AP Calculus AB

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+2 Colleges don’t sort applicants based on who learned about Taylor series, the main difference between AB and BC.

[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.

I agree this is the right, basic profile for the Ivy league etc. But what particularly about her or her background makes her stand out from the crowd? Is there anything genuine that you can lean into to make her stand out from the sea of perfect scores and high rigor that land in the admissions offices?

[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.

I agree this is the right, basic profile for the Ivy league etc. But what particularly about her or her background makes her stand out from the crowd? Is there anything genuine that you can lean into to make her stand out from the sea of perfect scores and high rigor that land in the admissions offices?

OP. I think she does have a perspective/experience that some colleges may find appealing. DD is not first-gen, URM or from underrepresented area etc but I think her background is maybe what got her accepted into that prestigious science research program (more than 1 acceptance to well known programs). I don’t think MIT EA will work out. MIT most definitely will want to see semester grade for lowly Calc AB and even then may not be good enough. I know there are kids at MIT who only took AB, but I don’t think anyone from her school accepted to MIT in either admissions round had lower than BC Calc. I believe all had higher. So perhaps, as some PP have mentioned, she will have better odds at liberal arts focused universities and SLACs.

Thank you all for sharing your perspectives. I think you’re all correct and her situation may be viewed one way (negative) by most schools and possibly, if she’s lucky, a few may be a bit more forgiving? Good advice not to draw attention to medical issue. Don’t want the schools to think she can’t do the work. I’ll encourage her to talk to counselor about pros and cons of explaining the AB vs BC choice and medical issue. In the context of her HS though, I believe AOs will note that lower rigor. Hopefully her counselor has some informed thoughts about that.

Maybe in the Spring she will be fortunate and be one that others think shouldn’t have gotten accepted to x school. Kid just needs one “Yes”. Crossing fingers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree this is the right, basic profile for the Ivy league etc. But what particularly about her or her background makes her stand out from the crowd? Is there anything genuine that you can lean into to make her stand out from the sea of perfect scores and high rigor that land in the admissions offices?

OP. I think she does have a perspective/experience that some colleges may find appealing. DD is not first-gen, URM or from underrepresented area etc but I think her background is maybe what got her accepted into that prestigious science research program (more than 1 acceptance to well known programs). I don’t think MIT EA will work out. MIT most definitely will want to see semester grade for lowly Calc AB and even then may not be good enough. I know there are kids at MIT who only took AB, but I don’t think anyone from her school accepted to MIT in either admissions round had lower than BC Calc. I believe all had higher. So perhaps, as some PP have mentioned, she will have better odds at liberal arts focused universities and SLACs.

Thank you all for sharing your perspectives. I think you’re all correct and her situation may be viewed one way (negative) by most schools and possibly, if she’s lucky, a few may be a bit more forgiving? Good advice not to draw attention to medical issue. Don’t want the schools to think she can’t do the work. I’ll encourage her to talk to counselor about pros and cons of explaining the AB vs BC choice and medical issue. In the context of her HS though, I believe AOs will note that lower rigor. Hopefully her counselor has some informed thoughts about that.

Maybe in the Spring she will be fortunate and be one that others think shouldn’t have gotten accepted to x school. Kid just needs one “Yes”. Crossing fingers.

I was not talking about perspective of paid for experiences. I was talking about something genuinely unique. You're going to have to make something up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree this is the right, basic profile for the Ivy league etc. But what particularly about her or her background makes her stand out from the crowd? Is there anything genuine that you can lean into to make her stand out from the sea of perfect scores and high rigor that land in the admissions offices?

OP. I think she does have a perspective/experience that some colleges may find appealing. DD is not first-gen, URM or from underrepresented area etc but I think her background is maybe what got her accepted into that prestigious science research program (more than 1 acceptance to well known programs). I don’t think MIT EA will work out. MIT most definitely will want to see semester grade for lowly Calc AB and even then may not be good enough. I know there are kids at MIT who only took AB, but I don’t think anyone from her school accepted to MIT in either admissions round had lower than BC Calc. I believe all had higher. So perhaps, as some PP have mentioned, she will have better odds at liberal arts focused universities and SLACs.

