Predict DS's chances at these schools

[Anonymous]

Yes 4 yrs of language required for Duke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes 4 yrs of language required for Duke.

DC did that. He skipped language 5. Language starts in middle school

[Anonymous]

Got into a top school that says we recommend 4 years of a language during your high school. Only had 3 - stopped junior year. There are very very few schools that require 4 and if you take rigor elsewhere especially for a reason and are more stem based they get that AP French gets in the way.

[Anonymous]

Where he falls in the class (rank even if no official rank) will also matter a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes 4 yrs of language required for Duke.

Not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous
UMC FCPS Public. 3.95/4.5 GPA, 1520 SAT one sitting, will take again, one varsity sport, lots of volunteer work, PT summer job, VP of an academic club 3 years, tutoring. An academic department award in 10th. 9 APs through 11th, scheduled for 6 in 12th. 10th grade AP exams - 2 5s, 2 4s.

Duke ED 👎
Vanderbilt 👎
UVA possible esp ED
VT likey
W&M likely
UNC 👎
Mich 👎
Wisc likely
UGA unlikely

Rigor seems fine. Sat is fine

Awards missing (academic in school award means very little)

Ecs are very mediocre and will add very little

Why would kid consider schools with such varying student population numbers? Such different experiences

Without the list of AP's taken along with the list of AP's offered at the school but not taken by this student, you cannot determine rigor the way the college will. This process has been detailed by AO's on blogs for years as well as in the 2018 book Who Gets In and Why. The rigor-race has amped up since then, due to parental pressure more kids are let into honors or AP, making the number of AP or the weighted GPA irrelevant without context.
Ivy+ schools are not subtle at information sessions: they want applicants to challenge themselves with coursework in every area, especially the areas they do not plan to study and/or feel weaker in. Multiple said almost the exact same phrase in tours from 2022-2024 when we toured all over with both of ours.

This student, with the two 4s and two 5s on AP so far, is not likely a top-20 contender unless the 4s were notoriously difficult and/or rare APs for a 10th grader. The AP scoring was shifted in 2024 such that quite a large group gets 4 or higher. 4 is the new 3 for most AP tests. Top schools only accept 5s and have been that way since 2021, even before the change in AP score distribution.
Most APs offered to 10th graders are easy and should be easy 5s for a student who is T20/ivy level.

9 aps thru junior year likely means in fcps:

Ap world his (yes)
Ap comp sci (no)
Ap csp (yes)
Ap lang (yes)
Ap gov or us his (yes)
Ap math (no if precal, yes if calc ab and then bc)
Ap env sci (no)
Ap other Science (yes)

So prob 7/10 are considered rigorous

About a third of our school does 7 to 9 of these 9 by the end of 11th. The top group has BC, APUSH, APLiterature, APChem, APPhys1 plus might have APPhysC or AP Bio by the end of 11th, plus some easy ones(World, Lang are done in 10th) These are the students on track to get into ivy+ types if the grades are high.
AP Lang and AP world are not considered rigorous at our school. They let over half the grade take them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous
UMC FCPS Public. 3.95/4.5 GPA, 1520 SAT one sitting, will take again, one varsity sport, lots of volunteer work, PT summer job, VP of an academic club 3 years, tutoring. An academic department award in 10th. 9 APs through 11th, scheduled for 6 in 12th. 10th grade AP exams - 2 5s, 2 4s.

Duke ED 👎
Vanderbilt 👎
UVA possible esp ED
VT likey
W&M likely
UNC 👎
Mich 👎
Wisc likely
UGA unlikely

Rigor seems fine. Sat is fine

Awards missing (academic in school award means very little)

Ecs are very mediocre and will add very little

Why would kid consider schools with such varying student population numbers? Such different experiences

Without the list of AP's taken along with the list of AP's offered at the school but not taken by this student, you cannot determine rigor the way the college will. This process has been detailed by AO's on blogs for years as well as in the 2018 book Who Gets In and Why. The rigor-race has amped up since then, due to parental pressure more kids are let into honors or AP, making the number of AP or the weighted GPA irrelevant without context.
Ivy+ schools are not subtle at information sessions: they want applicants to challenge themselves with coursework in every area, especially the areas they do not plan to study and/or feel weaker in. Multiple said almost the exact same phrase in tours from 2022-2024 when we toured all over with both of ours.

