Anonymous wrote:I guess our experience is different from most of yours. My oldest got admitted into UVA, Tech and W&M. He went to a public school in Fairfax County and didn't take a single AP class. He took 2 honors classes total. He had straight As and a high SAT. He had normal extracurricular activities. He's not a star athlete by any means, although he has been in a particular sport he loves since he was 9. The only thing that I think made him stick out was his art. He is a gifted artist that has been shown in a galleries. He had a great time in high school, with lots of free time (the way it should be for a kid!). I'm not going to pressure my other two kids to take any AP classes either. They'll be fine if they get straight As on regular classes.

Sorry but this is really hard to believe. Not saying you are a troll but just very hard to believe.

ACcording to the legacy office at UVA, the first thing that the Deans looks at in evaluating a student is whether they took the most difficult curriculum at their particular school. WIthout some other outstanding characteristic, it would be extremely difficult to get information students who didn't take APs/IBs offered by their school.

Anonymous wrote:I guess our experience is different from most of yours. My oldest got admitted into UVA, Tech and W&M. He went to a public school in Fairfax County and didn't take a single AP class. He took 2 honors classes total. He had straight As and a high SAT. He had normal extracurricular activities. He's not a star athlete by any means, although he has been in a particular sport he loves since he was 9. The only thing that I think made him stick out was his art. He is a gifted artist that has been shown in a galleries. He had a great time in high school, with lots of free time (the way it should be for a kid!). I'm not going to pressure my other two kids to take any AP classes either. They'll be fine if they get straight As on regular classes.

Are they artists too? As good as their brother?

Anonymous wrote:I guess our experience is different from most of yours. My oldest got admitted into UVA, Tech and W&M. He went to a public school in Fairfax County and didn't take a single AP class. He took 2 honors classes total. He had straight As and a high SAT. He had normal extracurricular activities. He's not a star athlete by any means, although he has been in a particular sport he loves since he was 9. The only thing that I think made him stick out was his art. He is a gifted artist that has been shown in a galleries. He had a great time in high school, with lots of free time (the way it should be for a kid!). I'm not going to pressure my other two kids to take any AP classes either. They'll be fine if they get straight As on regular classes.

This is why he got in. He stood out in a way that is unique -- even Tech has to fill its art classes.

I guess our experience is different from most of yours. My oldest got admitted into UVA, Tech and W&M. He went to a public school in Fairfax County and didn't take a single AP class. He took 2 honors classes total. He had straight As and a high SAT. He had normal extracurricular activities. He's not a star athlete by any means, although he has been in a particular sport he loves since he was 9. The only thing that I think made him stick out was his art. He is a gifted artist that has been shown in a galleries. He had a great time in high school, with lots of free time (the way it should be for a kid!). I'm not going to pressure my other two kids to take any AP classes either. They'll be fine if they get straight As on regular classes.

Anonymous wrote:If op's kid has a 90-percentile or better SAT score & good ECs it's likely UVA and W&M admissions officers won't even notice the lack of APs.

I totally disagree. Rigor of coursework is definitely noticed. And if you use the common app, there is a page to enter AP/IB and similar tests. If the whole section is empty, it would be quite obvious. I guess you could take a ton of SAT subject matter tests to show learning, but then you have to do well and pay for reports to be sent. It doesn't make sense to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ it's a dumb question because anybody who knows anything about college admission process would tell you adcom looks for evidence that your kid challenged himself/herself. taking an easy way is not viewed favorably. whether you like it or now, that's the way the admission game is played.

But the majority of kids do not take AP classes, and I would assume a decent percentage of them go to college.

That's where you are wrong. Most, if not all, college bound kids take APs/IBs if offered at their school.

Anonymous wrote:^ it's a dumb question because anybody who knows anything about college admission process would tell you adcom looks for evidence that your kid challenged himself/herself. taking an easy way is not viewed favorably. whether you like it or now, that's the way the admission game is played.

But the majority of kids do not take AP classes, and I would assume a decent percentage of them go to college.

If the hypothetical kid applied to colleges few/no classmates applied to, I bet they'd slide under the radar.

Parents grossly exaggerate the time admissions spends on each app. Outside of the top 30, they're looking at GPA and SAT. Those essays? Most are not read.

If OP is asking because they're wondering if it's smart to inflate the GPA via non-AP coursework, the answer is YES. But don't expect college admissions reps to admit that to you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If op's kid has a 90-percentile or better SAT score & good ECs it's likely UVA and W&M admissions officers won't even notice the lack of APs.

nope. not happening.

LOL. Sooooo not happening.

+1. I would encourage the quoted poster to look at the Naviance scatter grams that show for my DC's public HS that the average weighted GPA for the big 3 is well over 4.0. Additionally, the distribution is very narrow. I'd also add that my DC, a senior, experience has been that the quality of instruction has been higher in AP's. (None if which is meant to say that you can't get into college with no AP's. just that you chances of getting into the Big 3 out of NVa without them are pretty slim.)

There is no actual kid. OP said it was a hypothetical.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are some colleges that might accept a kid who has a 3.8 or higher GPA but has never taken an AP class? I would especially be interested in hearing about VA colleges

Longwood, Marymount, Mary Washington, Shenandoah

Old Dominion. Christopher Newport. Many private colleges...Sweetbriar, Roanoke, Mary Baldwin, Randolph Macon, Hampden Sydney, not sure about University of Richmond.

Glad to see OP is getting at least a few helpful posts like this one. So many on here just reflect some people's weird need to tell others "No!" whatever the topic. Not helpful to OP or her kid in any way.

OP, this is why I'd talk to counselors and maybe a private consultant (I was the one who suggested that earlier). I also might try posting on the site collegeconfidential.com. You join and then can post this kind of thing, and be sure to tailor the query to Virginia schools. That site tends to be more helpful and far less snarky and judgmental than some posters are here.

I wonder if some posters are aware that possibly some schools do not offer AP classes at all? Or that a kid could be poorly counseled and told not to take them and then find it's a problem later? Or a kid could have issues like anxiety or whatever that make academics like AP too much? Zero understanding on some of these posts.

OP, you stay positive and keep your kid positive too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are some colleges that might accept a kid who has a 3.8 or higher GPA but has never taken an AP class? I would especially be interested in hearing about VA colleges

Longwood, Marymount, Mary Washington, Shenandoah

Old Dominion. Christopher Newport. Many private colleges...Sweetbriar, Roanoke, Mary Baldwin, Randolph Macon, Hampden Sydney, not sure about University of Richmond.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If op's kid has a 90-percentile or better SAT score & good ECs it's likely UVA and W&M admissions officers won't even notice the lack of APs.

nope. not happening.

LOL. Sooooo not happening.

Anonymous wrote:If op's kid has a 90-percentile or better SAT score & good ECs it's likely UVA and W&M admissions officers won't even notice the lack of APs.

nope. not happening.