and Physics.

The rest don't matter.

How do you know this?

It's pretty common knowledge. These are the 5 core subjects. Some colleges go as far as to drop other classes from the GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Humanities kid or STEM kid? Math and science choices are ok but on the less rigorous end.

This plus what are similarly-ranked UVA applicants in his class taking? This is critical. You need to meet with his college advisor and ask and ask if he’s on track for the advisor to check off the “most rigorous” box. They probably won’t tell you but push and ask specifically valid what courses need to
Be taken to get that designation no one here can tell you that. UVA will receive from that counselor a list of AP courses offered by your high school and percentage if your kid’s class who took them. This us how the colleges figure out approximate class rank.

I think that in almost every school, the kids are internally ranked by categories in the counselor’s letter (top 10%, top 25%, etc.). My son’s counselor actually uses the SAT scores heavily to differentiate among the high stats kids (due in part to grade inflation?).

That’s crazy that the counselor takes it upon themselves to do that!

Isn’t there a box for the counselor to check on the counselor recommendation letter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Humanities kid or STEM kid? Math and science choices are ok but on the less rigorous end.

This plus what are similarly-ranked UVA applicants in his class taking? This is critical. You need to meet with his college advisor and ask and ask if he’s on track for the advisor to check off the “most rigorous” box. They probably won’t tell you but push and ask specifically valid what courses need to
Be taken to get that designation no one here can tell you that. UVA will receive from that counselor a list of AP courses offered by your high school and percentage if your kid’s class who took them. This us how the colleges figure out approximate class rank.

-1 on the last sentence. Schools figure out approximate class rank from the School Profile OR from the GPAs of prior and current applicants from the same school. Our School Profile lists the GPA range (lowest to highest) so it is easy to see which kids are at which end when the transcript is matched with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Humanities kid or STEM kid? Math and science choices are ok but on the less rigorous end.

This plus what are similarly-ranked UVA applicants in his class taking? This is critical. You need to meet with his college advisor and ask and ask if he’s on track for the advisor to check off the “most rigorous” box. They probably won’t tell you but push and ask specifically valid what courses need to
Be taken to get that designation no one here can tell you that. UVA will receive from that counselor a list of AP courses offered by your high school and percentage if your kid’s class who took them. This us how the colleges figure out approximate class rank.

I think that in almost every school, the kids are internally ranked by categories in the counselor’s letter (top 10%, top 25%, etc.). My son’s counselor actually uses the SAT scores heavily to differentiate among the high stats kids (due in part to grade inflation?).

That’s crazy that the counselor takes it upon themselves to do that!

Isn’t there a box for the counselor to check on the counselor recommendation letter?

The box is related to rigor the student took compared to classes that were offered. FCPS doesn't rank students directly and the counselors do not put top x% in their letters, either. It is odd for a counselor to use the SAT score to differentiate. What if a kid is going to a test optional school and elects to not take the test? What if the kid has a high SAT but took it lots of times? What if a kid is a recruited athlete and is told to NOT take the SAT?

Weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care about AP courses in the 5 subjects:

math: AB or BC plus or minus Stats
english: Lang and/or Lit
history: US and World
foreign lang: Lang and/or Lit
science: Bio, Chem and Physics.

The rest don't matter.

How do you know this?

It's pretty common knowledge. These are the 5 core subjects. Some colleges go as far as to drop other classes from the GPA.

Pls list the schools that drop classes from the GPA (which is different than the very few which drop freshman year off).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care about AP courses in the 5 subjects:

math: AB or BC plus or minus Stats
english: Lang and/or Lit
history: US and World
foreign lang: Lang and/or Lit
science: Bio, Chem and Physics.

The rest don't matter.

How do you know this?

It's pretty common knowledge. These are the 5 core subjects. Some colleges go as far as to drop other classes from the GPA.

This. Plus, if student can take extra easier APs, they could take courses that can knock out some gen ed requirements outside of area of interest.

STEM majors can take AP Human Geography or Psych

Humanities can take AP Environmental Science or AP Computer Science

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Humanities kid or STEM kid? Math and science choices are ok but on the less rigorous end.

