Advice Needed: NOVA Credits vs Reaching for MIT / Ivies / Georgia Tech / Purdue / Vanderbilt / Top Schools

[Anonymous]

Yale says de and ap courses are treated the same.

[Anonymous]

OP, what AP classes did your kid take? What were their scores? UVA is not going to view all those DEs as highly rigorous. You should have done AP or IB classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yale says de and ap courses are treated the same.

Citation for that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so you have reasonable expectations. All the following below on your list you should consider reaches especially for these Publics if you are OOS especially for CS or Engineering. The SAT score is common among many applications at these schools and the GPA is honestly a bit low for these schools. Just go into this with your eyes wide open and make sure you have some targets and safeties. None of the below are either. Trust me most of the below schools were on are list as well. Tough admits.

MIT
Princeton / Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Georgia Tech
Vanderbilt
Michigan
Texas Austin
UVA

UVA is in-state

UVA won’t take a kid that is avoiding AP classes. I would bet money this kid gets rejected from UVA.

[Anonymous]

Do you really think Linear Algebra at community college could be close to equivalent to linear algebra at a place like MIT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking for advice from parents/students with real experience.
My child is a Virginia student with:
1595 SAT
3.8 unweighted GPA
Very rigorous schedule
Strong coding background since childhood
Interested in advanced math, computer science, engineering, and eventually Wall Street algorithm / trading / math driven careers

NOVA direct and dual enrollment courses completed or in progress:
Calc I, II, III
Linear Algebra
Differential Equations
Discrete Structures
Computer Organization
English / History / Gov

We are considering:
MIT
Princeton / Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Georgia Tech
Purdue
Vanderbilt
Michigan
Texas Austin
Texas A&M
UVA
Virginia Tech

Some are reaches, but I feel he should aim high.

His biggest concern is making sure NOVA credits transfer so he does not retake courses. Virginia schools seem safest for that, but I worry he is overvaluing guaranteed transfer credit.

He is also not very into the liberal reputation of UVA, though maybe that matters less in math / CS / engineering.

Questions:
Has anyone had NOVA credits transfer to these schools?
Do advanced math credits transfer as real credit or just placement?
Do CS courses transfer?
Is prioritizing transfer credit a mistake if stronger schools are options?
If this were your child, stay in Virginia or aim higher?

How is this relevant?

Also, any evidence to back up his coding interest since childhood? IOI?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so you have reasonable expectations. All the following below on your list you should consider reaches especially for these Publics if you are OOS especially for CS or Engineering. The SAT score is common among many applications at these schools and the GPA is honestly a bit low for these schools. Just go into this with your eyes wide open and make sure you have some targets and safeties. None of the below are either. Trust me most of the below schools were on are list as well. Tough admits.

MIT
Princeton / Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Georgia Tech
Vanderbilt
Michigan
Texas Austin
UVA

UVA is in-state

UVA won’t take a kid that is avoiding AP classes. I would bet money this kid gets rejected from UVA.

That is not really an accurate description.

He is not avoiding AP classes.

His transcript includes approximately 10 AP courses across math, computer science, physics, economics, history, and science.

He also has approximately 6 dual enrollment courses in general education and computer science areas such as English, history/government, and technical subjects.

On top of that, he has approximately 5 regular NOVA college math courses beyond the normal AP level, including advanced calculus progression, linear algebra, and differential equations.

So overall, that is roughly:

10 AP courses
6 DE courses
5 additional NOVA college courses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking for advice from parents/students with real experience.
My child is a Virginia student with:
1595 SAT
3.8 unweighted GPA
Very rigorous schedule
Strong coding background since childhood
Interested in advanced math, computer science, engineering, and eventually Wall Street algorithm / trading / math driven careers

NOVA direct and dual enrollment courses completed or in progress:
Calc I, II, III
Linear Algebra
Differential Equations
Discrete Structures
Computer Organization
English / History / Gov

We are considering:
MIT
Princeton / Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Georgia Tech
Purdue
Vanderbilt
Michigan
Texas Austin
Texas A&M
UVA
Virginia Tech

Some are reaches, but I feel he should aim high.