Thank you all for sharing your perspectives. I think you’re all correct and her situation may be viewed one way (negative) by most schools and possibly, if she’s lucky, a few may be a bit more forgiving? Good advice not to draw attention to medical issue. Don’t want the schools to think she can’t do the work. I’ll encourage her to talk to counselor about pros and cons of explaining the AB vs BC choice and medical issue. In the context of her HS though, I believe AOs will note that lower rigor. Hopefully her counselor has some informed thoughts about that.

Maybe in the Spring she will be fortunate and be one that others think shouldn’t have gotten accepted to x school. Kid just needs one “Yes”. Crossing fingers.

I was not talking about perspective of paid for experiences. I was talking about something genuinely unique. You're going to have to make something up.

If we learned anything at all, the more “genuinely unique “ it’s, the more fake it really is. “Make something up”, as you put it, may be the sad truth these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree this is the right, basic profile for the Ivy league etc. But what particularly about her or her background makes her stand out from the crowd? Is there anything genuine that you can lean into to make her stand out from the sea of perfect scores and high rigor that land in the admissions offices?

OP. I think she does have a perspective/experience that some colleges may find appealing. DD is not first-gen, URM or from underrepresented area etc but I think her background is maybe what got her accepted into that prestigious science research program (more than 1 acceptance to well known programs). I don’t think MIT EA will work out. MIT most definitely will want to see semester grade for lowly Calc AB and even then may not be good enough. I know there are kids at MIT who only took AB, but I don’t think anyone from her school accepted to MIT in either admissions round had lower than BC Calc. I believe all had higher. So perhaps, as some PP have mentioned, she will have better odds at liberal arts focused universities and SLACs.

Thank you all for sharing your perspectives. I think you’re all correct and her situation may be viewed one way (negative) by most schools and possibly, if she’s lucky, a few may be a bit more forgiving? Good advice not to draw attention to medical issue. Don’t want the schools to think she can’t do the work. I’ll encourage her to talk to counselor about pros and cons of explaining the AB vs BC choice and medical issue. In the context of her HS though, I believe AOs will note that lower rigor. Hopefully her counselor has some informed thoughts about that.

Maybe in the Spring she will be fortunate and be one that others think shouldn’t have gotten accepted to x school. Kid just needs one “Yes”. Crossing fingers.

SSP feeds a lot of their kids to MIT, Stanford, and Yale. I wouldn’t exclude MIT, she should at least apply to MIT in RD round.

AB is not going to hold her back. Report back here next year, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree this is the right, basic profile for the Ivy league etc. But what particularly about her or her background makes her stand out from the crowd? Is there anything genuine that you can lean into to make her stand out from the sea of perfect scores and high rigor that land in the admissions offices?

OP. I think she does have a perspective/experience that some colleges may find appealing. DD is not first-gen, URM or from underrepresented area etc but I think her background is maybe what got her accepted into that prestigious science research program (more than 1 acceptance to well known programs). I don’t think MIT EA will work out. MIT most definitely will want to see semester grade for lowly Calc AB and even then may not be good enough. I know there are kids at MIT who only took AB, but I don’t think anyone from her school accepted to MIT in either admissions round had lower than BC Calc. I believe all had higher. So perhaps, as some PP have mentioned, she will have better odds at liberal arts focused universities and SLACs.

Thank you all for sharing your perspectives. I think you’re all correct and her situation may be viewed one way (negative) by most schools and possibly, if she’s lucky, a few may be a bit more forgiving? Good advice not to draw attention to medical issue. Don’t want the schools to think she can’t do the work. I’ll encourage her to talk to counselor about pros and cons of explaining the AB vs BC choice and medical issue. In the context of her HS though, I believe AOs will note that lower rigor. Hopefully her counselor has some informed thoughts about that.

Maybe in the Spring she will be fortunate and be one that others think shouldn’t have gotten accepted to x school. Kid just needs one “Yes”. Crossing fingers.

I was not talking about perspective of paid for experiences. I was talking about something genuinely unique. You're going to have to make something up.

? It was not a pay to play summer experience. I’m saying she has a unique background/perspective (not academic related) that I think was one factor that got her accepted to the summer research program. Perhaps some colleges will find that aspect of her appealing as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree this is the right, basic profile for the Ivy league etc. But what particularly about her or her background makes her stand out from the crowd? Is there anything genuine that you can lean into to make her stand out from the sea of perfect scores and high rigor that land in the admissions offices?

