<p>Hello. I need advice on whether my D should disclose that she changed a course her senior year to the colleges that she already applied to. She applied to all her colleges over three months ago in August before school began. She changed from AP Calculus BC to Honors just recently. She has applied ED, EA and RD and has received several acceptances already. She will be hearing of several more next week and then the rest next year. </p>
<p>Her GC told her she doesn't need to contact the schools regarding a course change. He also said she doesn't have to send in her grades unless the colleges personally request it. Another person said she should disclose her course change. (FYI - her grades transferred from BC to H and there is no W on her report card).</p>
<p>I'm leaning towards the GC's suggestion for these reasons:
1) she is still in calculus
2) I don't think one AP course will affect a college acceptance (she has almost 10 AP's)
3) it is common for seniors to change their schedules
4) if the college does request mid year grades, the GC will provide an explanation for the course change. </p>
<p>Please advise if you think she should inform the colleges of her Calculus change from BC to H. If yes, why and when? Thanks for your help. :)</p>
<p>This is a hard one – I always err on the side of “CYA” (covering your ass). If on her application she stated that she was taking AP Calculus, and she is now NOT taking it, then I think she should disclose it to the colleges. If her application does not state what courses she was going to take senior year, then there is nothing to disclose.</p>
<p>Panacea, how experienced is your GC? I would tend to defer to the GC if you trust him. I personally don’t think that it’s necessary to notify the colleges. She didn’t misrepresent anything on her application. It was her plan to take BC calc when she completed the applications in August. It is not unusual for kids to change their courses and when the colleges really want to know about senior courses, they request midterm transcripts. Good luck!</p>
<p>MJMAMA - I disagree. If the schools she is applying to are highly selective schools where readers are actually looking at, and evaluating applications based on course rigor, etc. (versus super large state schools that may look at overall GPAs and test scores but not necessarily the details), then I think they might have some trouble with a student who said they were taking an AP course on their application, and yet later, the college found out the student did not, in the end, actually take that course.</p>
<p>You’re right, Momof2back2back. I was making assumptions about the schools given that she had already received acceptances and senior grades had not been requested. Schools that are making decisions based on the rigor of senior course load would request senior grades prior to making decisions, rather than relying on the applicant’s report of intended courses. Also, my S has a very experienced GC and I would defer to him in situations like this, though I know nothing about the OP’s GC. While it may not be necessary to notify colleges in all circumstances, I agree with you that if in doubt, it’s always safe to err on the side of “CYA.”</p>
<p>If the student matriculates, the college will expect the final high school transcript to include the previously listed senior year courses with good enough grades to be present. A discrepency found out then (rather than being disclosed by the applicant before March) may result in the admission offer being rescinded.</p>