I’d ask the counselor what is the process for college recommendations and then ask if your child’s plan is enough to check “most rigorous” or do they need to add a class. The counselor might not want to tell you a hard line, but they will tell you where you currently stand.
Hi momofsenior1 – well if it’s “5 or 6”, she’ll maybe squeak in. 20% would be a lot of kids! I do wish there was more transparency but perhaps we will find out next week. We are exactly trying to find out now at the beginning of Junior year so we can make last minute adjustments if needed. Do you know how/whether honors courses figure in the mix as opposed to APs?
What can stoke competition more is the section of questions where top 10% 5%, and 1% are options to check.
Agree that it is very school dependent. At ours, full IB diploma candidates have most rigorous checked. If you’re taking AP, you need to take roughly equivalent AP classes in core subjects.
AP Calculus AB
Both AP Lang and Lit (all IB students take English HL)
Foreign language to AP
AP Bio, Chem or Physics 1
APUSH, AP Gov or AP Econ Micro+Macro
AP Studio Art or second of AP in science/social studies
So it works out to a minimum of 7 - but the actual classes matter. My S21 will easily have 7 (took Calc BC and Computer Science A as a sophomore, is currently taking Stats, Comp Sci Principles, Lang and Gov plus IB Physics HL. He plans to take Econ Mac/Mic and Literature at a minimum next year and dual enroll for MV Calc/DifEq), but will most likely NOT take a foreign language AP senior year so will not receive the designation.
Yeah, I saw that section. Yikes.
I asked my school’s guidance counselor about this when D21 was making course selections for junior year. So far, D has taken the most rigorous honors/AP schedule possible at her school, but I was wondering about senior year choices. Daughter will not be a STEM student in college but she will be taking AP Physics 1 junior year as there is no regular or honors physics course taught in the school. I asked the GC if daughter chooses AP stats and/or AP ES senior year instead of AP calculus and/or AP bio or chem, if that will preclude her getting the “most rigorous” rating checked off. GC said she determines the “most rigorous” rating in context with the student’s goals. Since my daughter will be a humanities or social science major she said she will get the most rigorous rating, as she will have taken most/all the APs available in those areas (Lit/History/FL/) as well as a scattering in math/CS/science. Makes sense to me, and I was relieved.
My S21’s counselor would not answer when I asked, but a friend told me their counselor said 16 AP classes to get the most demanding box checked. And at an IB Diploma meeting, they told us IB diploma candidates do get the most demanding and non-IB candidates need 6 AP classes in both junior and senior years and only 1-2 kids do that each year. So clearly schools vary a lot!
Sixteen AP classes is a ridiculous (and unhealthy) expectation!
I agree. It seems 10-12 would make more sense.
Seems like the school really wants students to choose the IB diploma if it sets the bar for non-IB students to get the “most demanding” schedule box at an extremely high level (16 AP courses with 6 in each of 11th and 12th grade).
While I agree that 16 AP courses is crazy, keep in mind that IBDP students, depending upon how the HS structures the program, are taking 6 IB courses 11th and 12 grades, plus ToK/EE. Now how SL courses compare to AP is a separate conversation, but I understand how the school came up with the rule - misguided as it is.
OP - It’s totally school dependent. My D’s school didn’t offer a ton of APs and had strict course requirements and sequencing. No APs freshman year, only AP euro sophomore year, and no AP sciences until a student completed H bio, chem, and physics. The most rigorous box was a combination of 15-18 AP/Honors courses. Because of other graduation course requirements, there was no way to have more than 18. And again, that isn’t 18 AP courses! I think the most anyone took at D’s school was 9 and that was because the student self studied one which was generally discouraged.
FWIW our school did not have a separate college counselor because they wanted to person filling out the forms to be someone that had known the kid for four years, barring retirements maternity leaves and other unforeseen circumstances. My oldest’s GC retired at the end of freshman year, but we were thrilled because she was more than useless. The next one got to know my son quite well because she could never get his schedule to work, but he would come in and figure out the system to get himself into the courses he needed to take. Our second son barely knew the GC, but she still managed to fill out the form and give him a great recommendation. I always wondered how they would judge the EC’s. My older son did two in school (teams that got awards), but most of his activities were outside school. Younger son did much less outside school.
@socowonder , even at a private school, we had to do some advocating and research ourselves. It’s not a bad thing, but you do have to stay on top of deadlines.
Thanks all. I will be interested in finding out next week when we meet with GC what our school’s requirements are, if they will divulge. The absolute max of hons/ap courses possible at our school is 14. DD should have 12-13 by the time she is finished, so hopefully that should do it. And if it doesn’t, well I guess that was the price of taking Band two years 
@socowonder, that would be a shame and a high price to pay for band! In my daughter’s school, the band kids tend to be the most academic kids, and a very tight-knit. Right now my daughter’s stem-oriented BF is having to make a choice between band and AP chem (which may not be offered next year) because of scheduling conflicts, and is in quite a quandary.
Just remember, the “Most Demanding” check isn’t what greases a kid into a top college. Adcoms look at the transcript and get their own read. Getting to, say, 7 AP, when they’re the “lites” or non cores (or don’t include rigor in the hoped for major) won’t work magic. Get a good idea of what the cores are, vs electives. And see what each target recommends for hs coursework. Eg, APES wont replace core lab sci and hs CS courses don’t make up for other rigor colleges want to see.
However, not getting the “most demanding” schedule indication is probably a severe disadvantage to the applicant.
I.e. getting the “most demanding” schedule indication *and other top indications on the counselor report/i is probably necessary but not sufficient for an applicant without a large “hook” to be admitted to the most selective colleges using the counselor report. A similar thing can be said for such things as GPA/rank, test scores, etc. – being top-end in any is not sufficient for admission, but not being top-end in any is likely to be a defect that keeps the applicant from getting admitted.
That is a real quandary! It’s the same in our school – the very academic kids are in band. However, the two or three kids who have more ap/hons than her dropped music/art/electives after middle school and concentrated on racking up all hons/APs. My daughter has actually dropped band this year (she’s a junior) to make way for APES (she took Physics at the CC this summer so that’s the only other science AP option). It’s really a shame because she’s an accomplished bassoonist and saxophonist. In addition to the musical education, t those first two years of being in music was her social “cushion” in the otherwise socially intimidating context of high school as a fresh/soph. I don’t think she’d have made it through those two years of school without it. So yes, a high price to pay for her if she doesn’t get “most rigorous” but ultimately a necessary one. This year, she’s confident enough socially not to “need” to be affiliated to the band group…the loss of a dedicated music period is still a shame though.
Yup, that’s the rub, @ucbalumnus. But as said, it can vary so much, per hs and based on competing applicants from your hs and others locally.
But even perfect needs to nail the Why Us and other indicators of your knowledge of what that college wants and how you match. The higher the tier, the trickier it gets.