OP. I think she does have a perspective/experience that some colleges may find appealing. DD is not first-gen, URM or from underrepresented area etc but I think her background is maybe what got her accepted into that prestigious science research program (more than 1 acceptance to well known programs). I don’t think MIT EA will work out. MIT most definitely will want to see semester grade for lowly Calc AB and even then may not be good enough. I know there are kids at MIT who only took AB, but I don’t think anyone from her school accepted to MIT in either admissions round had lower than BC Calc. I believe all had higher. So perhaps, as some PP have mentioned, she will have better odds at liberal arts focused universities and SLACs.

Thank you all for sharing your perspectives. I think you’re all correct and her situation may be viewed one way (negative) by most schools and possibly, if she’s lucky, a few may be a bit more forgiving? Good advice not to draw attention to medical issue. Don’t want the schools to think she can’t do the work. I’ll encourage her to talk to counselor about pros and cons of explaining the AB vs BC choice and medical issue. In the context of her HS though, I believe AOs will note that lower rigor. Hopefully her counselor has some informed thoughts about that.

Maybe in the Spring she will be fortunate and be one that others think shouldn’t have gotten accepted to x school. Kid just needs one “Yes”. Crossing fingers.

I was not talking about perspective of paid for experiences. I was talking about something genuinely unique. You're going to have to make something up.

? It was not a pay to play summer experience. I’m saying she has a unique background/perspective (not academic related) that I think was one factor that got her accepted to the summer research program. Perhaps some colleges will find that aspect of her appealing as well.

Doubtful. Summer programs will take anyone who can string a sentence together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree this is the right, basic profile for the Ivy league etc. But what particularly about her or her background makes her stand out from the crowd? Is there anything genuine that you can lean into to make her stand out from the sea of perfect scores and high rigor that land in the admissions offices?

OP. I think she does have a perspective/experience that some colleges may find appealing. DD is not first-gen, URM or from underrepresented area etc but I think her background is maybe what got her accepted into that prestigious science research program (more than 1 acceptance to well known programs). I don’t think MIT EA will work out. MIT most definitely will want to see semester grade for lowly Calc AB and even then may not be good enough. I know there are kids at MIT who only took AB, but I don’t think anyone from her school accepted to MIT in either admissions round had lower than BC Calc. I believe all had higher. So perhaps, as some PP have mentioned, she will have better odds at liberal arts focused universities and SLACs.

Thank you all for sharing your perspectives. I think you’re all correct and her situation may be viewed one way (negative) by most schools and possibly, if she’s lucky, a few may be a bit more forgiving? Good advice not to draw attention to medical issue. Don’t want the schools to think she can’t do the work. I’ll encourage her to talk to counselor about pros and cons of explaining the AB vs BC choice and medical issue. In the context of her HS though, I believe AOs will note that lower rigor. Hopefully her counselor has some informed thoughts about that.

Maybe in the Spring she will be fortunate and be one that others think shouldn’t have gotten accepted to x school. Kid just needs one “Yes”. Crossing fingers.

I was not talking about perspective of paid for experiences. I was talking about something genuinely unique. You're going to have to make something up.

? It was not a pay to play summer experience. I’m saying she has a unique background/perspective (not academic related) that I think was one factor that got her accepted to the summer research program. Perhaps some colleges will find that aspect of her appealing as well.

Doubtful. Summer programs will take anyone who can string a sentence together.

There are summer programs that take everyone who applies, but there are some competitive STEM programs that are more selective than Harvard college. My kid is valedictorian of her high school and will have taken 13 APs when she graduates (so far, all 5s) and was rejected from all of the competitive summer programs she applied for last summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree this is the right, basic profile for the Ivy league etc. But what particularly about her or her background makes her stand out from the crowd? Is there anything genuine that you can lean into to make her stand out from the sea of perfect scores and high rigor that land in the admissions offices?

OP. I think she does have a perspective/experience that some colleges may find appealing. DD is not first-gen, URM or from underrepresented area etc but I think her background is maybe what got her accepted into that prestigious science research program (more than 1 acceptance to well known programs). I don’t think MIT EA will work out. MIT most definitely will want to see semester grade for lowly Calc AB and even then may not be good enough. I know there are kids at MIT who only took AB, but I don’t think anyone from her school accepted to MIT in either admissions round had lower than BC Calc. I believe all had higher. So perhaps, as some PP have mentioned, she will have better odds at liberal arts focused universities and SLACs.

