Advanced courseload

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will an advanced HS courseload (at least, in chosen subjects) help significantly with getting into T20s? For example, taking AP Chem, AP Physics, and DiffEq/Multivariable Calculus as a sophomore look impressive on college applications?

If your child didn’t take them as a freshman, why bother now? Seriously this is insane!

[Anonymous]

What is your "advanced" child planning to do senior year? The main benefit to advancing early is the chance to skip a year in HS and apply to college a year early, with something to show for it

How did the Calculus whiz do in math contests? Precalculus + a high AMC/AiME score is far, far more impressive then MVC and Diff Equ
The AMC/AIME score would show years of more rigorous EC academic learning than muddling through the school calculus classes.
Similar goes for USAChO Chemistry and F=ma/USA phi Physics.

If you aren't a USAMOcRegeneron finalist or similar, it shows that those advanced courses didn't unlock your potential, and you're already a book-smart test-hacking mediocrity. Colleges would rather gamble on someone who didn't race/skip the foundational study, and still has untapped potential.

T20 colleges know that AP courses are not up to their caliber. They expect to see you show that you've gone deeper into the subject than just box checking the course. Doing an AP course is table stakes for an highly privileged kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools don’t care that you took the classes as a sophomore vs getting As in the classes. The grade is far more important be when you took the class

I also don’t think they consider HS multivariable and other advanced classes anything equivalent to college multi variable.

Even if the student is doing dual enrollment?

If it is true DE…meaning you take the class with other college kids. Still no top school will give you actual credit for that class, even though if you were an actual student at that college they would. Makes no sense.

My kid is going to a T25 school and some credits will transfer.

My kid’s top 10 wouldn’t accept any even though if they were transferring from that same college they would. Annoying.

She started in Linear, but she and prof agreed she should move up and did Abstract instead.

How exactly did this work?

You walk into the professor's office and ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools don’t care that you took the classes as a sophomore vs getting As in the classes. The grade is far more important be when you took the class

I also don’t think they consider HS multivariable and other advanced classes anything equivalent to college multi variable.

Even if the student is doing dual enrollment?

If it is true DE…meaning you take the class with other college kids. Still no top school will give you actual credit for that class, even though if you were an actual student at that college they would. Makes no sense.

Can you name a single one with this policy?

Harvard and MIT. Ivy League does not consider its sophomore/upper level courses equivalent to community college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not really. Sorry to say, but top colleges are not just looking for “nerds.” As long as a student completes Calc AB and has rigor across all core areas, then they meet the standard. At that point, EC/impact/personal story comes into play.

Okay, makes sense. If ECs are weak, does it make up for that?

Tech schools care about advanced plus+ course load and ECs less-(so does UMD and GMU for computers) SLAC, T50 care more about advanced CL plus EC

Tech schools care about tech ECs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will an advanced HS courseload (at least, in chosen subjects) help significantly with getting into T20s? For example, taking AP Chem, AP Physics, and DiffEq/Multivariable Calculus as a sophomore look impressive on college applications?

Mom skipping math placement in middle school isn't the golden ticket. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools don’t care that you took the classes as a sophomore vs getting As in the classes. The grade is far more important be when you took the class

I also don’t think they consider HS multivariable and other advanced classes anything equivalent to college multi variable.

Even if the student is doing dual enrollment?

If it is true DE…meaning you take the class with other college kids. Still no top school will give you actual credit for that class, even though if you were an actual student at that college they would. Makes no sense.

Can you name a single one with this policy?

UPenn won’t accept at least for Math. I don’t know about non-Math DE courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just about every T20 I've looked at either accepts DE credit where the student is in a college classroom or has some other way of taking advanced coursework first semester whether it's official proficiency exams for placement or unofficially not enforcing prerequisites or officially enforcing prerequisites but adding "or instructor's permission" to the courses

Yes, every school allows you to take a proficiency exam. You don’t have to show any reason for taking the exam…you just take it.

Some have very high score requirements in order to place out of the course (90+) while others are fine with like a 75+ and then leave it to the student to decide for themselves if they think they are ready with just the minimum passing score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just about every T20 I've looked at either accepts DE credit where the student is in a college classroom or has some other way of taking advanced coursework first semester whether it's official proficiency exams for placement or unofficially not enforcing prerequisites or officially enforcing prerequisites but adding "or instructor's permission" to the courses

Accepting credit is different than placing into a higher level. In the former, it is freeing up time in your schedule for other classes because you have actually satisfied a credit requirement. In the latter, it is usually allowing you to start at a higher level, but you still need to satisfy a credit requirement.

Just a technical distinction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is your "advanced" child planning to do senior year? The main benefit to advancing early is the chance to skip a year in HS and apply to college a year early, with something to show for it

How did the Calculus whiz do in math contests? Precalculus + a high AMC/AiME score is far, far more impressive then MVC and Diff Equ
The AMC/AIME score would show years of more rigorous EC academic learning than muddling through the school calculus classes.
Similar goes for USAChO Chemistry and F=ma/USA phi Physics.

If you aren't a USAMOcRegeneron finalist or similar, it shows that those advanced courses didn't unlock your potential, and you're already a book-smart test-hacking mediocrity. Colleges would rather gamble on someone who didn't race/skip the foundational study, and still has untapped potential.

T20 colleges know that AP courses are not up to their caliber. They expect to see you show that you've gone deeper into the subject than just box checking the course. Doing an AP course is table stakes for an highly privileged kid.

