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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]College counseling at Bullis is fantastic and started freshman year and kicked up sophomore year. [b]They also helped DS pick courses throughout his HS experience. [/b] Worth every penny right there.  [/quote]

Tell me more about how they helped with course selection. I already know that students need to take the 5 core courses every year, the most rigorous appropriate. What other advice did they give? My DS has the opportunity to consult with his school's college counselors as part of the course selection process, but I don't know what he would ask.[/quote]

In terms of rigor, your HS school will categorize how much rigor your kid took on the school submitted info (you will never see this). Ask specifically about what constitutes taking the highest level of rigor at your school on an overall basis (how many highest level classes per year constitute highest rigor?). My kid did a very literal highest level of rigor, taking the highest level offered in everything, but I think students can actually take some middling classes mixed in with higher rigor and still get the highest rigor category selected for college apps. It would have been to my kid’s advantage to take at least one middling level class each year and get a higher gpa.

There also seems to be no advantage for starting foreign language as a freshman beyond level 1 as long as students take 4 years. Unless your child really likes language, might as well get easier As in it. Latin is a good option for those that will have trouble with a spoken language.

Do not be overly concerned with quantity of electives—they are a good way for your child to see if they are interested in pursuing a subject or show a spike in interest, but depending on the HS and college, they won’t necessarily be considered the same way the core classes are so don’t jeopardize core grades at the expense of electives.

Some of this is also very college dependent. A SLAC will pay more attention to the nuances of course selection than the big state schools who very highly consider GPA. UVA is a good example of a school that says they want highest rigor, but seems to accept based on gpa with good rigor, but doesn’t have to be the highest.

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