Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not true. AP tests are for college credit. They add little value for admission. In our district, the tests are around $100-$150 to take. Many kids are opting out due to cost and not qualifying for a fee reduction. Maybe it is school specific but this is the info we got from the school counselor.

wrong. More elite schools are looking fondly upon a kid that gets all 5s. Now with test optional and grade inflation they are looking at them as a sign of college readiness.

Georgetown used to require SAT subject tests. Now the AP exam scores can provide valuable information. With US pass rates of only 20% on may subjects, a kid scoring 5s across the board is a very strong applicant and speaks to the fact his course grade 'A' wasn't an inflated 'A'.

NYU even lets you submit a certain # of AP scores instead of ACT/SAT.

That’s good if you want to go test optional but this kid already has a high ACT

Every bit helps. Get that 34 to a 35 (which is more common now since only high scores are being submitted) AND show you can get 5s. Is it necessary? Well, maybe not. But, why not do everything you can depending on your goals.

Our school said the usual to the question: is it better to get an A in a non-AP course or a B in the AP course? Answer: get the A in the AP course. It's one of those college counselor/AO not-so-funny jokes.

How have we allowed this to happen to our kids? No wonder anxiety and depression is at an all time high in teens. We expect perfection, hours upon hours of studying and no social life. Pop on over the multiple threads about freshman struggling to make friends in college. I am pretty sure grinding for 4 years in high school doesn’t help develop many social skills.

I agree, we have to reassure our kids they will be fine if they go to Carleton v Brown. No one needs a 35 ACT score to attend Carleton, Oberlin or whatever LAC OP is considering… and is it even enjoyable to go to a super highly-selective college filled with intensity and 24/7 studying? It sounds like it could be a miserable experience.

It is beyond sad. I have a high stats kid and don’t even want this for them anymore. What kind of life are we teaching kids to have if the message is perfection in everything all the time?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not true. AP tests are for college credit. They add little value for admission. In our district, the tests are around $100-$150 to take. Many kids are opting out due to cost and not qualifying for a fee reduction. Maybe it is school specific but this is the info we got from the school counselor.

wrong. More elite schools are looking fondly upon a kid that gets all 5s. Now with test optional and grade inflation they are looking at them as a sign of college readiness.

Georgetown used to require SAT subject tests. Now the AP exam scores can provide valuable information. With US pass rates of only 20% on may subjects, a kid scoring 5s across the board is a very strong applicant and speaks to the fact his course grade 'A' wasn't an inflated 'A'.

NYU even lets you submit a certain # of AP scores instead of ACT/SAT.

That’s good if you want to go test optional but this kid already has a high ACT

Every bit helps. Get that 34 to a 35 (which is more common now since only high scores are being submitted) AND show you can get 5s. Is it necessary? Well, maybe not. But, why not do everything you can depending on your goals.

Our school said the usual to the question: is it better to get an A in a non-AP course or a B in the AP course? Answer: get the A in the AP course. It's one of those college counselor/AO not-so-funny jokes.

How have we allowed this to happen to our kids? No wonder anxiety and depression is at an all time high in teens. We expect perfection, hours upon hours of studying and no social life. Pop on over the multiple threads about freshman struggling to make friends in college. I am pretty sure grinding for 4 years in high school doesn’t help develop many social skills.

I agree, we have to reassure our kids they will be fine if they go to Carleton v Brown. No one needs a 35 ACT score to attend Carleton, Oberlin or whatever LAC OP is considering… and is it even enjoyable to go to a super highly-selective college filled with intensity and 24/7 studying? It sounds like it could be a miserable experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not true. AP tests are for college credit. They add little value for admission. In our district, the tests are around $100-$150 to take. Many kids are opting out due to cost and not qualifying for a fee reduction. Maybe it is school specific but this is the info we got from the school counselor.

wrong. More elite schools are looking fondly upon a kid that gets all 5s. Now with test optional and grade inflation they are looking at them as a sign of college readiness.

Georgetown used to require SAT subject tests. Now the AP exam scores can provide valuable information. With US pass rates of only 20% on may subjects, a kid scoring 5s across the board is a very strong applicant and speaks to the fact his course grade 'A' wasn't an inflated 'A'.

NYU even lets you submit a certain # of AP scores instead of ACT/SAT.

That’s good if you want to go test optional but this kid already has a high ACT

Every bit helps. Get that 34 to a 35 (which is more common now since only high scores are being submitted) AND show you can get 5s. Is it necessary? Well, maybe not. But, why not do everything you can depending on your goals.

Our school said the usual to the question: is it better to get an A in a non-AP course or a B in the AP course? Answer: get the A in the AP course. It's one of those college counselor/AO not-so-funny jokes.

How have we allowed this to happen to our kids? No wonder anxiety and depression is at an all time high in teens. We expect perfection, hours upon hours of studying and no social life. Pop on over the multiple threads about freshman struggling to make friends in college. I am pretty sure grinding for 4 years in high school doesn’t help develop many social skills.

Anonymous wrote:I have an unhooked DS at Carleton right now with a very similar profile. Did not apply ED.

Sorry, hit submit too soon. I meant to add that I think LACs absolutely take course rigor into account. He did better in his college admissions than some of his friends who had higher GPAs but took an easier course load. If your DS likes Carleton, definitely look there because that is really a school that values kids who are willing to take academic risks and care about the actual learning beyond just the grades. Which is not to say that other schools don't -- I can only speak to this school because of personal experience. In today's admissions landscape, ED is probably a good idea too.

