Hi, I was wondering if Rice would rescind their admission if I chose to drop an AP course because of the lack of preparation I was receiving for the AP exam. I am still in 5 other AP classes and orchestra as well.
No. They don’t care. You do need to tell them that you changed your courses, but this isn’t what they are worried about. They are concerned with students who have a sudden attack of serious senioritis and end up with poor grades.
Are you sure? I had already taken this action because Rice had not responded in quite some time and I assumed that they didn’t mind enough to respond to my email. However after I had already gone through with my plan, a woman emailed back saying that Rice would not approve. I am just wondering if it’s enough to get kicked out of college.
Sometimes, it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.
‘a woman?’ Someone from Rice’s admissions office? This sounds dubious. It would be the first time ever that a school rescinded an admission because someone dropped a single AP class. Have your guidance counselor contact Rice and ask to speak with this person to get clarification on what exactly the concern is. I assume since you were admitted that your guidance counselor sent a strong letter of recommendation.
I’m assuming she is a counselor at Rice but all she said was that Rice does not approve of dropping the course.
I’m the salutatorian at my school and have a pretty impressive resume from work done over the 4 years so I thought one AP course being dropped couldn’t be too much harm. But the woman said that Rice admitted me on the basis that I had Computer Science in my schedule and made it sound like a big deal if I were to remove it from my schedule.
It just worries me because I applied on the basis of early admission and if my offer was rescinded I could be in a lot of trouble.
Go talk to your guidance counselor tomorrow and ask him/her to reach out to the college right away. Let us know what happens. Good luck.
Couldn’t you just keep the class and not take the exam?
The teacher is making all his students take it
Keep the class and don’t do badly.
@N’s Mom (re post #4): “It would be the first time ever that a school rescinded an admission because someone dropped a single AP class.”
I’m curious; how in the world could you possibly know the foregoing statement is correct?
Okay, I’ll qualify the statement. “It would be the first time I’d ever heard of a school rescinding an admission because someone dropped a single AP class.” That’s why the call to Rice needs to be made. Being rescinded is usually related to low grades, cheating, criminal conduct, failure to complete admission requirements, or some other obvious violation of the agreement between the student and the school. Comp Sci (AP or otherwise) is generally not an admission requirement - certainly not at Rice. Possibly, they are concerned that he is failing the course and want more info. Only a call to the school is going to clarify the situation and, if Rice is actually threatening to rescind because of a dropped AP, it would be important to understand what the rational was.
Why not just buckle down and self-study for the AP CS test on the side if you feel that the preparation in that class is inadequate?
For that matter, why would it matter if you didn’t get a 5 (or 4 or 3) on that AP exam?
Can you ask Rice if they care if you drop other classes?
It makes NO DIFFERENCE whether you do well on the AP exam or not. Just finish the class. Who cares if you even pass the AP exam??? Rice won’t rescind over an AP exam score. So who cares. Besides you could self study.
Finish the class. UC’s also admit on the basis of your senior schedule and do not like you to change it and definitely require notification. Now you have asked and they have told you to keep it so you have no choice. Get sick the day of the AP exam if you want. I would be surprised if Rice would accept the credit anyway.
If it’s not too late, finish the class. I couldn’t tell from your post if you’d a) already dropped or b) simply already emailed Rice. I looked at Total Registration data and 43.9% of those who took the CS AP last year got a 4 or a 5. Buy a prep book or two and spend a little time studying on your own. If you have already dropped, how long ago? Can you see if you can get back in? I’m assuming you’ve already paid the fee to take the exam, too…
If you dropped the course and can’t get back in, maybe you could study on your own and take the exam. Ask your GC if that might be accetable to the college.
Share the email from Rice with your GC and ask her to talk to admissions there, and get to the bottom of this. It is possible that you got an auto response to your question. No school “approves” of any student dropping courses for second term and it’s standard language that you were accepted based on your second term slated classes. There are kids who will drop to minimum or nothing, and high schools that permit it, and it is not encouraged. What actions are approved by a college and whether they have consequences for it are two different things. It’s not something they will approve of students doing. But rescinding is a serious, drastic action.