Academic Rigor?

Applying to College
1

<p>I was wondering how exactly colleges (especially the most selective such as Ivies) determine academic rigor which is usually ranked as "very important" on the Ivies' Common Data Sets. </p>

<p>So I'm a sophomore (going to be junior next school year) attending a very competitive magnet school, but it offers very few AP classes: a maximum of 4 across all 4 years. One of these classes is AP Chem, which upperclassmen often describe as an extremely hard class that needs a lot of time and effort just to get a decent grade. I was planning on taking AP Chem because I thought that with the lack of AP classes offered at our school, taking 4 instead of 3 would make quite a difference.</p>

<p>Now I know that there is a box for the guidance counselor to check on the Common App regarding academic rigor. But my GC just told me today that she will check "most demanding" for academic rigor even if I do not take AP Chem, as long as I take just 2 out of 4 AP classes. But do colleges also determine academic rigor by looking at my transcript and seeing if I took the theoretically hardest course load? I feel like the subjectivity of guidance counselors varies too much across different high schools to be a reliable source for colleges.</p>

2

<p>I would discourage you from second guessing your guidance/college counselor. There are so many high schools out there that colleges will not be spending a great deal of time parsing each one’s course offerings to figure out which courses are which. They rely on your guidance counselor and your school’s assertions and recommendations.</p>

<p>As regards grades and class rigor colleges may or may not have a history of accepting students from your school. If they have accepted students in the past then the Naviance data for applications and acceptances from your school may help you appreciate how to approach your schedule.</p>

3

<p>bump bump bump</p>

4

<p>Bumping is not necessary. The answer you already got is complete and correct.</p>

5

<p>If your counselor will already check most demanding, then you should only take AP Chem if it is something that you have an interest in, your will use for your major, or you think you will get an A in. Otherwise it will take up a large amount of your time for no reward, and possibly hurt your GPA if you don’t do well.</p>