Come to think of it, if a STEM student takes a course like the Quantum Mechanics course offered by Exeter, it will likely impress an AO even if s/he doesn’t manage to get an A, because the adcom will know how hard s/he is challenging her-/himself.
When the tippy top school answer this question, they tell you that they want you to take the hardest classes AND get As in them. I am also going to venture that if you take all the easier classes and get As, you are not going to get into a tippy top, just as if you take all the hardest classes and get Bs, you won’t either. But regardless, you are going to get a lot of different advice on this. And the important thing is figuring out how to do the right thing for your child. I can tell you that there are a lot of schools that like to see that kids have challenged themselves even if they haven’t nailed it!
First of all, if you are a major donor/important alum OR if your kid is a highly recruited athlete, I think that the rules are a little different. The important thing for those applicants is that there be no reason to deny them. For them, preserving their GPA (even at the cost of rigor) may be the wisest strategy. Toss in a couple of higher level in classes to show that they can handle the extra effort when necessary, but don’t leave the AOs any reason to say no. In other words, play it safe.
For all of the rest of us…. Know that first off, the adcoms at colleges know the CCs at your BS as well as your BS profile. If the school is stingy with As, has a ton of kids who excel at math, is really rigorous even at the “general” level, they know that. And to that end, they also will recognize the kids who took the easy path. This is all to say, strategize as much as you like, but they can probably see through it.
Most colleges will discount freshman grades. (And this may even be more true for BS kids, whom they know made a transition, not just to being a boarder but from a different system.) For that reason, freshman year is a good year to take a risk and see what harder classes feel like. (I know, you tried this.) Evaluate at the end of the year what level of rigor makes sense going forward. I loved that our school started every class planning discussion with the question “Are you getting enough sleep?” Taking the hardest path if it is sucking the life out of you and making you miserable may not be worth it. That’s not a challenge – that’s misery!
Remember that the point of BS is to get a great foundation – it’s not an extended admissions test for college. I would understand how the school grades and also how your kid learns. If the school grades “hard” and if your kid is one who learns from taking tests what he needs to go back and master (and then follows up on it), getting Bs in a challenging class could be great prep for college. Certainly, it’s better than getting As in a class where the test is mastered but the material is not! At the end of the day, what’s critical is that your kid has mastered the material and can use it. Whether that happens in a class that is more challenging or one that is not probably depends on your child and what kind of learner he is.
I would say that while it can feel really scary, what BS tends to do really well is challenge the kids so that they know what kind of college would be good for them. In general, it’s really hard to “trick” one of the tippy top schools into seeing you as a superstar if you are not. But it IS easy to think that you are a superstar if you are at a school that doesn’t provide the challenges that test your assumption of who you are. At a BS that has a lot of high-achieving students, you’re far less likely to overestimate yourself that way. There will be plenty of kids who know that they are strong students but not HYPS material at BS. All of them will be well-prepared for wherever they end up.
You will probably want to revisit all of this as your child is doing course planning next spring. At that point, understand what kind of effort was required for the level of success he had this year, what his interests are, and where he wants to focus his energy. The school should be helping him strategize and pick the classes that will engage and challenge him, but not kill him. By having conversations with him about how it’s going, you’ll be able to help him articulate what that might be.
Having gone through 6 rounds of college admissions in 6 years, I can share some of our learnings. Keep in mind this is from unhooked upper middle class kids from an over represented state.
Gpa is the number that ultimately gets you considered. For a few of our kids who had well over a B average at a top prep school, regardless of test scores, recommendations, hobbies and interests- they were not viable candidates at many of the top schools. By top schools- I do not mean ivies- I mean schools like Northeastern, Babson etc… GPA is the gatekeeper for many schools- period. Freshmen grades did not seem to be considered at all in the process.
For our youngest who had a top 20% ranking by GPA at her school, her acceptances were wildly different. At the induction ceremony, many of the kids in attendance were headed to ivies. She had zero AP’s. She did have a particular focus in school, that was pretty unique and her application and resume showcased this. She did not take the hardest classes offered (with the exception of a few terms in physics), but focused on classes that interested her. She did get the opportunity to take many cool electives: ethics in silicone valley, existentialism, photography, yoga etc. travel abroad and have leadership positions in multiple clubs.
In our experience the importance of GPA cannot be minimized.
