Is my (informal) high school transcript strong enough for ND business?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Notre Dame
21

@VaibhavKeshari - top schools like ND like the academics. For entrance to a business program, they are going to look more at whether your EC’s suggest you are a good fit then all those HS business courses you have planned.

So please take a close look at what @Suzy100 is saying in #7 and what @CCSavant and others have been saying about the foreign language - and then I have a couple more things for you to consider (see below). You will be up against top kids who have taken four years of Honors/AP English, Social Science (including APUSH and Euro), Math, Science and F/L. You will need to take these courses as well in order to be competitive.

Specific advice:

  1. F/L: Progression in the same one through the Honors/AP level is going to be preferable to starting over with another language; the exception would be if you have already maxed out what your school offers in that area with little opportunity to advance further at AP or dual-enrollment level. You will likely have the opportunity to place out of some of the language requirement via placement exams before you matriculate, so your work should not be wasted. At minimum, you are showing ND that proficiency in a foreign language is important to you. It’s definitely important to ND.

  2. Science: You would be better off advancing to an honors or AP version of Chem, Bio, or Physics than skipping that fourth year.

  3. Social Science: AP Macro/Micro are simply not as rigorous as APUSH or Euro and you will learn to write well in the latter courses. Besides, you will get far better instruction in Econ. at the college level, esp. at ND.

You will get to take the tough business courses once you arrive on campus. For now, show them that your college prep. is up there with the best of the other applicants.

Good luck to you!

22

@JBStillFlying Ok, so should I do APUSH next year (junior year) or a 3rd year of SPANISH (if I do APUSH, then I will have only 2 years of SPANISH on my transcript) Looking forward to a response!

23

Well, assuming you only have six periods and that two of them are taken up with Math:

Junior year
English 11 (honors/AP if possible)
Double period math
Physics (honors if possible)
APUSH
Spanish 3

Senior year
English 12 (AP if possible)
Double period Math through AB
Another honors or AP Science
AP Euro - if need be, substitute (in order of preference) 1) AP Gov. AP or 2) AP Macro/Micro. History will be preferred.
Spanish 4

If you have a 7th period you can add Gym/Health, Business, a fine arts course, etc. My kids have done lunch or zero hour for the health and/or gym - my son did gym as independent study this past fall simply because the school couldn’t make it fit for his AP load. But different states have different requirements (we are in MN).

For additional business enrichment, you should look into business leadership clubs, projects, competitions, etc. where you will be showcasing your initiative and business acumen. You might even consider supplementary courses at the college level (be careful about taking anything for a grade because it’ll need to show up on your transcript. Unless you think you’ll get a high grade, it might be best to audit).

Leave the regular school day for the college prep.

Here are some of the guidelines, and the full story in the link. Keep in mind that “Academic area” will include Math, Science, English, Social Science (preferably History) and Foreign Language:

“Although we require at least 16 academic units for admission, our most competitive applicants will have four units in each major academic area and in the most rigorous level their high school offers. We do include algebra and/or foreign language courses completed during eighth grade in our count of admissions requirements. For example, if you earned credit for one full-year introductory French course as an eighth grader, then completed French II in ninth grade, both credits will be counted.”

https://admissions.nd.edu/apply/evaluation-criteria/

24

@JBStillFlying Ok, sorry for not listing out all of my options, so basically because of my schedule, I can only can fit 2 electives (with gym which I don’t want to remove ideally). Next year, there are 3 scenarios for my electives:

  1. Accounting 2 and APUSH
  2. APUSH and Spanish 3
  3. Accounting 2 and Spanish 3
    I am currently doing accounting 1 in my sophomore year and I find it to be a good class for me which is why I’ve been considering accounting 2 (honors class btw). I actually have been doing BPA (Business Pros. of America) outside of school to show my interest in business but I still kind of want to do business classes in school.

HOWEVER, if I can’t take accounting 2 my junior year, I can still take it my senior year (which isn’t the case with APUSH or Spanish due to hard classes in my senior year and having a gap year in foreign language hurts your performance). What should I do?
Note: I don’t think a gap year in accounting will really hurt my performance in accounting 2.

