AP Calculus AB

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you all for responding and sharing. DD has highest rigor in about everything except Calculus and Physics. Did science research at one of the most prestigious residential summer research programs. I guess she had something compelling despite lower math to be selected. Great ECs and grades. 780 math 790 verbal. All 5s on AP exams so far. Has equal strengths in humanities with honors/awards supporting humanities as well though more STEM ECs. Unfortunately, it sounds like Calc AB senior year in the context of her competitive, rigorous HS will hurt her chances significantly. AOs will know she has the academic preparation but other peers will stand out more in math. She’ll probably still try for REA, roll the dice in RD, be thoughtful about targets and hope for the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all for responding and sharing. DD has highest rigor in about everything except Calculus and Physics. Did science research at one of the most prestigious residential summer research programs. I guess she had something compelling despite lower math to be selected. Great ECs and grades. 780 math 790 verbal. All 5s on AP exams so far. Has equal strengths in humanities with honors/awards supporting humanities as well though more STEM ECs. Unfortunately, it sounds like Calc AB senior year in the context of her competitive, rigorous HS will hurt her chances significantly. AOs will know she has the academic preparation but other peers will stand out more in math. She’ll probably still try for REA, roll the dice in RD, be thoughtful about targets and hope for the best.

She sounds like an amazing kid and she will do really well in admissions. I don't think BC v. AB will matter at all, but this may be one reason for her to apply ED somewhere if there's a school that's her top choice.

[Anonymous]

SSP. Yes. Shoot your shots at REA or EA MIT. RD a few ivies. This is the right profile.

[Anonymous]

Several years ago, I asked our public school counselor what it took for her to check the 'most rigorous' box and I was surprised that she gave a specific answer. It included several specific AP courses, including BC by senior year.

I'm sure schools handle this differently, but this is one data point.

That said, if she looks more social sciency based on her transcript (lost of social studies APs for instance, and fewer science APs and no BC), I might suggest she lean into social science on her application. At most schools, it's easy to switch majors once you're there, and admissions officers may look differently at a social science/humanities students taking AB compared to a STEM student.

My kid took BC but got a B, but had had high SATs and really leaned into a philosophy/poli sci interest statement and got into good schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all for responding and sharing. DD has highest rigor in about everything except Calculus and Physics. Did science research at one of the most prestigious residential summer research programs. I guess she had something compelling despite lower math to be selected. Great ECs and grades. 780 math 790 verbal. All 5s on AP exams so far. Has equal strengths in humanities with honors/awards supporting humanities as well though more STEM ECs. Unfortunately, it sounds like Calc AB senior year in the context of her competitive, rigorous HS will hurt her chances significantly. AOs will know she has the academic preparation but other peers will stand out more in math. She’ll probably still try for REA, roll the dice in RD, be thoughtful about targets and hope for the best.

With this profile she would have been fine in BC. The AP class will not hold her back if she gets an A to submit along with the application. Ideally she’d have AP physics C for the top schools, but she has a real shot. No reason to worry about AP vs BC. It’s a small difference and she proved she can handle challenging coursework.

Most advice I’ve seen is to avoid bringing up health issues in the application and to the school counselor. It can backfire, and be seen as she’ll have difficulty keeping up in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all for responding and sharing. DD has highest rigor in about everything except Calculus and Physics. Did science research at one of the most prestigious residential summer research programs. I guess she had something compelling despite lower math to be selected. Great ECs and grades. 780 math 790 verbal. All 5s on AP exams so far. Has equal strengths in humanities with honors/awards supporting humanities as well though more STEM ECs. Unfortunately, it sounds like Calc AB senior year in the context of her competitive, rigorous HS will hurt her chances significantly. AOs will know she has the academic preparation but other peers will stand out more in math. She’ll probably still try for REA, roll the dice in RD, be thoughtful about targets and hope for the best.

With this profile she would have been fine in BC. The AP class will not hold her back if she gets an A to submit along with the application. Ideally she’d have AP physics C for the top schools, but she has a real shot. No reason to worry about AP vs BC. It’s a small difference and she proved she can handle challenging coursework.

Most advice I’ve seen is to avoid bringing up health issues in the application and to the school counselor. It can backfire, and be seen as she’ll have difficulty keeping up in college.

Seconded

OP you received less than ideal advice on BC. She should have gone for it especially as she dodged the hardest physical too. A B in it would be fine. She should have cut out one of the easier APs or even two of the easier ones that are less important than BC for rigor assessment.

[Anonymous]

^*physics not physical

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At least at our private, GPA is far more important than rigor. High rigor 3.7 kids suffer from this, whereas lower rigor 3.8+ pretty much has a shot at all ivies other than HYP. It doesn't make sense but that's what scattergrams show.

How do you tell the rigor in the scattergrams?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least at our private, GPA is far more important than rigor. High rigor 3.7 kids suffer from this, whereas lower rigor 3.8+ pretty much has a shot at all ivies other than HYP. It doesn't make sense but that's what scattergrams show.

How do you tell the rigor in the scattergrams?

We can see the number of advanced courses taken along with the scattergrams in the school counselor's office.

[Anonymous]

Very few applicants to T 15 colleges don't take Calc BC. The ones that do are usually from lower performing schools or those students from a lower socioeconomic background/ FGLI or underrepresented in STEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that your student will be compared to the other students at his hs. To get into a t15, class rank has to be in top 5%. The difference won't come down to who is in BC or AB

+1 Math class will not be the deciding factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very few applicants to T 15 colleges don't take Calc BC. The ones that do are usually from lower performing schools or those students from a lower socioeconomic background/ FGLI or underrepresented in STEM.

And you know this... how?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very few applicants to T 15 colleges don't take Calc BC. The ones that do are usually from lower performing schools or those students from a lower socioeconomic background/ FGLI or underrepresented in STEM.

You made that up. And it isn't true.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why OP is so committed to the kid not taking BC, when the kid is prepared to be a top student in the course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why OP is so committed to the kid not taking BC, when the kid is prepared to be a top student in the course.

Per the original post. Decision was already made.