I think large state schools are more GPA focused but I'll note he also got into UMD.

Similar profile for DC at TJ right now. 3.7uw/4.3w GPA with SAT 1550 and ACT 35 (36 for the two english parts). Clearly lots of rigor in the course load but the unweighted 3.7 cannot hide the 2 Cs (despite having 5 for the respective AP tests). Quite discouraged as the selective schools will not consider DC because of the low GPA, but schools with comparable GPA will have significantly lower ACT/SAT. Don't even know which school to ED, despite outstanding ECs/publication/internship.

I have an unhooked DS at Carleton right now with a very similar profile. Did not apply ED.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4.0W 1490, 11 APs, AP Scholar by junior year, lots of academic awards and leadership ECs: It was taken into account, but DC did not get into the schools you list or any very small schools. The SLACs accept so few student and so many of them are athletes that it is really a difficult sell if you don't have the top grades and no hook. You would have to ED to have any shot at all. Give a lot of love to your safeties and throw in some bigger schools just in case.

Do you mean uw (unweighted 4.0)? If you mean weighted then I can see why he didn’t get in to those selective LACs.

And would have needed to crack over 1500.

Not according to college counselors -- they only look for 700 on each segment, so DC only took it once. It was the GPA, not the score, based on pre- and and post- denial query with the AD staff. CC was told ED would have made a difference, but none were the dream school for this kid.

That was not our experience. DC was over 700 on each, well over on verbal, and was still told he should get the score up to be competitive for the more selective schools.

Do you mind sharing what the uw gpa was that they said was too low for RD?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4.0W 1490, 11 APs, AP Scholar by junior year, lots of academic awards and leadership ECs: It was taken into account, but DC did not get into the schools you list or any very small schools. The SLACs accept so few student and so many of them are athletes that it is really a difficult sell if you don't have the top grades and no hook. You would have to ED to have any shot at all. Give a lot of love to your safeties and throw in some bigger schools just in case.

Do you mean uw (unweighted 4.0)? If you mean weighted then I can see why he didn’t get in to those selective LACs.

And would have needed to crack over 1500.

Not according to college counselors -- they only look for 700 on each segment, so DC only took it once. It was the GPA, not the score, based on pre- and and post- denial query with the AD staff. CC was told ED would have made a difference, but none were the dream school for this kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4.0W 1490, 11 APs, AP Scholar by junior year, lots of academic awards and leadership ECs: It was taken into account, but DC did not get into the schools you list or any very small schools. The SLACs accept so few student and so many of them are athletes that it is really a difficult sell if you don't have the top grades and no hook. You would have to ED to have any shot at all. Give a lot of love to your safeties and throw in some bigger schools just in case.

Do you mean uw (unweighted 4.0)? If you mean weighted then I can see why he didn’t get in to those selective LACs.

That was the point. The unweighted is the same as OP's kid 3.6 (schools weight differently, ours doesn't give much of a bump), so it's a fair reference point for OP.

I started the “where would you suggest this student apply” thread - you’ll see my DS stats are kind of similar. My personal opinion is that the rigor isn’t going to help that much because it’s not that unusual and there are a lot of kids who have done all that and have even better grades. My DS has 11 APs and more than that would be common at his school and we are in VA (I think MCpS offers more APs in earlier grades). I think your DS will have good options.

Of the schools you mention, Wesleyan seems like a really good option, especially ED. Wesleyan needs boys. I think a lot of the SLACs that need boys would be good during ED, eg Vassar.

OP, you kid sounds fantastic, but there are limits to how much anything can help or offset. You've heard from people with 3.9uw, but 3.65 is a far cry from 3.9 when it comes to mcps GPAs. Grade inflation is real here. Unless he has some world class EC, I don't think he has a shot at Brown, which is one of the harder Ivies to get into. I'm not sure he has a big shot at the higher ranked lacs without applying ED. One thing you might do is look through them and see where he might get a bump being male (Vassar?). His ECs and courses might help him stand out in a smaller setting. A higher ACT would help too, but not sure there's time for that for ED. 34 should be worth submitting everywhere but won't likely pull a lot of weight. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4.0W 1490, 11 APs, AP Scholar by junior year, lots of academic awards and leadership ECs: It was taken into account, but DC did not get into the schools you list or any very small schools. The SLACs accept so few student and so many of them are athletes that it is really a difficult sell if you don't have the top grades and no hook. You would have to ED to have any shot at all. Give a lot of love to your safeties and throw in some bigger schools just in case.

Do you mean uw (unweighted 4.0)? If you mean weighted then I can see why he didn’t get in to those selective LACs.

And would have needed to crack over 1500.

Anonymous wrote:4.0W 1490, 11 APs, AP Scholar by junior year, lots of academic awards and leadership ECs: It was taken into account, but DC did not get into the schools you list or any very small schools. The SLACs accept so few student and so many of them are athletes that it is really a difficult sell if you don't have the top grades and no hook. You would have to ED to have any shot at all. Give a lot of love to your safeties and throw in some bigger schools just in case.

Do you mean uw (unweighted 4.0)? If you mean weighted then I can see why he didn’t get in to those selective LACs.

4.0W 1490, 11 APs, AP Scholar by junior year, lots of academic awards and leadership ECs: It was taken into account, but DC did not get into the schools you list or any very small schools. The SLACs accept so few student and so many of them are athletes that it is really a difficult sell if you don't have the top grades and no hook. You would have to ED to have any shot at all. Give a lot of love to your safeties and throw in some bigger schools just in case.