Class Selection and Rigorness

From what I heard from others, colleges and universities look for students who take very rigorous courses.

My question with that “rigorousness” is does it mean you have to take hard courses on all subjects or can it be focused? I’ll explain it here.

I’m someone who is very into history, language, politics, etc. Not a big math and science person. My math grades are not terrible, but also not exceptional like my grades in other classes. I’m only in looking for less hard math courses like AP Calc AB for junior year.

So would a Ivy League leveled college prefer a student who take rigorous courses on all types of subject or a student who take rigorous courses in a specific field, like history and language? Would it really matter? What more would it require of me if I focus on his/lang? Thank you.

Typically elite colleges expect to see a high level of rigor across the board, not just in a couple of subjects.But the person to ask is your guidance counselor, not any one of us. Rigor is relative to what is offered in your HS. The top tier colleges will want to see the guidance counselor check the box on the recommendation saying you have taken the most rigorous course-load available at your HS (which doesn’t mean taking every AP class – there is often some latitude in this). If the guidance counselor says that your prior and current HS schedules are sufficient to get that most rigorous box checked then you are fine.

Preferences also differ by college. For example, some colleges would prefer a student took as much math and science, at the highest levels possible, than following the pro forma high school curriculum. Those schools would rather see a true math and science concentration at the highest level possible than see a student taking the typical courses in line with everyone else. This is usually true for 'specialty" schools, like for STEM (CTI/CalTtech. CMU, MIt). Same for schools in the arts. Realistically, doing so may mean not taking the usual AP lit course but taking 2 AP science classes, for example. In such cases, I’d advise the student to talk with the guidance counselor about the decision and make sure that the guidance counselor still views the schedule as the most rigorous possible-and to ask that explicitly (“If I take more AP science and math classes but don’t take AP lit, will you still view that as the most rigorous schedule possible in terms of the college form?”).

You should take challenging courses…if that means AP in English but Honors in Math, that is fine.
You be you.
There is a college for you.
It might not be Ivy Level where students are good in all the areas.

This is really the bottom line. If your GC marks your schedule as “most demanding,” an AO, in the 10-12 minutes that your first read of the application will get, is unlikely to micromanage your course selections. But generally, it means rigorous courses across all core subjects, but does not mean that every option needs to be AP (or equivalent). Part of it though, will also be dependent upon your target colleges and the course rigor of other applicants from your HS applying to the same colleges.

That a perfectly fine option.