AB vs BC Calculus to prepare for college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm seeing some interesting opinions that I would assume admissions people would make the final decisions. Is there actually anyone posting who is indeed an admissions person for a college/university? Or at the least a college counselor in a high school? No pretenders.

Otherwise, it's just speculation.

+1

+2. The recent opinion of the Harvard interviewer carries significant weight. But I can definitely appreciate the experiences of posters with their experiences of their own child. However, the Harvard interviewer sees volumes and volumes of applications. I found his comment about GPA preservation to be serious food for thought as we are weighing the possibility of limiting a course because of an ongoing EC that will definitely play a key role in the application. Thanks, Harvard interviewer, for your insightful remarks.

The Harvard interviewer sees no applications. She meets with applicants and provides a write up to the admissions office that probably carries no real weight. My DC did 8 alum interviews this year. The only info they had on him was his name and email address, and that he had submitted an application. He did provide a resume to each one, but apparently that was unusual since several commented positively on that. None of them asked if he was taking AB vs BC calc. I am not sure his GPA even came up in the interview.

+2. Same was true for my kid who got into a USNWR top 10 school (how's that for avoiding "top Ivy" and "HYP"?). The alum interviewer never saw DC's transcript. For the record, DC got in with Calc AB.

I agree alum interviewers have something to offer. But I disagree, strongly, that parents have nothing to offer. If you want to ignore everybody but the self-identified alum interviewers, it's a free country -- but restricting info like this will be your loss!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think that the Harvard interviewer who has commented here has been quite insightful. I think you do him/her a disservice to assume what his activities are without inquiring. I appreciate your thoughts but I think I'll keep reading and see what other tidbits of real information he might offer.

Sure, the Harvard alum interview has tidbits to offer, and nobody here has said otherwise. What we're saying is, you're limiting your info-gathering to a single poster here, and that's a mistake that will prevent you from taking in lots of other helpful info. Other people with real-life experience DO have info to offer and it's not "pure speculation" in the least. Perhaps you'll understand better after you've gone through the process yourself, with your kid. Meanwhile, try not to go ga-ga over a single poster from Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think that the Harvard interviewer who has commented here has been quite insightful. I think you do him/her a disservice to assume what his activities are without inquiring. I appreciate your thoughts but I think I'll keep reading and see what other tidbits of real information he might offer.

Idiot. PP is right to say the Harvard interviewer, while experienced in some admissions areas, rarely discusses transcripts and never sees them unless the kid brings them to the interview. You are doing your child a real disservice if you discount all other sources of advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been a Harvard interviewer for a while. In my expertience, it would generally be expected that a math/science kid at a school that offered Calc BC would take it, and would also have some kind of independent research project going on. In this area, it is not uncommon to see kids who have taken Linear Algebra/Multivariate Calculus, but no one would be held to that standard if his/her high school didn't offer it.

I have seen kids get in with Calc AB. It was usually a GPA preserving move, and was recognized as such. Those kids usually were admitted on the basis of considerable strengths in other areas.

Could you elaborate on this? When you speak of an independent research, are you talking about a capstone?

When I say an independent research project, I generally mean a project such as one might submit to the Intel or Siemens competitions. We also see kids do projects via internships at NIH etc. I suppose the latter are less independent.

When I say " strengths in other areas", I mean that the kid is a great writer or a fabulous Latin scholar etc.

Have you eve seen other projects that weren't STEM related that warranted serious consideration from the college?

I'd post about my kid who got into a USNWR top 5 with AP Calc and a national-level achievement in the arts. But this idiot doesn't want to hear it because I'm not a Hahvahrd Inteviewer.

[Anonymous]

It appears that one poster has taken this way over the top. The Harvard poster never said she didn't appreciate what other parents said but wanted more information from somebody in the business. The posters who spout 'idiot'...your disruptive brand is all other the college forum. I can't imagine anyone not wanting info whether it came from Harvard or Nebraska State. Good info can be used ANYWHERE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been a Harvard interviewer for a while. In my expertience, it would generally be expected that a math/science kid at a school that offered Calc BC would take it, and would also have some kind of independent research project going on. In this area, it is not uncommon to see kids who have taken Linear Algebra/Multivariate Calculus, but no one would be held to that standard if his/her high school didn't offer it.

