<p>For admission to VT, we heard from the campus tour that they look for "A's and B's" (not necessarily a specific GPA ) -they also said they look at strength of schedule. However, if a student challenges him/herself and takes the AP classes and gets B's and C's, how is that judged/received? Is it better to take regular classes & get A's and B's? Or AP classes & get B's and C's?</p>
<p>As and Bs in AP classes would constitute As and Bs in a strong schedule.</p>
<p>Regular Classes - A’s
AP Classes - B+/A’s</p>
<p>They are not looking for students wtih C’s in either regular or AP classes. They can try to “normalize” the level of difficulty and various weights applied, but in the end, with 20,000+ applications, the GPA and standarized tests are the primary drivers.</p>
<p>I am basing the above on students I know last year from our H.S. that had never taken an AP class but had a very high base GPA (3.95) and were admitted to University Studies…then many who took lots of AP classes to include Physics and Calcus with B/B+/A- in most of the APs were wait-listed University Studies (many were subsequently offered admission), all other factors the same,…so it really is at total guessing game.</p>
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This is something I have believed for some time now. I firmly believe, and also cannot prove, that the vast majority of large state schools simply filter with algorithm on GPA and test scores to accept (and reject) many students. </p>
<p>However, since you asked about schedule, and what it takes to get in - my son was accepted into engineering OOS, 4.0 GPA, 1 AP class. Not exactly what the school advertises as a “typical” engineering student, but it worked for him.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, I just wish we were more aware of this earlier. My son challenged himself, and got the B/C’s. Smart guy, and I’m sure he would be a good fit for VT, but that filter may not work in our favor. He does have other things going for him like 3rd generation and Eagle Scout. But, if he doesn’t make the 1st filter, I don’t know if they will even matter…we shall see</p>
<p>Hang in there…you just never know how admissions will decide. Fingers crossed for you both.</p>