This student, with the two 4s and two 5s on AP so far, is not likely a top-20 contender unless the 4s were notoriously difficult and/or rare APs for a 10th grader. The AP scoring was shifted in 2024 such that quite a large group gets 4 or higher. 4 is the new 3 for most AP tests. Top schools only accept 5s and have been that way since 2021, even before the change in AP score distribution.
Most APs offered to 10th graders are easy and should be easy 5s for a student who is T20/ivy level.

9 aps thru junior year likely means in fcps:

Ap world his (yes)
Ap comp sci (no)
Ap csp (yes)
Ap lang (yes)
Ap gov or us his (yes)
Ap math (no if precal, yes if calc ab and then bc)
Ap env sci (no)
Ap other Science (yes)

So prob 7/10 are considered rigorous

About a third of our school does 7 to 9 of these 9 by the end of 11th. The top group has BC, APUSH, APLiterature, APChem, APPhys1 plus might have APPhysC or AP Bio by the end of 11th, plus some easy ones(World, Lang are done in 10th) These are the students on track to get into ivy+ types if the grades are high.
AP Lang and AP world are not considered rigorous at our school. They let over half the grade take them.

At most fcps’ ap world history is considered “most rigorous” if taken on 10th. Esp bc at many fcps high schools, ap offerings through 10th, ap offerings are fairly limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous
UMC FCPS Public. 3.95/4.5 GPA, 1520 SAT one sitting, will take again, one varsity sport, lots of volunteer work, PT summer job, VP of an academic club 3 years, tutoring. An academic department award in 10th. 9 APs through 11th, scheduled for 6 in 12th. 10th grade AP exams - 2 5s, 2 4s.

Duke ED 👎
Vanderbilt 👎
UVA possible esp ED
VT likey
W&M likely
UNC 👎
Mich 👎
Wisc likely
UGA unlikely

Rigor seems fine. Sat is fine

Awards missing (academic in school award means very little)

Ecs are very mediocre and will add very little

Why would kid consider schools with such varying student population numbers? Such different experiences

Without the list of AP's taken along with the list of AP's offered at the school but not taken by this student, you cannot determine rigor the way the college will. This process has been detailed by AO's on blogs for years as well as in the 2018 book Who Gets In and Why. The rigor-race has amped up since then, due to parental pressure more kids are let into honors or AP, making the number of AP or the weighted GPA irrelevant without context.
Ivy+ schools are not subtle at information sessions: they want applicants to challenge themselves with coursework in every area, especially the areas they do not plan to study and/or feel weaker in. Multiple said almost the exact same phrase in tours from 2022-2024 when we toured all over with both of ours.

This student, with the two 4s and two 5s on AP so far, is not likely a top-20 contender unless the 4s were notoriously difficult and/or rare APs for a 10th grader. The AP scoring was shifted in 2024 such that quite a large group gets 4 or higher. 4 is the new 3 for most AP tests. Top schools only accept 5s and have been that way since 2021, even before the change in AP score distribution.
Most APs offered to 10th graders are easy and should be easy 5s for a student who is T20/ivy level.

9 aps thru junior year likely means in fcps:

Ap world his (yes)
Ap comp sci (no)
Ap csp (yes)
Ap lang (yes)
Ap gov or us his (yes)
Ap math (no if precal, yes if calc ab and then bc)
Ap env sci (no)
Ap other Science (yes)

So prob 7/10 are considered rigorous

About a third of our school does 7 to 9 of these 9 by the end of 11th. The top group has BC, APUSH, APLiterature, APChem, APPhys1 plus might have APPhysC or AP Bio by the end of 11th, plus some easy ones(World, Lang are done in 10th) These are the students on track to get into ivy+ types if the grades are high.
AP Lang and AP world are not considered rigorous at our school. They let over half the grade take them.

At most fcps’ ap world history is considered “most rigorous” if taken on 10th. Esp bc at many fcps high schools, ap offerings through 10th, ap offerings are fairly limited.

OP here and APs are fairly limited before 11th at our school. We don’t have class rank but I wonder if his counselor would give him an unofficial estimate.

