What is the criteria for "most rigorous" course load?

[Anonymous]

Wow all of your kids are doing amazing things taking great classes!

I’m the mom of a kindergartner who is in awe of all that your kids do. Coincidentally, our K teacher did tell us exactly where our son ranked in the class - second to top. Though, we just heard he’s now the top reader. I try to imagine him doing calc 3 someday like your kids. I’m sure all your kids will do great getting into college and in their careers afterwards.

Good luck to you all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a first grade teacher. I can remember parents wanting me to tell them if their kid was "top" in the class. I would not do that--nor should any teacher. For one thing, it can change. For another, the parent might not like the answer. And, if the child is the "top," you certainly do not want that parent telling other parents (and they would)

You can look at the available classes and determine what is the most rigorous. Then, look again, and talk to the counselor about what he/she thinks your child can handle. Include your child in this discussion. Tell your child WHY he/she needs to pay attention and look at this decision seriously and honestly.

And, these days, no one knows what will get your child admitted to a college. It appears that many factors are involved other than test scores and grades.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true: as SATs become "optional" in the university admission process, whether you took the most rigorous possible course load at your HS becomes very important. Admission counselors need to be able to asses the academic strength of each applicant. How do they do that without SAT scores? Bingo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
Thank you for the responses. It's good to know that some people have asked the same question and didn't get actual answers.

As far as physically checking the box, I did see on some common app screenshots where the counselor DOES check a box.
So if your kid is being rated, wouldn't it make sense to know the criteria?

Recently, DC applied to the Governor's school.
The rating sheet has these boxes for the counselor to check, and the applicant gets a number of points based on which box is checked.
But there are no actual criteria for each rating.

Course difficulty:
College Scholar- 8 points
Challenging- 7 points
Moderate Degree- 6 points
General Program- 5 points

So what we gather from this exercise are that rating matters! (maybe in the same way your raise might be based on your performance).

And when UVA stats say "89% of those we admit are in the top 10% of their class." Wouldn't it help to know if your kid, despite having a 4.0 GPA may not even be in the top 10% and should look elsewhere?

So what does it take to get that counselor to check that "most rigorous load" on the common app?

DC registered for 5 AP + 1 DE. Signed up for one regular "fun" class but if having ALL APs is what it takes, wouldn't that be good to know?
DC is capable of doing all APs, but if he didn't take all APs, is he not taking the MOST rigorous course load?
He'll end up with 10 APs and 2 DEs total.

I like what one college said:
We'd like to see at least one AP in each of the core subjects. Now there's something that's actionable!

There is definitely a box in the Common App - each HS counselor has specific criteria for checking it. They should be able to share it with their students. Admissions offices are overwhelmed - with each person reading thousands of applications. With applications coming in from all of the states, and many countries outside of the U.S., can you imagine trying to sort through each HS to determine what classes each applicant could or could not take? Admissions offices RELY on that box to find the strongest students quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So is DS in FCPS out of luck because he limited English to honors and foreign language to 4?

He DID/WILL take:
AP World, APUSH, Govt,
Physics C M, E and M,
Calc BC, Calc 3/Linear Alg, Stats,
CS-A and adv CS AB.

Sadly, none of us know. The college game is a crap shoot. And just because UVA says abc, maybe UMD says xyz or VT or Northeastern, etc....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So is DS in FCPS out of luck because he limited English to honors and foreign language to 4?

He DID/WILL take:
AP World, APUSH, Govt,
Physics C M, E and M,
Calc BC, Calc 3/Linear Alg, Stats,
CS-A and adv CS AB.

I don't know where your son plans to apply but rumor has it (no idea if it is true) that UVA won't even look at you if you don't have APUSH. Seems your kid is pretty well rounded and should be fine in terms of rigor at a place like UVA. That said, UVA is not exactly known for engineering so he may not even want to apply there. I only use UVA as a reference on this board because it is the state flagship so everyone has it as an option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So is DS in FCPS out of luck because he limited English to honors and foreign language to 4?

He DID/WILL take:
AP World, APUSH, Govt,
Physics C M, E and M,
Calc BC, Calc 3/Linear Alg, Stats,
CS-A and adv CS AB.

This is my post. Thank you all for the feedback. Yes, likely CS major. 3.98/4.43/1520/Likely NMSF (1490/223)

Good luck to you all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is DS in FCPS out of luck because he limited English to honors and foreign language to 4?

He DID/WILL take:
AP World, APUSH, Govt,
Physics C M, E and M,
Calc BC, Calc 3/Linear Alg, Stats,
CS-A and adv CS AB.

This is my post. Thank you all for the feedback. Yes, likely CS major. 3.98/4.43/1520/Likely NMSF (1490/223)

Good luck to you all!

This is some serious stats. Have him retake SAT and aim high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
Thank you for the responses. It's good to know that some people have asked the same question and didn't get actual answers.

As far as physically checking the box, I did see on some common app screenshots where the counselor DOES check a box.
So if your kid is being rated, wouldn't it make sense to know the criteria?

Recently, DC applied to the Governor's school.
The rating sheet has these boxes for the counselor to check, and the applicant gets a number of points based on which box is checked.
But there are no actual criteria for each rating.

Course difficulty:
College Scholar- 8 points
Challenging- 7 points
Moderate Degree- 6 points
General Program- 5 points

So what we gather from this exercise are that rating matters! (maybe in the same way your raise might be based on your performance).

And when UVA stats say "89% of those we admit are in the top 10% of their class." Wouldn't it help to know if your kid, despite having a 4.0 GPA may not even be in the top 10% and should look elsewhere?

So what does it take to get that counselor to check that "most rigorous load" on the common app?

DC registered for 5 AP + 1 DE. Signed up for one regular "fun" class but if having ALL APs is what it takes, wouldn't that be good to know?
DC is capable of doing all APs, but if he didn't take all APs, is he not taking the MOST rigorous course load?
He'll end up with 10 APs and 2 DEs total.

I like what one college said:
We'd like to see at least one AP in each of the core subjects. Now there's something that's actionable!

There is definitely a box in the Common App - each HS counselor has specific criteria for checking it. They should be able to share it with their students. Admissions offices are overwhelmed - with each person reading thousands of applications. With applications coming in from all of the states, and many countries outside of the U.S., can you imagine trying to sort through each HS to determine what classes each applicant could or could not take? Admissions offices RELY on that box to find the strongest students quickly.

In-state publics have this all mapped out by their own criteria already so they don't rely on it. OOS/private might.

[Anonymous]

A previous year ~ DD was waitlisted at UVA. If the HS counselor had shared *some* information re: rigor and checking the boxes, would that have mattered? Will never know of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought that the app no longer had a check box. I looked at the (blank) form online and didn’t see it.

It’s still there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A previous year ~ DD was waitlisted at UVA. If the HS counselor had shared *some* information re: rigor and checking the boxes, would that have mattered? Will never know of course.

Every year your high school counselor sends a profile of that year’s high school class. That profile lists the AP courses offered and the percent of the students taking those courses. Even if a school says “it doesn’t rank “ it takes sn admissions reader ten seconds to figure out where your child ranks vis-a-vis their classmates and in terms of rigorous courses offers and taken. And yes the counselors still do signal if your child has taken tge “most rigorous” “very rigorous” courses. Your counselor doesn’t want you to know this.