<p>Okay, so I chose not to take AP US History this year, and instead took the regular history course. I decided this too late to take AP Physics instead of AP US History. Even if I had chosen to take AP Physics this year, I would have taken regular US History next year, so there is no difference, except that this year I have a slightly easier courseload, and next year I will have a slightly more difficult one. However, I could have taken AP US History this year and had the same senior year courseload as I'm taking now. Can/will my counselor still put down that I'm taking the hardest possible courseload? I am taking the hardest possible courseload otherwise, including taking an advanced math.</p>
<p>I'm also taking a work-intensive art class (playwriting).</p>
<p>I suppose it's up to your counselor when compared with everyone else in your class. If your counselor notices that there are several other students with harder courseloads, yours might just be considered "demanding", but maybe not "most rigorous." I would have definitely taken the AP history if I was you...it really was not bad (just a lot of reading).</p>
<p>No, because you could have taken AP USH but you chose to take regular USH.</p>
<p>if you take more APs or about the same number of APs as other students in your grade it will be "most rigorous." If someone takes 10 AP courses and you take maybe 5 or 6, yours would be "demanding" or "more rigorous."</p>
<p>he can't put down that you're taking the "hardest possible" courseload, no matter what other people are taking, since you didn't take APUSH. he can, however, say that you're taking the most rigorous courseload IF no one else's courseload is more rigorous. i.e., if no one took APUSH.</p>
<p>^but what if there are possibilities of taking AP english, APUSH, AP Bio, AP Calculus, as examples, in the junior year. If he took AP english, bio and calc, but not APUSH and someone else took only APUSH and bio, wouldn't his course load be more rigorous?</p>
<p>It depends. This is all so subjective, and the guidance counselor will choose a category by placing you in the context of her other students.</p>
<p>yes, it would be more rigorous, but it still isn't the hardest possible that the school offers. i figured that's what the OP meant by "hardest possible courseload" - yes, it might be the most rigorous in comparison to everyone else, but it still isn't the hardest offered.</p>
<p>Exactly. No one is taking a harder curriculum than I am, but I'm not taking that hardest possible curriculum that I could be taking.</p>
<p>By "most rigorous courseload," I just mean the option on the recommendation form that asks whether the student is taking the "most rigorous courseload".</p>
<p>Sorry for the confusion.</p>
<p>Wait so, what was the consensus?</p>
<p>im so confsued!</p>
<p>"Most rigorous" means that you chose the most challenging courses available to you. If AP US Hist was available but you chose US Hist, you did not take the most rigorous courseload available. What is confusing about it?</p>
<p>you should have taken APUSH because it is a class where you could have said that you are taking the most rigorous courseload.</p>
<p>wow everyone stop being so damn stubborn about the exact interpretation of "most rigorous"</p>
<p>just talk to your counselor...its not that hard. ask her what she would say about your courseload and explain why you didnt take that class. just tell her how much it means to you and she'll probably put it. case closed. counselors arent out to screw you...they want you to succeed.</p>
<p>I'll sum it up I suppose? If you opt out of a hard class (even just one) for an easier one, then I don't see how it could be listed as "most rigorous". Unless no one else in your grade is taking as many APs as you are, which statistically is a slim chance. I'd say you're taking "demanding", not "most rigorous".</p>
<p>ehh i dont think you necessarily need to have the MOST APs in your school to get the "most rigorous" designation (because someone could take like PE outside of school and squeeze in another AP)...i think your counselor is knowledgeable enough to tell a demanding apart from most rigorous.</p>
<p>that being said, the OP probably wont get most rigorous anymore. everyone freakin takes APUSH junior year...you gotta talk to her about it.</p>