25

@VaibhavKeshari - this is a question probably best asked of your counselor but I’d recommend my own kids enroll in APUSH and Spanish. Most selective universities (remember, you are not going to be applying just to ND) want to see the rigorous social science courses included on your transcript, and you already know that four years of a single FL is at least highly recommended. Accounting is considered to be an elective by most measures, while History is considered a “solid” or “core” course. Even honors accounting - which is laudable - doesn’t substitute for your core college prep.

26

@JBStillFlying Could I do AP Statistics instead of APUSH my junior year and would it look equally good as APUSH? I plan to take 1.5AP’s senior year (all social studies). I don’t think that I’ll succeed in APUSH. If I were to do AP stats, I would do regular US History in summer school.

However, I’m worried that colleges I apply to will think that I’m not challenging myself in social studies up till junior year when I apply EA, when in reality, I’ll be taking AP Macro+ap us politics and ap micro (1.5 years of social studies ap’s) my senior year. Is there any way to include my senior year plans on my transcript and will that help me? Looking forward to a response!

27

So, you will apply during the fall of senior year and will include your transcript through junior year. If the USH from summer will be on the transcript - fantastic. If not, you might consider pushing it into summer before junior year. AP Stats should actually be a good choice for most business schools, provided it doesn’t substitute away from any of the solids. But I’d recommend AP stats as a high-brow elective, perhaps subbing for one of your business courses.

You will be listing your senior load on the application so anything you didn’t get a chance to take - you’ll be able to show them. Most schools will require a mid-year transcript, even if you’ve been accepted early (not sure about ND, however).

Don’t worry about switching down from APUSH. Part of challenging yourself to the max is understanding where that max is. My son opted NOT to take AP Spanish this year for the same reason - it would have been too much given everything else he was taking, so he just stuck with honors track.

28

@JBStillFlying I see. You mentioned that AP Stats is subbing for one of my business courses, could I still do accounting 2 (honors) my senior year as I won’t be having science (only doing bio, chem physics). And yes, the US History (normal not honors or AP) will count towards my transcript. It might actually look good that I’m taking US History over the summer to squeeze some more academic credits, don’t you think? So just to be sure, AP Stats and Spanish 3 my junior year is a good idea along with US History over the summer?
P.S: I really do appreciate you responding to each of my posts, it really has helped me quite a bit :slight_smile:

29

@JBStillFlying Also, could you give me the dates and the year of high school most universities have early action and regular decision deadlines by?

30

@VaibhavKeshari EA/ED and RD deadlines will happen in your senior year. Most EA/ED application deadline are 11/1 but might vary so check each school to be sure. Most RD deadlines are 1/1 but, again, check with your individual school of interest to make sure. the Common Ap. will have these dates as well.

Not sure if the timing of your USH will look impressive as much as your total course load will make it obvious you had to take a summer class or two. The course load is what they focus on.

Accounting is fine as long as you fit in what they primarily want to see. That’s probably going to be one of the more challenging “business” courses. Same with AP Econ. Both will give you some prep for college but won’t substitute for the rigorous college equivalent.

Happy to help. Good luck to you!

31

@JBStillFlying I never knew that EA and RD deadlines are both in my senior year. That helps a lot! As for social studies, will 2.5 AP’s in social studies (AP HUGE, AP Macro+AP Gov. and AP Micro.) and normal USH be good enough for colleges like Notre Dame and UMich Ann Arbor?

32

@VaibkavKeshari - Michigan will have higher standards for OOS kids than in-state so I’d recommend going beyond their recommendation of three years of social studies. Looks like you’ll have 3.5? Notre Dame recommends 3-4 years so you are right in the middle there.

If you could toss Euro. in there somewhere and do well in it, that’ll help your application, but if not, then don’t worry about it. You need to take courses that are enjoyable and doable, not just rigorous.

You can probably take a break from all this planning now - keep in mind that you might change your mind in a year anyway - on what to take as a senior as well as where to apply.

Good luck to you!

33

@JBStillFlying Yeah I’m kinda done thinking about these courses for now. I think that I’ve got a decent courseload now so thanks for everything :slight_smile: