Reply to AP Calculus AB

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "AP Calculus AB "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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. [/quote]

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?[/quote]

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. [/quote]

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.[/quote]

? 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. [/quote]

Doubtful. Summer programs will take anyone who can string a sentence together.[/quote]

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.[/quote]

Kid from DC’s school did one of these top STEM programs. Was accepted to[b] MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Duke[/b], 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. [/quote]

Well only 3 of them are in the Top 10 for Engineering Schools.  The others Princeton #11, Duke #17, Harvard #21, Yale #35. But cool.
https://premium.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate
[/quote]

STEM isn’t just engineering. All of those schools are top in STEM - but not necessarily all in engineering. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics