<p>I have seen posters suggesting parents/students ask the high school guidance counselor about class selection that results in the "most rigorous course" box checked on the CA at college application time. DS emailed the guidance counselor asking is his intended classes met the 'most rigorous course' load requirements. GC said there is no such box and that he just includes a school profile so that the college can see what classes are offered. GC has been there several years. So what gives? Is this just a misconception? Maybe the GC misunderstood the question, but I don't think so. He was pretty clear.</p>
<p>Some GCs, at one time most all, but now it’s rare, GCs checked off boxes. You can see the boxes on the Common app and the questions that are asked. Most of the GCs and teachers now just write a paragraph form rec and attach it to that form with “see attached”. Even if it doesn’t cover all of the specific questions, and it usually does not. </p>
<p>School profiles are also attached and that is what a lot of admissions offices used. You can ask them, specifically what they consider a “most difficult” at a particular school. Some schools have come right out and said that beyond , say four AP classes, it doesn’t count for more. Others keep it holistic which means they won’t say and make that determination as they go.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. Makes sense. </p>
<p>Makes sense, and is somewhat misleading at the same time. The GC may not “check the box,” but an experienced GC certainly ought to know (a) what is the range of curricula followed by college-bound students at your school, and (b) whether colleges (many of which will receive multiple applications from students at the school) are likely to regard a particular curriculum, in context, as comparatively rigorous or not. In other words, whether or not the GC answers the question on the Common App, he knows more or less what the answer would be if he gave it, or how colleges are likely to interpret a kid’s curriculum in light of the other information the GC has provided and the other applications it may be seeing. It’s a little squirrelly to pretend that the question is irrelevant.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my kids’ GC most certainly did check the box, albeit a number of years ago. That’s when I learned about the effing box – when he refused to check “most rigorous” for my kid because she hadn’t taken AP Calculus BC (just Honors Calculus in 11th grade – she was completely uninterested in STEM, but had accelerated through the math curriculum).</p>