I held a little back on ECs to not make him identifiable but this thread is pretty discouraging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous
UMC FCPS Public. 3.95/4.5 GPA, 1520 SAT one sitting, will take again, one varsity sport, lots of volunteer work, PT summer job, VP of an academic club 3 years, tutoring. An academic department award in 10th. 9 APs through 11th, scheduled for 6 in 12th. 10th grade AP exams - 2 5s, 2 4s.

Duke ED 👎
Vanderbilt 👎
UVA possible esp ED
VT likey
W&M likely
UNC 👎
Mich 👎
Wisc likely
UGA unlikely

Rigor seems fine. Sat is fine

Awards missing (academic in school award means very little)

Ecs are very mediocre and will add very little

Why would kid consider schools with such varying student population numbers? Such different experiences

Without the list of AP's taken along with the list of AP's offered at the school but not taken by this student, you cannot determine rigor the way the college will. This process has been detailed by AO's on blogs for years as well as in the 2018 book Who Gets In and Why. The rigor-race has amped up since then, due to parental pressure more kids are let into honors or AP, making the number of AP or the weighted GPA irrelevant without context.
Ivy+ schools are not subtle at information sessions: they want applicants to challenge themselves with coursework in every area, especially the areas they do not plan to study and/or feel weaker in. Multiple said almost the exact same phrase in tours from 2022-2024 when we toured all over with both of ours.

This student, with the two 4s and two 5s on AP so far, is not likely a top-20 contender unless the 4s were notoriously difficult and/or rare APs for a 10th grader. The AP scoring was shifted in 2024 such that quite a large group gets 4 or higher. 4 is the new 3 for most AP tests. Top schools only accept 5s and have been that way since 2021, even before the change in AP score distribution.
Most APs offered to 10th graders are easy and should be easy 5s for a student who is T20/ivy level.

9 aps thru junior year likely means in fcps:

Ap world his (yes)
Ap comp sci (no)
Ap csp (yes)
Ap lang (yes)
Ap gov or us his (yes)
Ap math (no if precal, yes if calc ab and then bc)
Ap env sci (no)
Ap other Science (yes)

So prob 7/10 are considered rigorous

About a third of our school does 7 to 9 of these 9 by the end of 11th. The top group has BC, APUSH, APLiterature, APChem, APPhys1 plus might have APPhysC or AP Bio by the end of 11th, plus some easy ones(World, Lang are done in 10th) These are the students on track to get into ivy+ types if the grades are high.
AP Lang and AP world are not considered rigorous at our school. They let over half the grade take them.

At most fcps’ ap world history is considered “most rigorous” if taken on 10th. Esp bc at many fcps high schools, ap offerings through 10th, ap offerings are fairly limited.

OP here and APs are fairly limited before 11th at our school. We don’t have class rank but I wonder if his counselor would give him an unofficial estimate.

I held a little back on ECs to not make him identifiable but this thread is pretty discouraging.

Well we’re all encouraging your kid to ED to UVA because there is no room for an unhooked normal smart kid at Duke or Vandy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous
UMC FCPS Public. 3.95/4.5 GPA, 1520 SAT one sitting, will take again, one varsity sport, lots of volunteer work, PT summer job, VP of an academic club 3 years, tutoring. An academic department award in 10th. 9 APs through 11th, scheduled for 6 in 12th. 10th grade AP exams - 2 5s, 2 4s.

Duke ED 👎
Vanderbilt 👎
UVA possible esp ED
VT likey
W&M likely
UNC 👎
Mich 👎
Wisc likely
UGA unlikely

Rigor seems fine. Sat is fine

Awards missing (academic in school award means very little)

Ecs are very mediocre and will add very little

Why would kid consider schools with such varying student population numbers? Such different experiences

Without the list of AP's taken along with the list of AP's offered at the school but not taken by this student, you cannot determine rigor the way the college will. This process has been detailed by AO's on blogs for years as well as in the 2018 book Who Gets In and Why. The rigor-race has amped up since then, due to parental pressure more kids are let into honors or AP, making the number of AP or the weighted GPA irrelevant without context.
Ivy+ schools are not subtle at information sessions: they want applicants to challenge themselves with coursework in every area, especially the areas they do not plan to study and/or feel weaker in. Multiple said almost the exact same phrase in tours from 2022-2024 when we toured all over with both of ours.