I have seen kids get in with Calc AB. It was usually a GPA preserving move, and was recognized as such. Those kids usually were admitted on the basis of considerable strengths in other areas.

Could you elaborate on this? When you speak of an independent research, are you talking about a capstone?

When I say an independent research project, I generally mean a project such as one might submit to the Intel or Siemens competitions. We also see kids do projects via internships at NIH etc. I suppose the latter are less independent.

When I say " strengths in other areas", I mean that the kid is a great writer or a fabulous Latin scholar etc.

Have you eve seen other projects that weren't STEM related that warranted serious consideration from the college?

I'd post about my kid who got into a USNWR top 5 with AP Calc and a national-level achievement in the arts. But this idiot doesn't want to hear it because I'm not a Hahvahrd Inteviewer.

Then why don't you share the benefits of your wisdom and stop with the name calling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm seeing some interesting opinions that I would assume admissions people would make the final decisions. Is there actually anyone posting who is indeed an admissions person for a college/university? Or at the least a college counselor in a high school? No pretenders.

Otherwise, it's just speculation.

IMO this is the problem, way back on page 1. This poster very clearly says she only wants advice from actual college and high school counselors.

This person sounds sweet (I'll give her the benefit of the doubt), but very naive. It's true, as others have said, that the Harvard interviewer may have insight, and in fact I've seen her here before and she's been very helpful. But, the Harvard interviewer is an alum not an actual admissions officer. Therefore, the Harvard alum interviewer never sees the applicants' essays, transcripts, or anything else. The Harvard interviewer only knows about things like AP Calc iff the applicant chooses to bring it up when the two of them meet at a downtown Starbucks. While I'm sure the PP who is getting all starry-eyed about Harvard is well-intentioned, she's ignoring lots of helpful info, and this is not to her advantage.

If, however, she really only wants to listen to bona fide admissions officers, then DCUM is not the place. This poster needs to go to College Confidential where some admissions officers do monitor threads and post. Or, she needs to call admissions offices directly. However, she is going to get spin mixed in with the useful advice. (For a laugh, Crazy U's description of the Harvard tour, or some of the other admissions marketing materials his kid receives.)

[Anonymous]

8:09 again. To expand on one point, and to bring it out: college admissions offices often want to maximize the number of applicants. To that end, they have been known to encourage kids to apply even if, objectively, these kids have little or no chance.

Therefore, I'm not convinced the PP will get a straight answer about Calc AB vs. BC from a college admissions office. Of course there is no one-size-fits-all answer, and colleges do take all kinds of kids. But I would worry that the college admissions office answers will be shaded towards the side of "you won't know until you try, because we take all kinds of kids," which serves their purposes more than a straight-forward "last year we took very few prospective STEM majors who had not done Calc BC."

She really does need to consult a range of sources, including, dare I say it, DCUM parents who have gone through the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:8:09 again. To expand on one point, and to bring it out: college admissions offices often want to maximize the number of applicants. To that end, they have been known to encourage kids to apply even if, objectively, these kids have little or no chance.

Therefore, I'm not convinced the PP will get a straight answer about Calc AB vs. BC from a college admissions office. Of course there is no one-size-fits-all answer, and colleges do take all kinds of kids. But I would worry that the college admissions office answers will be shaded towards the side of "you won't know until you try, because we take all kinds of kids," which serves their purposes more than a straight-forward "last year we took very few prospective STEM majors who had not done Calc BC."

She really does need to consult a range of sources, including, dare I say it, DCUM parents who have gone through the process.

07:36 here. I agree with your sound advice. With that said, calling that poster names (or any poster) diminishes any legitimate argument one might make. For me, it says your goal is not to disseminate informative but to create dissension. IMHO, valid points can get lost in unnecessary, mean-spirited name calling.

I guess I'm just old as we were taught you can verbally spar and disagree without all the other nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8:09 again. To expand on one point, and to bring it out: college admissions offices often want to maximize the number of applicants. To that end, they have been known to encourage kids to apply even if, objectively, these kids have little or no chance.

Therefore, I'm not convinced the PP will get a straight answer about Calc AB vs. BC from a college admissions office. Of course there is no one-size-fits-all answer, and colleges do take all kinds of kids. But I would worry that the college admissions office answers will be shaded towards the side of "you won't know until you try, because we take all kinds of kids," which serves their purposes more than a straight-forward "last year we took very few prospective STEM majors who had not done Calc BC."

