@MYOS1634 That info is helpful. The college in our situation is one of our public flagships. They don’t give much merit aid and we don’t need it.
I do have a question about one of your earlier posts in this thread. You stated that an ED applicant might be rescinded if they received a C, D, or F their senior year. I can understand the D or F, but would a public university with an acceptance rate of over 60% rescind an acceptance because of a C? I can’t imagine even a highly selective college doing that.
@LeastComplicated - I would think that rescinding an admissions decision based entirely on one C during senior year would be pretty unlikely. But I suppose it depends upon the university in question and what course it is that you got the C in.
Seems that most colleges are rather vague about the conditions of admission, saying something like “we expect you to maintain your academic performance in your senior year” or some such. Assuming no D or F grades, how much of a “senioritis drop” is acceptable seems to be a common cause of worry around here in May/June. Presumably, it depends on the college, and probably depends on whether it have overyield, underyield, and just the right amount of yield (if the college had an overyield, it may be less forgiving of “senioritis drop” than if it had an underyield).
UCI last year had an overyield situation. Although its conditions had a clearly stated GPA threshold (so it could not adjust the “senioritis drop” threshold), it was seen to be strictly enforcing deadlines and technical requirements (e.g. high school slow in sending final transcript => rescission), though it had to back down after an uproar. But, given that, it is not out of the realm of possibility that a college with more vaguely worded conditions could adjust them as needed to manage an overyield or underyield situation.
A student’s senior year schedule and grades are probably one of the most important information for adcoms because they are the last indicator of how well a student will perform in college. Your kid will list all courses she will/is taking senior year. If she should change the schedule she is required (or the GC will report it) to notify adcoms. Even students who are applying EDs, many GCs will send in mid semester grades to adcoms. Sometimes the adcom will ask for mid semester grades if an applicant is borderline.
OP - if I were you I would sit down with the GC to find out how he/she is going to check off on those boxes on the GC’s LOR. Will he/she be checking off the box for most rigorous courses for your daughter? If not, find out why. We were informed how the GC checked off those boxes was more important than the actual LOR because most of the time the writeup is just blah, blah, blah, but those check boxes compare her with other students, and how she is relative to her peers is very important.
I would also make sure she can get As on the APs and honors she is taking. There is no point in getting B and below on AP courses because it will just show adcoms that your kid may not be capable of doing college level work. Of course top tier schools want students to take most rigorous course load and also get As. Figure out what your kid is capable of handling and don’t do it at the expense of getting subpar grades.
Well, typically D or F is a high risk. A C = depends, it’s rare and the university will usually specify. Keep in mind that a C on the first quarter report (for ED) will impact odds of admission, whereas a drop from a first quarter A to first semester C will cause worry if admitted ED (because if 1st quarter was A and final semester grade is C, do the math…)
For a 60% acceptance university, typically it means no D, no F, no criminal record, no cheating, and you’re home free.
@oldfort I guess I have to agree. Her guidance office has to have some kind of standard for checking that box.
However, I really don’t know what to think about the idea of not taking an AP class if there’s a possibility of getting a B in it. My kid designed her senior schedule, not only for college admission purposes, but also for college preparation purposes. Her possible majors (and they’re not engineering or pre-med) all require college Calc, Chem, Physics, and Bio. The college in question requires I and II levels for all four of those, plus Organic Chem. She’s taking the courses she needs to prepare herself for those courses. The college admissions process really is in a mess if adcoms really think that a kid making a B in AP Calc or AP Chem (with a previous 4.0 GPA) is not capable of doing college work. So they’d really rather see her just quit at her current level (PreCalc/AP Stats/Honors Chem) with A’s than more fully prepare herself with the higher level courses in Math (there’s no regular or honors calc) and Chem? I honestly don’t know what she’d even take next year that would impress any college with that approach. The only requirements she has left are English and US Gov’t. She needs to take Physics, so will take that also. What would a STEM student take for her other five classes?
Also, the “figuring out what my kid is capable of handling” is not easy. She’s gone from studying 5-7 hours/night during her 9/10 grades with only one AP (APES) last year, to studying about 1.5 hours/night this year with two AP’s (Bio/Stats), PreCalc, Honors English, and US History (plus three electives). I have no explanation for that - possibly better organizational skills or just intellectual development? All I know is that she was severely under-challenged this year which kind of led us to this dilemma. That’s also why I made the point of having discussions with all of her teachers for next year. The AP Chem teacher was her teacher for Honors Chem (my D got the highest grade on the 10th grade SOL test that year); the AP Calc teacher is currently teaching her Pre-Calc class - she currently has a 97.5 avg for the year; and she’ll do fine in Honors Physics. Regular English would be a joke (there’s no honors there either for grade 12). She could drop AP ComSci Principles to lighten the load, but then again, I’ll have to find out what’s considered “the most rigorous curriculum” at her school - I don’t know if 5 AP’s and one DE will qualify (many on CC have thrown around 6-8 AP’s???).
There were many students at my daughter’s school that tried to balance grades and rigor, with the primary focus being to maintain their GPAs. (I’m trying to say that as nicely as possible). I agree with you @LeastComplicated that the point of rigorous coursework is for college readiness, not necessarily admission. I know the adcoms want to see both grades and rigor but I’m with you that I’d settle for a slightly lower grade in a more challenging class any day. And the strategy definitely paid off for my daughter in terms of acceptances too.
OP, it sounds like your D is ready for those AP courses. There is no reason to think she wouldn’t do well.
D2 was doing IB. As an humanities student, her private GC advised her not to take high level math and physics, so she could keep up her GPA. Her GC was able to check off the most rigorous course load with lower level math and physics, high level English/history.
The rule of thumb is : Students should take APs they can get B’s in but should not take AP classes where they’re likely to get C’s.
Sounds like a good schedule.
I agree with #47 and #49. Honestly any effect on GPA is small. as to Comp sci I would keep it . In actuality it’s one of the easier AP’s taken by all grades of high schoolers.