<p>I just want to know, in your honest opinion(depending on the college), what is more important in the college admissions process : the course rigor or the course grade?</p>
<p>Well to be honest it’s like the saying “it depends.” what I mean by that is that if you have a 4.0 but all your classes are regular classes and easy classes then I think colleges will know. But if you take too many APs and your gpa is like a 2.0 then colleges won’t like that either. If you take the right amount of hard courses and have a 3.5 or more than that’d be good. So it’s the old saying again “it depends”. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>I think that take as many hard classes you can while still getting above a 3.5</p>
<p>For selective colleges both matter.</p>
<p>So if your high school offers a basic course and a more rigorous course (honors, AP) in the subject selective colleges will know that. And especially if other students from your school have aplied/been accepted by that college, the admissions committee will compare you to them, and to the coursework rigor they’ve taken and that which you’ve taken.</p>
<p>So if you get an “A” in the easy version, and other applicants to the college get an “A-/B+” in the rigorous version they are likely to be viewed as stronger.</p>
<p>All this said, if you will very likely get one or two grades lower on the rigorous course than on the easy course, you probably should take the easy course.</p>
<p>For less selective schools, and possibly to your State University GPA may mean everything, and the high grades may trump rigor.</p>
<p>Get the A in the AP class! :)</p>
<p>I know everyone hates the answer “it’s better to get the best grade in the hardest classes”, but really that’s the only reasonable answer. If you’re taking easy classes just to get high grades, that will hurt you. It will also hurt you if you’re accepting low grades in order to take hard classes.</p>
<p>Easy class + high grade = hard class + low grade</p>
<p>Hard class + high grade > (easy class + high grade) + (hard class + low grade)</p>
<p>Unweighted GPA trumps all. Take a courseload rigorous enough to get “Most Rigorous” marked off by your counselor on apps, but don’t kill yourself. Play to your strengths when picking AP classes.</p>
<p>The only answer you’ll get regarding rigor and grade from adcoms at top schools is “Get the A in the harder course.” For schools the tier below, from what I’ve seen, each has it’s own personal preference. But do keep in mind that no matter how your school weights grades (like my school gives a 2 point GPA boost for AP/IB classes)a C is a C is a C.</p>
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<p>You see that dumbass across the street? Yeah, he took all standard classes 9th-11th grade and got straight As. 12th grade, he decided that he was smart as hell, took 5 APs, and flunked all of them. </p>
<p>What does that tell you?</p>
<p>I’ve heard never risk a C in an honors class…makes sense…If you can get at least a solid B, take the honors. Of course, the problem with this is that if you get all B’s…that’s a 3.0 GPA.</p>
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<p>I was trying to make the point that a lower grade in a higher level course, even if it’s weighted (like by two letter grades/GPA points at my school), doesn’t look good. Like, at my school, just because a C in an AP class is weighted as an A doesn’t mean that colleges will say, “Oh, okay, we’ll consider this an A.” Your comment only reinforces what I said before, which is that you need the most rigorous courseload (though not necessarily 100% APs–be smart about class choice!) and top grades for the most selective colleges.</p>
<p>^^^^^
true fax</p>
<p>Like he said, at the most selective schools you definitely need both hard courses and good grades. The schools where you don’t need both usually operate on some sort of admissions formula, so you can usually figure out pretty easily whether or not you’ll get in.</p>
<p>The tippy top schools are looking for people who are really hungry for knowledge and education. This sometimes shows itself by top performance in the toughest schedules, sometimes it’s shown by less than top performance in the toughest schedules. It’s rarely equated with top performance in a mediocre schedule.</p>
<p>I was never a grade hound. I got mostly As but I always pursued the toughest classes because I wanted to not because I was strategizing about what might be the “in” factor for me in selective school admissions. I was a (gasp!) Asian kid who wanted to study science – what some feel is the plagued combination! I took six APs my senior year, including a Saturday one at the local college. Grades were never my focus. Did one sitting of my ACT and SATs. Never prepped, didn’t care to. Was too busy learning stuff and being involved. Somehow, my application showed this and I was accepted at all schools applied, eventually matriculating at an HYP college.</p>
<p>Frankly, I really believe it’s the kind of person you are, not the games and strategies you put into play that will get one noticed in the tippy top school selections.</p>
<p>yup. I’ve always thought it like that also. You’ve got to be the kind of pereson that likes learning to achieve success in the top schools. Don’t go to school and get good grades b/c of your “parents,” do it for yourself. Learn to like learning.</p>
<p>I have a friend who is planning to do the full IB Diploma next year. Right now she has a hard-earned B- in AP European History and A-s in Chemistry and Honors Algebra II. Would it be better for her to take Honors classes and get As or IB classes and get Bs?</p>
<p>She wants to get into Ivy League, but I’m not sure how dedicated she is to school to go this far. I don’t know what I can tell her anyways.</p>
<p>B in AP Class > A in Regulars Class</p>
<p>Please also consider this - My friend has failed multiple tests and the midterm, but through curves and easy grading in other areas managed the B-.</p>
<p>It all depends where she wants to go. I was considering doing the IB diploma, but the place where I want to go(Stanford) doesn’t really help that much. It does help a little bit, but not as much to this one kid I know. He did the IB diploma and went to a local college in New York(where I live) and he skipped…yes skipped 2 years and started as a junior instead of a freshman because of what the college recognized</p>
<p>xXManianXx - Our GC mentioned that it has a huge effect in like SUNY Binghamton, but not as much in the Ivies. She’s aiming towards Ivies, but I’m concerned how low grades in full IB would work with that, and if it would be better to have a higher GPA, but a few non-IB classes.</p>