“Highest Rigor”

[Anonymous]

Our criteria for designation is on the school profile. Just try to get the highest designation. The colleges will take the kids they want and it's not based on number of APs taken.

[Anonymous]

Yes it is highest rigor. But yes the competitive schools will STILL want to see 4 yrs of math and 4 yrs of English regardless of your high school can’t offer more. You need to duel enroll or take an online course past what your school offers if you get there before 12th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In our FCPS HS, highest rigor is only determined by the HS based on what the HS offers.

It’s the same at our private. What they offer and what you took: honors courses, APs etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is everyone who does IB automatically highest rigor?

Need to do IB diploma. The relative difficulty of the the chosen classes also matters.

Not necessarily - depends on the school. FCPS IB school said if you are taking a bunch of IB classes and not doing the diploma, you still will get designated "highest rigor."

+1
Many schools check highest rigor for a large group of students even when there are a clear subset who take a much more challenging load in all areas. Colleges do not consider the checkbox much, they look at the transcript and make their own decision on relative rigor based on other applicants from the same school.

[Anonymous]

"Highest rigor" is a designation given by the high school counselor. But this is wildly variable. Some suburban high schools have a gazillion AP offerings. Some rural, urban, and private schools have very few AP classes, or even none at all. But generally, colleges will be familiar with the high school and can figure it out.

As for math, no school - not even MIT - is asking high school students to commute to some community college for a math class. My youngest is gifted in math. But their high school has both Calculus BC and Multivariable. That is good enough for senior year, even at MIT. So time things accordingly and get to the highest level math class available in senior year. No need to go to the community college even for the math nerds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dc’s HS has a handful of kids who took math outside of school and therefore finish the math curriculum before senior year (and sometimes well before senior year). In that context, how is rigor compared by the school counselors in their LORs? Is coursework considered *more* rigorous if taken when the kid is younger? I understand this likely varies by school.

you have to ask your kid's counselor what is needed for them to mark highest rigor at your kid's school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Highest rigor" is a designation given by the high school counselor. But this is wildly variable. Some suburban high schools have a gazillion AP offerings. Some rural, urban, and private schools have very few AP classes, or even none at all. But generally, colleges will be familiar with the high school and can figure it out.

As for math, no school - not even MIT - is asking high school students to commute to some community college for a math class. My youngest is gifted in math. But their high school has both Calculus BC and Multivariable. That is good enough for senior year, even at MIT. So time things accordingly and get to the highest level math class available in senior year. No need to go to the community college even for the math nerds.

If you finish the highest offered math classes (or English) at your school before junior or senior year, yes they will expect you to take dual enrollment or online classes so you have 4 yrs of math and English. My child was in this situation and reached out to and Admissions officer at the college the wanted (top 20) and this is what they told her.

[Anonymous]

It depends what colleges you want your kids to attend. For MIT, complete the highest and most challenging math course offered by your high school. If that is honors calculus II senior year, then that it the highest. For other Ivies, it is more complicated. Calc AB junior year, stastistics Senior year is fine. However, you also need to max out on the humanities side. The Ivies are liberal Arts schools, so math is one half of the equation.

[Anonymous]

Marking highest rigor isn’t a big deal. AOs often know the school well and base their decision on the school profile.