<p>I am a mom of a junior in highschool. Almost all college websites say they look at rigor in college prep courses in highschool . My son has not taken any. Do colleges look at rigor seriously? Is that going to be a problem to get into mid tier colleges ?</p>
<p>yep. rigor means honors, AP, IB, and/or community college or college-level courses. If your child’s school offers none of these, the AOs will probably know that, but if your S is ready for a comm college math course, put him in one thru your school so that it shows on his transcript. Colleges would rather see a 3.5 in college prep courses than a 4.0 in regular courses because it shows the child is willing to challenge himself.</p>
<p>Thanks for reply. How about taking SAT subject test in math? </p>
<p>that’s good, but that just means if he does well that he’s good in math and math tests. The question remains as to why he didn’t challenge himself over the course of a year rather than a test.</p>
<p>They do offer a lot of AP courses . It’s just that he is a late bloomer. He scored B’s & B+'sin his first two years of highschool. Now in the junior year, he has woken up & has been scoring A’s in all the subjects. Right now we are trying do get best out of our present situation. Senior year ,he has scheduled to take 2 AP’s. Would the college see the improvement in his attitude & consider the upward trend in his transcript?</p>
<p>Sure. They’ll enjoy seeing the improving GPA and the two AP courses. They’ve also seen late bloomers esp in boys before and perhaps his late blooming can be addressed in an essay in a way that’s not seen as his excusing the lack of rigor heretofore. Is there any chance for four AP courses? Is he ready for them yet? This does not mean that he’s going to be on a par with the kids who have his GPA, upward trend, but more rigor. Them’s the facts. And he will still get a great education even if he doesn’t go to a top 50 school. He will go where he will thrive, not where someone who bloomed earlier will thrive. No worries, mahn. </p>
<p>Right now he has been scheduled for 2 AP’s. But if he continues to be very strong until the end of the year, we might schedule one or two more.Thank you so much… Really appreciate & value your suggestion!</p>