She really does need to consult a range of sources, including, dare I say it, DCUM parents who have gone through the process.

07:36 here. I agree with your sound advice. With that said, calling that poster names (or any poster) diminishes any legitimate argument one might make. For me, it says your goal is not to disseminate informative but to create dissension. IMHO, valid points can get lost in unnecessary, mean-spirited name calling.

I guess I'm just old as we were taught you can verbally spar and disagree without all the other nonsense.

There are multiple posters here and I'm not sure who you're addressing. I agree that sound advice can get lost amidst the name-calling. I suppose I'm not the only one here who suspects this is the same person who thinks Ivy League = sociopath, and/or objectected to how she characterized our advice as "speculation" when it was based on facts and experience. But yes, we should rise above that and try to help her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8:09 again. To expand on one point, and to bring it out: college admissions offices often want to maximize the number of applicants. To that end, they have been known to encourage kids to apply even if, objectively, these kids have little or no chance.

Therefore, I'm not convinced the PP will get a straight answer about Calc AB vs. BC from a college admissions office. Of course there is no one-size-fits-all answer, and colleges do take all kinds of kids. But I would worry that the college admissions office answers will be shaded towards the side of "you won't know until you try, because we take all kinds of kids," which serves their purposes more than a straight-forward "last year we took very few prospective STEM majors who had not done Calc BC."

She really does need to consult a range of sources, including, dare I say it, DCUM parents who have gone through the process.

07:36 here. I agree with your sound advice. With that said, calling that poster names (or any poster) diminishes any legitimate argument one might make. For me, it says your goal is not to disseminate informative but to create dissension. IMHO, valid points can get lost in unnecessary, mean-spirited name calling.

I guess I'm just old as we were taught you can verbally spar and disagree without all the other nonsense.

There are multiple posters here and I'm not sure who you're addressing. I agree that sound advice can get lost amidst the name-calling. I suppose I'm not the only one here who suspects this is the same person who thinks Ivy League = sociopath, and/or objectected to how she characterized our advice as "speculation" when it was based on facts and experience. But yes, we should rise above that and try to help her.

It's about conducting ourselves with a modicum of maturity and self-respect without resorting to negative adjectives as idiot, sociopath, etc, just because we unequivocally disagree with what someone said.

I've watched this and other forums spiral downward with a serious lack of respectable decorum and, yes, it's troubling. Though, it does appear that's it's one or two people. Their pattern is discernable.

I think I've said enough on this issue. I don't anticipate seeing a change in presentation from the one or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: It's about conducting ourselves with a modicum of maturity and self-respect without resorting to negative adjectives as idiot, sociopath, etc, just because we unequivocally disagree with what someone said.

I've watched this and other forums spiral downward with a serious lack of respectable decorum and, yes, it's troubling. Though, it does appear that's it's one or two people. Their pattern is discernable.

I think I've said enough on this issue. I don't anticipate seeing a change in presentation from the one or two.

You're attacking the posters who are pushing back on it. Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: It's about conducting ourselves with a modicum of maturity and self-respect without resorting to negative adjectives as idiot, sociopath, etc, just because we unequivocally disagree with what someone said.

I've watched this and other forums spiral downward with a serious lack of respectable decorum and, yes, it's troubling. Though, it does appear that's it's one or two people. Their pattern is discernable.

I think I've said enough on this issue. I don't anticipate seeing a change in presentation from the one or two.

You're attacking the posters who are pushing back on it. Why?

SMH. Sigh....I give up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: It's about conducting ourselves with a modicum of maturity and self-respect without resorting to negative adjectives as idiot, sociopath, etc, just because we unequivocally disagree with what someone said.

I've watched this and other forums spiral downward with a serious lack of respectable decorum and, yes, it's troubling. Though, it does appear that's it's one or two people. Their pattern is discernable.

I think I've said enough on this issue. I don't anticipate seeing a change in presentation from the one or two.

You're attacking the posters who are pushing back on it. Why?

SMH. Sigh....I give up.

I get where you're coming from, PP. I've been guilty of boiling over too. Maybe I'll check myself before I hit that submit button.