Thank you all for sharing your perspectives. I think you’re all correct and her situation may be viewed one way (negative) by most schools and possibly, if she’s lucky, a few may be a bit more forgiving? Good advice not to draw attention to medical issue. Don’t want the schools to think she can’t do the work. I’ll encourage her to talk to counselor about pros and cons of explaining the AB vs BC choice and medical issue. In the context of her HS though, I believe AOs will note that lower rigor. Hopefully her counselor has some informed thoughts about that.

Maybe in the Spring she will be fortunate and be one that others think shouldn’t have gotten accepted to x school. Kid just needs one “Yes”. Crossing fingers.

I was not talking about perspective of paid for experiences. I was talking about something genuinely unique. You're going to have to make something up.

? It was not a pay to play summer experience. I’m saying she has a unique background/perspective (not academic related) that I think was one factor that got her accepted to the summer research program. Perhaps some colleges will find that aspect of her appealing as well.

Doubtful. Summer programs will take anyone who can string a sentence together.

There are summer programs that take everyone who applies, but there are some competitive STEM programs that are more selective than Harvard college. My kid is valedictorian of her high school and will have taken 13 APs when she graduates (so far, all 5s) and was rejected from all of the competitive summer programs she applied for last summer.

Great preparation for the inevitable Ivy rejections, I suspect.

[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 should add - “from your school.” At my DC’s local private school, Calc BC is not a differentiator unless you are applying for engineering. The school requires a year of AB before you take BC, so the kids that are entering high school from public schools that push kids ahead in math early on tend to be the ones that end up with BC or even MV calculus/linear algebra. Most kids come from private schools that aren’t super accelerated in math. Geometry in 9th is common for these kids and they end up in Calc AB senior year. Considered most rigorous.

[Anonymous]

At non-dc private, AB vs BC doesn’t seem to matter. More generally, after watching DC’s class apply, I think better grades with decent but not top rigor tends to do better at top schools. You have to take a decent number of AP-equivalent classes, but AB vs BC or MV, or AP environmental vs AP Physics doesn’t seem to matter as much as GPA in outcomes. High GPAs with relatively soft schedules but high SATs did quite well at non-HYP ivies, top LACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 should add - “from your school.” At my DC’s local private school, Calc BC is not a differentiator unless you are applying for engineering. The school requires a year of AB before you take BC, so the kids that are entering high school from public schools that push kids ahead in math early on tend to be the ones that end up with BC or even MV calculus/linear algebra. Most kids come from private schools that aren’t super accelerated in math. Geometry in 9th is common for these kids and they end up in Calc AB senior year. Considered most rigorous.

This appears to be true in so many privates. Rigor is much less important than GPA. Even more so for ivies and top LACs, as they look for GPA consistency. Competition level is high as everyone wants to do Finance after college.

But the rigor kids have other non-ivy schools like Cornell CALS or Eng, CMU, and JHU. If the kid is engineering or premed bound, those schools are good options anyway. These schools are not popular among private school kids, so the competition level is lower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree this is the right, basic profile for the Ivy league etc. But what particularly about her or her background makes her stand out from the crowd? Is there anything genuine that you can lean into to make her stand out from the sea of perfect scores and high rigor that land in the admissions offices?

OP. I think she does have a perspective/experience that some colleges may find appealing. DD is not first-gen, URM or from underrepresented area etc but I think her background is maybe what got her accepted into that prestigious science research program (more than 1 acceptance to well known programs). I don’t think MIT EA will work out. MIT most definitely will want to see semester grade for lowly Calc AB and even then may not be good enough. I know there are kids at MIT who only took AB, but I don’t think anyone from her school accepted to MIT in either admissions round had lower than BC Calc. I believe all had higher. So perhaps, as some PP have mentioned, she will have better odds at liberal arts focused universities and SLACs.

