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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Btw, a D, even in a rigorous class, is not a good thing for anyone.  But I agree that retaking course senior year shows perseverance.  Student (and counselor) need to come up with a viable explanation for why it happened.  It wont stop you from getting into most schools, but it will for the T20-30/elite schools, unless there is a really good reason (family death, major illness, etc). [/quote]

DCUM wisom on minimum acceptable grades in rigorous classes?[/quote]

Not sure the question?

No one can really tell "how bad of a grade is too bad".  However, most T20-T30/elite schools have admission rates of 5-10%.  So they do not need to accept someone who gets a D or C in a rigorous course.  There are plenty of students who never get below a B even in rigorous courses to select from; heck there are plenty who never get below an A/A-. And there are plenty of students who manage this while taking 4-7 AP/IB courses in a single year.  Unless your student can truly "own the grade" and has a truly valid reason for why it happened (ie. Parent was ill/student was ill/ major family issues etc that were the direct cause), the grade WILL impact them in college admissions.  That's just where we are in life.  However, I'd argue that it's been that way for a long time.  Even 30 years ago, a C/D on your transcript would impact you at elite colleges.  
However, there are still plenty of GREAT schools your student will get into.  It's not the end of the world as DCUM would make it out to be.

I'd argue that if your kid cannot get at least a B-/B in a "rigorous course in HS", that perhaps they are not cut out for a T20 school and that is OK. Because for example, IB calculus or AP Calculus BC are just the beginning of "rigorous courses", and Calc 3/4/Diff EQ and beyond are much harder courses and you can still get a sucky professor at a Top University (had plenty myself along with really good ones too).

[/quote]

I should have been clearer in my question: I meant to ask what DCUM's wisdom was on the question of minimum acceptable grades in rigorous courses for a student to still be competitive at  T10/T20 colleges.  But this is a very informative response. Thanks! Rising Sophomore DC is not heading in a STEM direction for college and is unsure as to whether to take on the "most rigorous courses" throughout in HS in Math/Science for admissions purposes (standard problem for many parents, I guess).[/quote]

For T10-20 from public school all As (maybe an A- or two). [/quote]

Mine got all As and a couple Bs. Had very rigorous curriculum in magnet though. Got into 3 Ivies/T10.[/quote]

Would you share which magnet?  Mine got a B last year and people keep acting like it’s not even worth applying to ivys with that.  I really don’t know how much to adjust for the magnet factor.[/quote]

Blair. But, we did know other kids w/ straight As who didn't get into any. DD had excellent ECs and nat'l awards. Probably should have mentioned that, but I just wanted to say that a couple Bs aren't necessarily a dealbreaker.[/quote]

It might depend in part on other things, like what program he is applying to. For an unhooked boy applying for CS, one low grade will matter. For a boy applying for humanities, it might not. Similarly, a kid applying for theater can get away with lower grades. Point is, some majors are more competitive than others and for some demographics matter a lot. [/quote]

What is this notion that a kid in theatre can have lower grades. That is ridiculous unless it is an audition based bfa possibly.[/quote]

Struck a nerve I guess. It absolutely does matter the program/major and some are less competitive and more grade reliant than others. Be happy your DC got into a good school for theater but that absolutely does not mean a kid with similar grades would get in for CS. And audition based programs like CMU are 80% based on audition and academic portfolio makes up only 20%. [/quote]

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