So what is the correlation? More likely to get in with BC Calc/AP Phys C? My son decided to challenge himself and take those two classes and I have always wondered if it makes a difference.
Yes. Higher rigor. I have heard it matters at Tech if they have the option but donāt take it, and the kids that get in at our school are the ones in those classes it seems. But I have no idea - hence the question. Of course there are other reasons not to take a class like schedule conflicts, but if a large percentage do and you donāt I would think it might play into it. I know at UVA they want you to take the highest rigor offered, and their review system counts the number of highest rigor classes (per alumni admission session).
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FWIW, my sonās college counselor at an in state private school told me Georgia Tech āreally wants to see BC calculus on a students transcriptā. She didnāt say anything about Physics C in particular. All of the accepted students from our school last year took BC junior year and multivariable and linear algebra as seniors. Most of them had also taken physics C. I think itās safe to assume that Georgia Tech is looking for students who have taken the most advanced classes available to them.
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Thats helpful to know. BC was a reach for us but my son has done pretty well. He is hoping to get in GT, but if the admission statistics to Early Action UGA are any indication then it may be a tough get.
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Is this for all majors or just engineering/cs?
I am not sure about Georgia tech but most engineering majors want to see AP Physics C over AP Physics 1. My son is applying to BME and we learnt this last year while selecting the subjects for senior year. We had chosen Env Science as he likes it but when hubby was checking the college majors in April 2021 he realized that many colleges with engineering major had talked about AP Physics C requirement so we rushed a last minute change request to school and it was accepted.
Sorry I donāt have the links of the colleges which he checked. It was too early to finalize the list.
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Thatās interesting and in line with my gut feeling. We are at an in-state private school as well and like I said the kids that get into Tech typically have taken BC Calc. At our school BC Calc and Physics C usually go hand-in-hand. Of course the kids that take BC Calc and physics C typically are the strongest students so I didnāt know whether that was causation or correlation. BC Calc is a senior class for our school except where a kid transfers in being a year ahead in math.
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This aligns with our GA privateā¦ both curriculum-wise and Tech acceptances.
(Hope that makes senseā¦ itās time for football (wonāt mention the team 
)!
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lol 
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The conversation I had with the college counselor was in the context of my sonās application last year as a perspective STEM major. Tech has a holistic admissions process. One of the many factors they are looking for is strength of curriculum. Even though they do not admit by major, I would think that they evaluate an applicant in light of the intended major. So please donāt take my comment to mean that Tech has some sort of soft requirement for BC calculus or that if your perspective liberal arts major opted to take AB calculus that their application is doomed. As @VirginiaBelle noted above the successful Georgia Tech applicants from our schools are top math and science students and those top students take BC calc and physics C - so is that a correlation or a causation? I would say itās a correlation and that they just want to see that a student has taken the most rigorous classes that their highschool offers Saying that Georgia Tech ālikes to seeā or āwants to seeā those classes is a far cry from saying you must have those courses to get in.
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Fall 2022 applicant.
took both AP Calc BC and AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP Physics C: E&M.
Applied for Computer Engineering, was waitlisted and then rejected.
Currently attending UCSB for Computer Engineering.
Do you need to take Cal BC and Physics C in junior year or senior year is still fine?
Iām not EdwardDingā¦ but I can answer that senior year is fine.
That is the typical path of the high stat kids at my Dās high school.
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Wow that is disheartening for us that you did not get in. However, UCSB is a great school- my brother got his PhD in theoretical physics there and he loved it! I guess the admissions process works out for the best.
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Certainly not a guarantee. My middle kid (high stat, in state, took both) was deferrred, waitlisted and offered a transfer pathway. Applied as a business major. It was the class of 2021 which was particularly unpredictable, and several other high stats kids from his high school also didnāt get in. The one kid who was deferred and then got in regular decision went to visit, didnāt like it, and chose UGA. My son is happy and thriving where he ended up and decided a month into his freshman year he was not transferring. I do think things tend to work out! He also did not check the summer start option which is helpful - but based on past admits from his school they were confident he would get in. Crazy year though!
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GT is not a great school for out of state kids that have taken classes like multivariable and linear algebra as part of the HS Curriculum. GT limits the classes you can ātestā out of to 11 hours. This means that even if you have demonstrated you know all of the material, they still make you retake the courseā¦if you take the course at a college or community college you can get credit.
So while GT may like to see the courses, if you have taken them, GT might not be the place for you.
Like many state colleges, there is a large difference in in state vs out of state kids, meaning that the requirements for instate is much lower than OOS.
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While Georgia Tech is more difficult to get into out of state, I disagree that thereās a big difference in student caliber between in-state and out-of-state. Georgia Tech only has around 2000 in state entering freshman in a state where there are over 100,000 high school students. Georgia Tech is a difficult admit in state particularly from populated areas and many highly qualified kids donāt get in. Also no appreciable difference in academic results or job results between in-state and out-of-state kids. My oldest is interning in New York this summer for a consulting firm, and I was really pretty astounded how many people he knows that will either be up there or are currently there from Georgia Tech - mostly in state kids.
I understand with your prior posts that you are dissatisfied with your childās choice of Georgia Tech because he had to retake some math classes. In Georgia Techās defense, It is very clear what classes you can place out of with AP designation or testing, and there are many schools that are more generous. If that is something that matters to you, it is certainly worth investigating. I know more than a few kids who took multivariable in high school and had to retake it at Georgia Tech. If anything that was seen as a positive because they had a foundation in the material already. I understand itās different if your goal is to get out of college as fast as possible but we want our kids to take the full four years.
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Why do you feel that not checking the summer start option was helpful? I believe my son did choose summer start option if admitted
No checking the summer start definitely helps. I must not have worded that well. My son didnāt check it until he was deferred. The current kid did as well as saying he was open to first year summer abroad. Lesson learned Both were admitted to UGA EA but this current senior was auto admitted to honors so maybe that will be the difference. Crossing our fingers over here because Tech is his first choice!
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I did not mean to insinuate the level of kids is different, it may be or not be. I reread my post and I thought that was clear by my comment at the end of my last sentence in my post when I wrote " meaning that the requirements for instate is much lower than OOS." Instate kids benefit from taking courses that GT allows. To your point, I will say, that in many states, there is a marked difference in the level of kids instate vs OOS (not saying smarter, but higher academic qualifications), but my kid has not mentioned it and I have not asked as it is not too relevant.
I am definitely not dissatisfied with my kids choice in GT. In fact, I am very pleased and more importantly he is too. What I do feel is that GT could get better and I think by pointing out weaknesses others might push back on areas that make no sense.
Also, to your point of no difference in academic results between instate and OOS. That could partially be due to the way the system is designed. GT (as many others) has very high grade inflation and pretty much force kids to take the same classes so there is not that much difference academically.
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