@dogsmama1997 I think kids are so different. Our kid told us that many kids waste time in the library. Or they are on their phones. Our kid has been used to doing too many activities in middle school, so at BS–was used to not wasting downtime. Got used to reading in the car and doing homework there too. That’s not to say others are wasting time. Many kids take a long time to do homework or they might be struggling with a course ( or 2) or even be tired by their sport ( football, XC, soccer, or LAX every day).
The reason is, our kid wants to continue to do something outside of school that is an important part of who he/she is. It isn’t easy. But balance is always the trick. Our kid is taking several of those extra courses mentiond this year. How? By figuring out how things fit and deciding what’s the most important. I’m pleased that these odd curriculum listings can be used by some kids. Some are extremely interesting. It does seem like a handful of kids are on the same track and do some of the specialized programs and other parents tell me their kids are flat out already. My kid has seen that most of the kid are upperclassmen so that’s interesting too. Seems many feel like they can’t do these things until Senior year.
Glad someone mentioned again that the most important factor to “weed out” kids is the GPA. This is important to all students as some would rather go deep and don’t care that much about their grades.
I think there is plenty of time to develop interests - one in terms of the electives a student chooses, but also in their EC activities. Plus, summer is a good time to explore and develop.
I wouldn’t worry about repeats. Just focus on your own child and what’s best for them and their path.
“In general, it’s really hard to “trick” one of the tippy top schools into seeing you as a superstar if you are not. But it IS easy to think that you are a superstar if you are at a school that doesn’t provide the challenges that test your assumption of who you are. At a BS that has a lot of high-achieving students, you’re far less likely to overestimate yourself that way. There will be plenty of kids who know that they are strong students but not HYPS material at BS. All of them will be well-prepared for wherever they end up.”
I agree about it being hard to “trick” a top college. I don’t agree that GPA is the most important.
At my kids’ boarding school, at least at the time, the school’s philosophy was to usually place kids on the more challenging path knowing that a child could always drop down a level but it was extremely challenging to move up from a lower level.
Many boarding schools have plenty of rigor without having to take the honors level or AP classes. (if offered - they weren’t where my kids attended). Also, the is little of the grade inflation found in public schools these days. Colleges know these boarding schools and understand that.
Bottom line, please remember that there are so many good colleges out there. Don’t limit yourself to thinking that only Ivies, or only top 25, are desirable. Both my kids went to strong LACs and got a great education. They weren’t stars at their boarding school nor did they take the highest rigor or achieve top grades. It’ll be fine.
If your child craves the stimulation and challenge of an advanced course, great. But don’t do it just for college. Don’t pressure your kids too much. Let them enjoy their high school years. Between classes, sports, ECs, etc., they have a lot on their plates. Enjoyment and some degree of life balance should be a part of that, too.
Agree strongly with everything @doschicos said!
I recognize that it is early but from the way school has started I would say there is not time to explore EC activities if you are also playing a sport. Hopefully, things will slow down and I will be proven soooo wrong. But it seems odd to me that the start of school would be so harsh and then teachers will slow down the assignments, etc. Is that normal? Mostly I see it said that they ease the freshman into things so I can only expect the school work to get harder and more copious.
My point about repeats was not at all about competition between my kid and an older kid but about what becomes standard practice at a school. It is my belief that a 16 year old body can take more punishment in terms of lack of sleep and beating from sports than a 14 year old body can. If half of your freshman class is about to turn 16 then it really informs how much stress the school starts to think is acceptable for a freshman at their school. So in that way, the number of repeats has a big impact on my non repeat child.
Agree with @dogsmama1997 on the repeat issue (and, 2 of my sons were repeats!). But yes, then the older development level becomes the norm.
But my last one didn’t repeat. Don’t worry, they find their way!
I wouldn’t expect it to slow down but ramp up. But what you might find is your child adjusts and deals with it better. Learning time management, learning which work or activity can receive a little less attention and which a little more. Not knowing your child and his/her background, it is obviously hard to give too much specific advice on what might work. But, it takes time. Some kids waste a lot of time or don’t work efficiently. Better to work on that now in high school, IMO, than having to deal with it in college.
Is it truly half the class that skipped a grade? If so, that seems like a lot. At my kids’ school, there are definitely many repeats (especially boys) but no where near half the class. That being said, my kids were among the youngest in their form, both having summer birthdays. There were even a few kids that were close to two years older. But you can’t worry about that because you can’t change it. Hence, my advice on just doing what is best for your child. Life is never an even playing field. The school where you child is enrolled would not have offered acceptance if they didn’t think it was a good fit with a high chance of success. Remember, too, that your child is now in a place where, like Lake Wobegon, “all the children are above average”. It will be harder for most to stand out and rise to the top - but being middle of the pack (or even bottom half) at a place of high achievers isn’t a bad thing. They’ll grow, they’ll learn.