Competitions are not the ultimate way to prove one’s worth. That may not be a good fit for some students, on the other hand you can even say they are artificial and irrelevant to real life, how many times you have to do 25 question in two hours?

Advanced coursework can have some benefits but it’s not a recipe for success or admissions to some top universities. Also they are not worse than an AIME qualification, they are just different.

One of the greatest benefits of doing MVC, LA, DiffEq early is that you can do much more rigorous science classes in particular physics, and the OP is right to take AP Physics C. Competition physics is not necessarily “deeper”, I’d actually recommend taking the introductory college level general physics than dabbling in F=ma type of problems.

For the OP, that type of coursework does look somewhat impressive because not a lot of student get to that point, but it’s not a golden ticked to anything, you need to have something else going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is your "advanced" child planning to do senior year? The main benefit to advancing early is the chance to skip a year in HS and apply to college a year early, with something to show for it

How did the Calculus whiz do in math contests? Precalculus + a high AMC/AiME score is far, far more impressive then MVC and Diff Equ
The AMC/AIME score would show years of more rigorous EC academic learning than muddling through the school calculus classes.
Similar goes for USAChO Chemistry and F=ma/USA phi Physics.

If you aren't a USAMOcRegeneron finalist or similar, it shows that those advanced courses didn't unlock your potential, and you're already a book-smart test-hacking mediocrity. Colleges would rather gamble on someone who didn't race/skip the foundational study, and still has untapped potential.

T20 colleges know that AP courses are not up to their caliber. They expect to see you show that you've gone deeper into the subject than just box checking the course. Doing an AP course is table stakes for an highly privileged kid.

Competitions are not the ultimate way to prove one’s worth. That may not be a good fit for some students, on the other hand you can even say they are artificial and irrelevant to real life, how many times you have to do 25 question in two hours?

Advanced coursework can have some benefits but it’s not a recipe for success or admissions to some top universities. Also they are not worse than an AIME qualification, they are just different.

One of the greatest benefits of doing MVC, LA, DiffEq early is that you can do much more rigorous science classes in particular physics, and the OP is right to take AP Physics C. Competition physics is not necessarily “deeper”, I’d actually recommend taking the introductory college level general physics than dabbling in F=ma type of problems.

For the OP, that type of coursework does look somewhat impressive because not a lot of student get to that point, but it’s not a golden ticked to anything, you need to have something else going.

F=ma comes *after" introductory college level physics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just about every T20 I've looked at either accepts DE credit where the student is in a college classroom or has some other way of taking advanced coursework first semester whether it's official proficiency exams for placement or unofficially not enforcing prerequisites or officially enforcing prerequisites but adding "or instructor's permission" to the courses

Accepting credit is different than placing into a higher level. In the former, it is freeing up time in your schedule for other classes because you have actually satisfied a credit requirement. In the latter, it is usually allowing you to start at a higher level, but you still need to satisfy a credit requirement.

Just a technical distinction.

Most importantly, credit lets you takes fewer classes in college, if you want to escpe as soon as possible, or want to avoid taking required courses in the subject you got outside credit.

It doesn't help if you want to take more courses in that subject, and want to spend a "full" 4 years at college.

[Anonymous]

T20 love competition level math and other awards

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is your "advanced" child planning to do senior year? The main benefit to advancing early is the chance to skip a year in HS and apply to college a year early, with something to show for it

How did the Calculus whiz do in math contests? Precalculus + a high AMC/AiME score is far, far more impressive then MVC and Diff Equ
The AMC/AIME score would show years of more rigorous EC academic learning than muddling through the school calculus classes.
Similar goes for USAChO Chemistry and F=ma/USA phi Physics.

If you aren't a USAMOcRegeneron finalist or similar, it shows that those advanced courses didn't unlock your potential, and you're already a book-smart test-hacking mediocrity. Colleges would rather gamble on someone who didn't race/skip the foundational study, and still has untapped potential.

T20 colleges know that AP courses are not up to their caliber. They expect to see you show that you've gone deeper into the subject than just box checking the course. Doing an AP course is table stakes for an highly privileged kid.

Competitions are not the ultimate way to prove one’s worth. That may not be a good fit for some students, on the other hand you can even say they are artificial and irrelevant to real life, how many times you have to do 25 question in two hours?

Advanced coursework can have some benefits but it’s not a recipe for success or admissions to some top universities. Also they are not worse than an AIME qualification, they are just different.

One of the greatest benefits of doing MVC, LA, DiffEq early is that you can do much more rigorous science classes in particular physics, and the OP is right to take AP Physics C. Competition physics is not necessarily “deeper”, I’d actually recommend taking the introductory college level general physics than dabbling in F=ma type of problems.

For the OP, that type of coursework does look somewhat impressive because not a lot of student get to that point, but it’s not a golden ticked to anything, you need to have something else going.

F=ma comes *after" introductory college level physics.

No, you got it wrong.

Introductory college level physics is calculus mechanics, multivariable electro and thermodynamics, and diffeq and LA based modern physics.

F=ma is algebra based mechanics close to AP Physics 1. It’s not coming before college physics by any stretch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My unhooked kid took 8 APs. Got into 2 T10s and 3 T20s unhooked. The highest math was AP Calc AB and one AP science- Bio..

35ACT, 5s all APs and UW 4.0.

The major is going to matter --if STEM the above likely wouldn't work. They had both Engl. 4 histories/govt.

+100

grades matter. Bs can hurt more.