It’s silly for GC to factor GPA/class rank into “most rigorous”. The colleges already ask for GPA and class rank. Rigor should be it’s own third, distinct component to provide info to the admissions committee. Factoring that into the rigor component kind of defeats the whole purpose of asking, IMO.
Thanks @labegg Can the applicant see the box? We have a freshman in college and she applied to several Common App schools, but I never saw the box.
I’m still thinking my younger daughter’s GC is clueless. If she replies to me again, I’ll pass on that information to her and hopefully, she’ll finally understand what I’m asking. My youngest will most likely apply to a few schools that use the CA, so thanks again for your help 
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It’s only on the Counselor recommendation page - so the applicant doesn’t see the box. I never bothered to ask whether my kid’s were checked off. I’m sure my older son was, and I’m pretty sure younger one was as well.
@LeastComplicated as mathmom said it is only on the counselor report so you would never see it as, that is a ferpa confidential thing. The only reason I knew it existed was because we printed out a copy of a blank counselor report for GC to send to a school via snail mail.
OK, thanks guys
I’ll repost the guidelines for rigor level at D18’s large public HS:
D18’s public HS has a table showing their criteria for the various levels of curriculum difficulty that make up the overall level they’ll report on your transcript. There are five categories: English, Math, Social Studies, Science, and Foreign Language. Each category has a difficulty level from 1 to 4 based on the classes taken. Add up the points for the five categories and you get the overall difficulty level for the transcript: Average (0-5 pts), Above Average (6-10 pts), Advanced (11-15 pts), Most Difficult (16+ pts).
For example, the max points (4 pts) for each category require the following classes:
English = 2 AP classes
Math = AP Calc AB or BC or GaTech Calc
Social Studies = 3+ AP classes
Science = 2+ AP classes
Foreign Language = 1 AP class
I’m sure they showed this to us at D’s freshman orientation but we didn’t realize its importance. D18 has taken a ton of STEM courses and I’m not sure that she met the criteria for “most difficult”.
As other have said, it depends on the HS. Ours limits APs primarily to junior and senior year, with few exceptions (GT kids). AP math and English are limited to one (AB or BC calc, not both: AP lang or AP lit, not both and only in Sr. year as there is a rigorous Jr. year English class). Thus, it is tough to rack up 10 APs.
I also think, however, that our GC will discuss the rigor of the curriculum in the recommendation even if they can’t check the box. A somewhat lopsided kids may not have taken APUSH, but will have taken more science and math APs. They may not get the “most rigorous” designation, but certainly would have taken a challenging curriculum.