This plus what are similarly-ranked UVA applicants in his class taking? This is critical. You need to meet with his college advisor and ask and ask if he’s on track for the advisor to check off the “most rigorous” box. They probably won’t tell you but push and ask specifically valid what courses need to
Be taken to get that designation no one here can tell you that. UVA will receive from that counselor a list of AP courses offered by your high school and percentage if your kid’s class who took them. This us how the colleges figure out approximate class rank.

I think that in almost every school, the kids are internally ranked by categories in the counselor’s letter (top 10%, top 25%, etc.). My son’s counselor actually uses the SAT scores heavily to differentiate among the high stats kids (due in part to grade inflation?).

That’s crazy that the counselor takes it upon themselves to do that!

Isn’t there a box for the counselor to check on the counselor recommendation letter?

The box is related to rigor the student took compared to classes that were offered. FCPS doesn't rank students directly and the counselors do not put top x% in their letters, either. It is odd for a counselor to use the SAT score to differentiate. What if a kid is going to a test optional school and elects to not take the test? What if the kid has a high SAT but took it lots of times? What if a kid is a recruited athlete and is told to NOT take the SAT?

Weird.

But going test optional or being an athletic recruit doesn’t change the rankings!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Humanities kid or STEM kid? Math and science choices are ok but on the less rigorous end.

This plus what are similarly-ranked UVA applicants in his class taking? This is critical. You need to meet with his college advisor and ask and ask if he’s on track for the advisor to check off the “most rigorous” box. They probably won’t tell you but push and ask specifically valid what courses need to
Be taken to get that designation no one here can tell you that. UVA will receive from that counselor a list of AP courses offered by your high school and percentage if your kid’s class who took them. This us how the colleges figure out approximate class rank.

I think that in almost every school, the kids are internally ranked by categories in the counselor’s letter (top 10%, top 25%, etc.). My son’s counselor actually uses the SAT scores heavily to differentiate among the high stats kids (due in part to grade inflation?).

That’s crazy that the counselor takes it upon themselves to do that!

Isn’t there a box for the counselor to check on the counselor recommendation letter?

The box is related to rigor the student took compared to classes that were offered. FCPS doesn't rank students directly and the counselors do not put top x% in their letters, either. It is odd for a counselor to use the SAT score to differentiate. What if a kid is going to a test optional school and elects to not take the test? What if the kid has a high SAT but took it lots of times? What if a kid is a recruited athlete and is told to NOT take the SAT?

Weird.

But going test optional or being an athletic recruit doesn’t change the rankings!

It was all in response to someone who said the counselor uses the sat score to differentiate among students.

[Anonymous]

How's US Gov course viewed in general? World History vs US Gov?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care about AP courses in the 5 subjects:

math: AB or BC plus or minus Stats
english: Lang and/or Lit
history: US and World
foreign lang: Lang and/or Lit
science: Bio, Chem and Physics.

The rest don't matter.

How do you know this?

It's pretty common knowledge. These are the 5 core subjects. Some colleges go as far as to drop other classes from the GPA.

It's common knowledge that AP World is basically required? Cite please.
I guess my kid who has AP US Gov, AP Euro, and AP US is screwed then, since no one told him that he specifically needs world.

Also, Bio, Chem, *AND* Physics? Which kid anywhere has the schedule space for APs in all three sciences?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care about AP courses in the 5 subjects:

math: AB or BC plus or minus Stats
english: Lang and/or Lit
history: US and World
foreign lang: Lang and/or Lit
science: Bio, Chem and Physics.

The rest don't matter.

How do you know this?

It's pretty common knowledge. These are the 5 core subjects. Some colleges go as far as to drop other classes from the GPA.

Pls list the schools that drop classes from the GPA (which is different than the very few which drop freshman year off).