This student, with the two 4s and two 5s on AP so far, is not likely a top-20 contender unless the 4s were notoriously difficult and/or rare APs for a 10th grader. The AP scoring was shifted in 2024 such that quite a large group gets 4 or higher. 4 is the new 3 for most AP tests. Top schools only accept 5s and have been that way since 2021, even before the change in AP score distribution.
Most APs offered to 10th graders are easy and should be easy 5s for a student who is T20/ivy level.

9 aps thru junior year likely means in fcps:

Ap world his (yes)
Ap comp sci (no)
Ap csp (yes)
Ap lang (yes)
Ap gov or us his (yes)
Ap math (no if precal, yes if calc ab and then bc)
Ap env sci (no)
Ap other Science (yes)

So prob 7/10 are considered rigorous

About a third of our school does 7 to 9 of these 9 by the end of 11th. The top group has BC, APUSH, APLiterature, APChem, APPhys1 plus might have APPhysC or AP Bio by the end of 11th, plus some easy ones(World, Lang are done in 10th) These are the students on track to get into ivy+ types if the grades are high.
AP Lang and AP world are not considered rigorous at our school. They let over half the grade take them.

At most fcps’ ap world history is considered “most rigorous” if taken on 10th. Esp bc at many fcps high schools, ap offerings through 10th, ap offerings are fairly limited.

OP here and APs are fairly limited before 11th at our school. We don’t have class rank but I wonder if his counselor would give him an unofficial estimate.

I held a little back on ECs to not make him identifiable but this thread is pretty discouraging.

.

Yes, it’s discouraging. But you also have a list with some schools that are reaches for pretty much EVERYONE (Duke, Vandy, UNC OOS). Your son has a great chance at the VA schools, Wisc, and Georgia. And while odds are long for the others, he should apply to a few reaches and see what happens. You never know. He will get into a good school.

[Anonymous]

My suggestion would be to get some great summer accolades or dive into a niche major with evidence?

https://lsa.umich.edu/classics
https://lsa.umich.edu/rc/curriculum/social-theory-and-practice--stp-.html

[Anonymous]

Duke ED no way
Vanderbilt no way
UVA yes if ED
VT yes
W&M yes
UNC no
Mich no
Wisc yes
UGA yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous
UMC FCPS Public. 3.95/4.5 GPA, 1520 SAT one sitting, will take again, one varsity sport, lots of volunteer work, PT summer job, VP of an academic club 3 years, tutoring. An academic department award in 10th. 9 APs through 11th, scheduled for 6 in 12th. 10th grade AP exams - 2 5s, 2 4s.

Duke ED 👎
Vanderbilt 👎
UVA possible esp ED
VT likey
W&M likely
UNC 👎
Mich 👎
Wisc likely
UGA unlikely

Rigor seems fine. Sat is fine

Awards missing (academic in school award means very little)

Ecs are very mediocre and will add very little

Why would kid consider schools with such varying student population numbers? Such different experiences

Without the list of AP's taken along with the list of AP's offered at the school but not taken by this student, you cannot determine rigor the way the college will. This process has been detailed by AO's on blogs for years as well as in the 2018 book Who Gets In and Why. The rigor-race has amped up since then, due to parental pressure more kids are let into honors or AP, making the number of AP or the weighted GPA irrelevant without context.
Ivy+ schools are not subtle at information sessions: they want applicants to challenge themselves with coursework in every area, especially the areas they do not plan to study and/or feel weaker in. Multiple said almost the exact same phrase in tours from 2022-2024 when we toured all over with both of ours.

This student, with the two 4s and two 5s on AP so far, is not likely a top-20 contender unless the 4s were notoriously difficult and/or rare APs for a 10th grader. The AP scoring was shifted in 2024 such that quite a large group gets 4 or higher. 4 is the new 3 for most AP tests. Top schools only accept 5s and have been that way since 2021, even before the change in AP score distribution.
Most APs offered to 10th graders are easy and should be easy 5s for a student who is T20/ivy level.