His biggest concern is making sure NOVA credits transfer so he does not retake courses. Virginia schools seem safest for that, but I worry he is overvaluing guaranteed transfer credit.

He is also not very into the liberal reputation of UVA, though maybe that matters less in math / CS / engineering.

Questions:
Has anyone had NOVA credits transfer to these schools?
Do advanced math credits transfer as real credit or just placement?
Do CS courses transfer?
Is prioritizing transfer credit a mistake if stronger schools are options?
If this were your child, stay in Virginia or aim higher?

Seems an odd thing to prioritize given his school list. A lot of those schools will want him to take those classes with them to ensure he’s got a sufficient knowledge of the material.

I got the impression the list was the parent’s

[Anonymous]

Many of these schools have pages in their website that you can google to see what credits are pre-approved for transfer.

Top private schools may not take AP or DE credits. Most public schools, including out of state, will take most equivalent DE credits. They may need to review some syllabuses if the course hasn’t transferred previously. My kids school is currently evaluating linear algebra and differential equations because nobody has tried to transfer it in from her community college to that state flagship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so you have reasonable expectations. All the following below on your list you should consider reaches especially for these Publics if you are OOS especially for CS or Engineering. The SAT score is common among many applications at these schools and the GPA is honestly a bit low for these schools. Just go into this with your eyes wide open and make sure you have some targets and safeties. None of the below are either. Trust me most of the below schools were on are list as well. Tough admits.

MIT
Princeton / Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Georgia Tech
Vanderbilt
Michigan
Texas Austin
UVA

UVA is in-state

UVA won’t take a kid that is avoiding AP classes. I would bet money this kid gets rejected from UVA.

That is not really an accurate description.

He is not avoiding AP classes.

His transcript includes approximately 10 AP courses across math, computer science, physics, economics, history, and science.

He also has approximately 6 dual enrollment courses in general education and computer science areas such as English, history/government, and technical subjects.

On top of that, he has approximately 5 regular NOVA college math courses beyond the normal AP level, including advanced calculus progression, linear algebra, and differential equations.

So overall, that is roughly:

10 AP courses
6 DE courses
5 additional NOVA college courses

Did he take Ap exams for all AP classes? If so, what were scores?

[Anonymous]

I think OP is missing the correct point made that the most selective colleges, including UVA, do not grant transfer credit for NOVA courses taken in high school. The transfer credit site shows courses accepted for transfer students (those taking NOVA courses after receiving their high school diploma).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so you have reasonable expectations. All the following below on your list you should consider reaches especially for these Publics if you are OOS especially for CS or Engineering. The SAT score is common among many applications at these schools and the GPA is honestly a bit low for these schools. Just go into this with your eyes wide open and make sure you have some targets and safeties. None of the below are either. Trust me most of the below schools were on are list as well. Tough admits.

MIT
Princeton / Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Georgia Tech
Vanderbilt
Michigan
Texas Austin
UVA

UVA is in-state

UVA won’t take a kid that is avoiding AP classes. I would bet money this kid gets rejected from UVA.

That is not really an accurate description.

He is not avoiding AP classes.

His transcript includes approximately 10 AP courses across math, computer science, physics, economics, history, and science.

He also has approximately 6 dual enrollment courses in general education and computer science areas such as English, history/government, and technical subjects.

On top of that, he has approximately 5 regular NOVA college math courses beyond the normal AP level, including advanced calculus progression, linear algebra, and differential equations.

So overall, that is roughly:

10 AP courses
6 DE courses
5 additional NOVA college courses

I still bet on this kid getting rejected from UVA.

[Anonymous]

Why is he taking English and gov at CC? Top schools prefer AP unless it’s a situation where CC is the only or most advanced option available.

All of the schools listed are super reaches for a not nearly 4.0 GPA other than Virginia Tech and Texas A&M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think OP is missing the correct point made that the most selective colleges, including UVA, do not grant transfer credit for NOVA courses taken in high school. The transfer credit site shows courses accepted for transfer students (those taking NOVA courses after receiving their high school diploma).

+1

[Anonymous]

Nobody outside of Maryland consisers much about umd except it's just another state school