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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I worked in the admissions office of my highly-selective college for four years. They want students who can handle the academics, but, honestly, those kids are a dime a dozen. Having interesting life experiences and learning from them (including writing about them in a compelling manner) counted for a tremendous amount and was what made admission officers remember your application. They did not just tally the number of AP classes you took. Maybe things have changed and maybe this college is atypical, but the obsession with APs and IB may be unproductive.[/quote]

I also worked in the admissions office of my alma mater, an Ivy, just a few years ago.  What I observed is that admissions officers work off an unofficial baseline for academics, and the rest, as you point out, was what made them remember you application.  The baseline for high SES whites and Asians seemed to be half a dozen (or more) AP tests with scores of 4s and 5s, an IBD points total of at least 40, SATs in the 700s (regular SAT and two subject tests), and a high GPA (but not necessarily sky high for one's high school - valedictorians didn't necessarily fare better than other applicants in the top 15% of their class). If applicants didn't meet the baseline, their application essays and alumni interview reports were not read.  Their applications were promptly tossed into a digital "first round rejection" pile.  Only applicants who'd met the baseline advanced to the "second read" stage, where essays were in fact read.  [/quote]

Interesting. From my reading, most highly selective schools compare an applicant's curriculum to the highest level curriculum offered at his/her school. Did your Ivy not do this? Many schools do not offer an extensive array of APs.[/quote]

That ship has sailed, partly because the homeschooling movement has changed it. It's not longer difficult or expensive to prep for AP tests on your own.  I've interviewed Wilson HS students for my Ivy who prepped for Calc BC (mostly on Khan Academy, on-line) before Wilson began teaching the course.  They scored 5s.  If your school doesn't offer many APs and you want to crack a college admitting in the single digits, you'd better find a way to supplement so you've taken at least 5 or 6 AP tests. Public libraries usually stock the prep books and Educational Testing services will waive the test fees for low-income test takers.  [/quote]

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