Also, in terms of developing interests, I wouldn’t worry about it fall term of freshman year.
The first term, and even the first year, is about adjusting. High school itself is a big adjustment. If your child is boarding, it is an even bigger adjustment.
When developing interests, the key is on “develop” - that takes time and often a certain degree of exploration. I also don’t think it can be forced to be authentic. A 14 year old won’t know themselves as well as they will a few years from now when they’ve experienced more. Right now, it should all be about settling in, growth, and trying new things.
I don’t know what schools your children attend, but where my kids went, the day was structured to allow for classes, sports, and EC development. ECs were held in the evenings so it does require time management skills to work that in along with homework getting done. But it is completely doable as evidenced by how many students do it. 
Freshman year is a good time to explore many ECs.
If your child is a new student, it is likely they have only been at their new school for about 2 weeks tops, often even less than that. Give it time. Don’t worry too much now.
One of our kid’s advisors told us that freshman year is about adjusting, sophomore and junior year are about exploring, senior year is about leading.
I forgot about this. Yes, the school day does factor that in to some extent. Some sports did crowd out non-sport EC time, though. It’s a balance and choices have to be made, but the choices are there. I agree with @doschicos not to worry too much about these things so early in the game. Freshman year is about seeking that right level. Your student will figure it out eventually.
Haven’t applied to college from boarding school yet, but from going through the college process from a very competitive city school my conclusion is that it is far better to take slightly easier classes where you can excel AND have time to pursue your extracurricular passions and have something that will actually make adcoms say yes to your application. Neither B+/A- in most competitive classes nor As in less competitive classes alone will do it. But if you do have a strong passion it is much better to spend more time on that and take classes you can do well in. You should obviously challenge yourself in areas where you are strong and you actually enjoy a subject. However, we have kids going to Princeton and Stanford who ended HS math with AB calculus (and school offers up to multivariable calc or linear algebra for the math genius crowd). I always thought the whole talk of a ‘hook’ is a bit of a cliche but in a sea of kids with perfect or near perfect GPAs and test scores you really do need something else to stand out. Not just from the application pool overall, but compared to kids from your high school as the applications are read by high school so that’s the first comparison adcoms make.
^^ Yes, authenticity is key. You should push yourself at what matters, but it doesn’t have to be everything. A kid who wants to major in physics or math might have wanted to take those harder math classes and done well in them. A kid who wants to be a journalist will be plenty prepped with Calc AB. The notion that you need to go full tilt at everything is not true.
Note that many BS will try to ensure that every kid who is capable is taking the prerequisites for the “full tilt” path so that they can stretch the limits on what matters. But few colleges have interest in students who just take classes for the credential and most BS kids pretty quickly figure where they want to make that kind of effort.
I really don’t think that admissions officers do that much of a “deep dive” into a transcript. I have spoken with a number, including former admissions officers who have become private school CGOs, and I am convinced that most cannot even keep track of what classes are what.
On balance, I’d say go for the easy A’s over rigor, except in areas in which you have both interest and talent.
@vegas1 #22
“… She did get the opportunity to take many cool electives: ethics in silicone valley …”
Is Silicone Valley located in Vegas? Or Bel Air?
Ha ha ha ha!
GPA, and especially for a recruited athlete, is a gatekeeper for many schools. With BS almost in the rear view mirror, my DD should have definitely taken a much easier course load. You can pretty easily witness those that knew to take this route (legacies and older sibs) as they aren’t nearly as stressed out as those who have challenged themselves. If you are early in this process, tread very carefully so you’re not disappointed down the road.
@MAandMEmom Hard for kids to truly know if they’ll be a recruited athlete as a Freshman in hs. Taking easier classes certainly works if the kid gets recruited. If not, the kids at a distinct disadvantage if they want to go to a top school. So many kids out there really do take the hardest path and do well. That’s the reality for most kids.
Plus one injury can end one’s sports career. I think the best policy is to take courses that are at the appropriate level to challenge the student while still being manageable.
Most students I knew, even top athletes, were still very smart and the ones that went to top schools had a strong academic record.