DP. Many schools do this. There’s no comprehensive list. A couple examples:

U Richmond: “While the School Profile often tells us about your school’s GPA calculation, Richmond also recalculates the GPA of all applicants. We recalculate your GPA using only your core classes (English, science, second language, math, and social studies) and we remove the weight from any AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, or Honors classes.”
https://admission.richmond.edu//features/article/-/23466/frequently-asked-questions-during-the-application-process.html?utm_source=news&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=features-story

U Florida: “UF calculates a core, weighted GPA on a 4.0 scale as part of the evaluation process.
- Dual-enrollment courses in academic core areas and any AP, IB or AICE classes receive an extra 1.0 credit weight, meaning that an A is worth a 5.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- Pre-AICE, pre-AP, pre-IB and Honors classes receive a 0.5 credit weight, meaning that an A is worth a 4.5 on a 4.0 scale.”
https://admissions.ufl.edu/apply/freshman/our-decision-process

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care about AP courses in the 5 subjects:

math: AB or BC plus or minus Stats
english: Lang and/or Lit
history: US and World
foreign lang: Lang and/or Lit
science: Bio, Chem and Physics.

The rest don't matter.

How do you know this?

It's pretty common knowledge. These are the 5 core subjects. Some colleges go as far as to drop other classes from the GPA.

Pls list the schools that drop classes from the GPA (which is different than the very few which drop freshman year off).

DP. Many schools do this. There’s no comprehensive list. A couple examples:

U Richmond: “While the School Profile often tells us about your school’s GPA calculation, Richmond also recalculates the GPA of all applicants. We recalculate your GPA using only your core classes (English, science, second language, math, and social studies) and we remove the weight from any AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, or Honors classes.”
https://admission.richmond.edu//features/article/-/23466/frequently-asked-questions-during-the-application-process.html?utm_source=news&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=features-story

U Florida: “UF calculates a core, weighted GPA on a 4.0 scale as part of the evaluation process.
- Dual-enrollment courses in academic core areas and any AP, IB or AICE classes receive an extra 1.0 credit weight, meaning that an A is worth a 5.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- Pre-AICE, pre-AP, pre-IB and Honors classes receive a 0.5 credit weight, meaning that an A is worth a 4.5 on a 4.0 scale.”
https://admissions.ufl.edu/apply/freshman/our-decision-process

FL: defines “core” to inc 3 electives.

So one school - Richmond- you know of does this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges care about AP courses in the 5 subjects:

math: AB or BC plus or minus Stats
english: Lang and/or Lit
history: US and World
foreign lang: Lang and/or Lit
science: Bio, Chem and Physics.

The rest don't matter.

How do you know this?

It's pretty common knowledge. These are the 5 core subjects. Some colleges go as far as to drop other classes from the GPA.

Pls list the schools that drop classes from the GPA (which is different than the very few which drop freshman year off).

DP. Many schools do this. There’s no comprehensive list. A couple examples:

U Richmond: “While the School Profile often tells us about your school’s GPA calculation, Richmond also recalculates the GPA of all applicants. We recalculate your GPA using only your core classes (English, science, second language, math, and social studies) and we remove the weight from any AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, or Honors classes.”
https://admission.richmond.edu//features/article/-/23466/frequently-asked-questions-during-the-application-process.html?utm_source=news&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=features-story

U Florida: “UF calculates a core, weighted GPA on a 4.0 scale as part of the evaluation process.
- Dual-enrollment courses in academic core areas and any AP, IB or AICE classes receive an extra 1.0 credit weight, meaning that an A is worth a 5.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- Pre-AICE, pre-AP, pre-IB and Honors classes receive a 0.5 credit weight, meaning that an A is worth a 4.5 on a 4.0 scale.”
https://admissions.ufl.edu/apply/freshman/our-decision-process

FL: defines “core” to inc 3 electives.

So one school - Richmond- you know of does this?

Google is your friend. I was providing an example of a public and a small private that recalculate in different ways using core classes. I am not going to attempt to provide you a comprehensive list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How's US Gov course viewed in general? World History vs US Gov?

Government is considered easier than world. At our school kids take gov first then world, euro, APUSH.

[Anonymous]

what about this for his senior year?
AP English Literature
AP Calculus AB
AP Statistics
AP U.S. Government
AP Spanish

for non-STEM, policy, econ, law leaning student.