9 aps thru junior year likely means in fcps:

Ap world his (yes)
Ap comp sci (no)
Ap csp (yes)
Ap lang (yes)
Ap gov or us his (yes)
Ap math (no if precal, yes if calc ab and then bc)
Ap env sci (no)
Ap other Science (yes)

So prob 7/10 are considered rigorous

About a third of our school does 7 to 9 of these 9 by the end of 11th. The top group has BC, APUSH, APLiterature, APChem, APPhys1 plus might have APPhysC or AP Bio by the end of 11th, plus some easy ones(World, Lang are done in 10th) These are the students on track to get into ivy+ types if the grades are high.
AP Lang and AP world are not considered rigorous at our school. They let over half the grade take them.

At most fcps’ ap world history is considered “most rigorous” if taken on 10th. Esp bc at many fcps high schools, ap offerings through 10th, ap offerings are fairly limited.

OP here and APs are fairly limited before 11th at our school. We don’t have class rank but I wonder if his counselor would give him an unofficial estimate.

I held a little back on ECs to not make him identifiable but this thread is pretty discouraging.

It’s not too late to strengthen his ECs. Community leadership and competitive outside awards are important.

[Anonymous]

If I were him right now still aiming for Duke ED, I would be mass emailing professors in a niche field of study of interest to him. A research position + independent project this summer + good narrative that ties them together would really strengthen his application. He just needs that defining niche spike to be ultra competitive because it sounds like he’s near the top of his class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous
UMC FCPS Public. 3.95/4.5 GPA, 1520 SAT one sitting, will take again, one varsity sport, lots of volunteer work, PT summer job, VP of an academic club 3 years, tutoring. An academic department award in 10th. 9 APs through 11th, scheduled for 6 in 12th. 10th grade AP exams - 2 5s, 2 4s.

Duke ED 👎
Vanderbilt 👎
UVA possible esp ED
VT likey
W&M likely
UNC 👎
Mich 👎
Wisc likely
UGA unlikely

Rigor seems fine. Sat is fine

Awards missing (academic in school award means very little)

Ecs are very mediocre and will add very little

Why would kid consider schools with such varying student population numbers? Such different experiences

Without the list of AP's taken along with the list of AP's offered at the school but not taken by this student, you cannot determine rigor the way the college will. This process has been detailed by AO's on blogs for years as well as in the 2018 book Who Gets In and Why. The rigor-race has amped up since then, due to parental pressure more kids are let into honors or AP, making the number of AP or the weighted GPA irrelevant without context.
Ivy+ schools are not subtle at information sessions: they want applicants to challenge themselves with coursework in every area, especially the areas they do not plan to study and/or feel weaker in. Multiple said almost the exact same phrase in tours from 2022-2024 when we toured all over with both of ours.

This student, with the two 4s and two 5s on AP so far, is not likely a top-20 contender unless the 4s were notoriously difficult and/or rare APs for a 10th grader. The AP scoring was shifted in 2024 such that quite a large group gets 4 or higher. 4 is the new 3 for most AP tests. Top schools only accept 5s and have been that way since 2021, even before the change in AP score distribution.
Most APs offered to 10th graders are easy and should be easy 5s for a student who is T20/ivy level.

9 aps thru junior year likely means in fcps:

Ap world his (yes)
Ap comp sci (no)
Ap csp (yes)
Ap lang (yes)
Ap gov or us his (yes)
Ap math (no if precal, yes if calc ab and then bc)
Ap env sci (no)
Ap other Science (yes)

So prob 7/10 are considered rigorous

About a third of our school does 7 to 9 of these 9 by the end of 11th. The top group has BC, APUSH, APLiterature, APChem, APPhys1 plus might have APPhysC or AP Bio by the end of 11th, plus some easy ones(World, Lang are done in 10th) These are the students on track to get into ivy+ types if the grades are high.
AP Lang and AP world are not considered rigorous at our school. They let over half the grade take them.

At most fcps’ ap world history is considered “most rigorous” if taken on 10th. Esp bc at many fcps high schools, ap offerings through 10th, ap offerings are fairly limited.

OP here and APs are fairly limited before 11th at our school. We don’t have class rank but I wonder if his counselor would give him an unofficial estimate.

I held a little back on ECs to not make him identifiable but this thread is pretty discouraging.

Most have said uva ed is a decent shot. That’s not discouraging, is it?