My junior daughter is finalizing her class choices for her senior year. She will have several AP classes next year but will also have 2 free periods. She intends to use those periods for extra time to work on her AP classes, college applications, etc. And to keep her sanity.
She will be maxed out on all a-g except English. Should she pick up another English class to max out? This will likely be an obvious answer. However, I felt that it’s worth asking the question as I don’t want her to be completely overwhelmed next year.
Other points:
-We are OOS.
-She will max for GPA.
-She currently has 4 AP classes. I think she’s scheduled for 3 next year. There are a limited amount offered at her school.
-She won’t likely have an EC/job in her field of study. However, she will have 3 years of school, with dual credit, in her field of study. Not sure if they’ll acknowledge that since academics is a calculation only.
-She has many hours of EC but will not max.
-She has had leadership positions - 3 president positions. And other board positions.
Cal states and UC’s require 4 years of English. Cal Poly SLO recommends 5 years. Their admission review has included bonus points by taking extra semesters of English, Math, Science, Art above the minimum requirements. OP is trying maximize the points used in the SLO algorithm for a better chance at an acceptance.
EC’s and jobs that are major related also gets bonus points.
Supposedly there is a maximum limit to the bonus points. Since the actual calculations are no longer posted by SLO, the assumptions still persist.
IF Cal Poly still operates using an admissions algorithm that’s similar to 2013, there are minimums for classes to even be considered for admission and up to a certain cutoff for maximum rigor points. The best I recall, if a student maxed every category, it would add to 900 points, but the algorithm rigor section maxed at 750 anyway.
ECs and work are simply tabulated by hours per week with bonuses given for leadership roles and jobs that are major related. The algorithm caps ECs hours at 20.
I’d run the calculator in the pinned thread that I started about the MCA and see if the extra English class makes a difference. Do it knowing that it may no longer be valid though.
In the test free paradigm, she may find that doing things at the margins like more EC hours, or a job that’s major related, even if as a volunteer, might have more impact.
Thank you everyone! Your responses were helpful. I plan to contact admissions to see if I can get some more information about their admission criteria and recommendations (if they can provide that). I’ll post an update if I feel that the information will help others.