Thank you all for sharing your perspectives. I think you’re all correct and her situation may be viewed one way (negative) by most schools and possibly, if she’s lucky, a few may be a bit more forgiving? Good advice not to draw attention to medical issue. Don’t want the schools to think she can’t do the work. I’ll encourage her to talk to counselor about pros and cons of explaining the AB vs BC choice and medical issue. In the context of her HS though, I believe AOs will note that lower rigor. Hopefully her counselor has some informed thoughts about that.

Maybe in the Spring she will be fortunate and be one that others think shouldn’t have gotten accepted to x school. Kid just needs one “Yes”. Crossing fingers.

I was not talking about perspective of paid for experiences. I was talking about something genuinely unique. You're going to have to make something up.

? It was not a pay to play summer experience. I’m saying she has a unique background/perspective (not academic related) that I think was one factor that got her accepted to the summer research program. Perhaps some colleges will find that aspect of her appealing as well.

Doubtful. Summer programs will take anyone who can string a sentence together.

There are summer programs that take everyone who applies, but there are some competitive STEM programs that are more selective than Harvard college. My kid is valedictorian of her high school and will have taken 13 APs when she graduates (so far, all 5s) and was rejected from all of the competitive summer programs she applied for last summer.

Kid from DC’s school did one of these top STEM programs. Was accepted to MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Duke, and more (Ivies + T20). I think being selected for one of these programs may be an indicator that the kid will do well in selective college admissions. Though it’s probably rare to sweep HYPSMC even as an alum of top STEM summer programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If AP Calculus AB is the highest math my DC reaches, will they be auto rejected from T15 as a biology/chemistry/neuroscience major? DC attends competitive public in over-represented area with most classmates reaching BC calc or higher.

Auto-reject, no. That 'most' classmates reach BC or higher could play a factor in rigor perception, I would think. If AB is required before BC, then that would be a function of math tracking earlier on and might factor in differently than if students can choose to go AB or BC and most choose BC. In that I would think it possible those students get a 'bump' in rigor perception'.

I think the 'risk' is more that other students get a 'lift' versus your DC gets a 'demerit'. Kinda like test optional. They say not sending in a test score won't hurt you, but that doesnt mean it doesn't help the student that sends it in.

That said there are essays, recs, ECs, all the other classes taken, etc that factor in. It doesn't hinge on a single class taken/not taken but it is a game of inches.

Mostly this. In the game of inches the difference between calculus AB and BC is maybe a quarter of an inch.

OP is agonizing over things that matter only a little. I haven’t seen a single college website that suggests BC is better for admissions, even if it covers two additional chapters. The admission outcome will not rest on doing parametric curves and series in the senior year of high school.

Instead of worrying about this, have your daughter go to Red Cross this weekend and take a first aid class and certification to list as an extracurricular on the application if she’s interested. It’s going to count more than AB vs BC.

What the college website says is irrelevant. Your application is judged against your peers and the other applications they receive. Only going up to calc AB (and senior yr at that) and trying to get a spot at a top school for stem is likely not going to be in your favor. While it isn’t an automatic no, you aren’t going to have a grade in the class nor and AP score when your application is being considered. In a sea of applicants that all have calc BC or beyond, many of them before senior year, your application is going to be put aside

No, what colleges say is not irrelevant. They tell you how and by what metrics the application is judged against the other students from your school.

They give general statements to maximize number of applicants, and to not discourage anyone. If you are applying to a college that has an under 10% admissions rate and top want to major in stem, talking calc AB your senior year is pretty much is going to make your already slim chances near zero. According to the MIT website students applying should have “at least some single variable calculus” and “at least some biology, chemistry, and physics by the time they graduate.” They don’t require any AP classes at all. But if you think you are going to get into MIT taking calc AB and zero AP sciences, if your school offers them (because they don’t say it is required or even recommend it), then you are very delusional.

It doesn’t sound like you read the page carefully, or you have the reading comprehension of a middle schooler.

Nope. No one with any sense of reality and knowledge of college admissions thinks calc AB is just fine for applying to T15 schools for STEM. You are the only one that seems to think “because their website says..” means anything. It is a disadvantage, especially given the further details given by OP

If the higher ranking ones HYPMS did not admit you, mostly likely it's not because OP didn't take BC. They want a lot more than a Calculus course.
It's the lower ranking ones that care about BC a lot more, Caltech, JHU, Penn, Cornell.

Typical DCUM. You have no idea what you're talking about.