<p>Practically every college website or dean or guidance counselor states that schools want you to pursue a challenging or rigorous course of study during high school. That's certainly a terrific goal, regardless of your college intent, and you and/or your guidance counselor can figure out what that means for you. But how do the colleges determine if you've met that goal? Is your honors son or daughter who gets all As not being challenged because they should be taking AP or IB courses? Is my AP child who gets Cs a slacker or being challenged or doing himself damage because he should've stuck with honors classes?
I would think that the reasonable answer is that the letters of recommendation should mention whether you truly challenged yourself. But would that then outweigh the grades? Seems unlikely since GPA clearly has a high ranking in the considerations.
Thanks for your thoughts (especially those of you in or close to the admissions arena).</p>
<p>I can't say the thing about C's, but I've heard from GCs at my old school that being in an Honors class and getting a B is muchhh better than being in a regular class and getting an A, cause they will wonder why didn't you try for the Honors. Talk to your kid's GC and ask if they've been doing what they should, the GC can outline if they're a rigorous student in their Rec.</p>
<p>And in some places, yes, GPA is in high consideration, but at others, they look at your actual grades more than GPA because GPA's are weighted so differently at each school.</p>
<p>Thanks. I've heard before from parents, GCs and various posts that a B in Honors is better than an A in PSP (what our school system calls the basic/default level). But that doesn't address my concern. If Johnny generally has Bs in his Honors classes while David has As, from the college's standpoint how does it know which one is taking the rigorous or challenging courses? Maybe Johnny is pushing himself or he's a slacker. Maybe David should be taking AP courses instead to be really challenged. How can the college determine that?<br>
I understand, or at least hope, that colleges take a more holistic approach - recommendation letters, grades, SATs, interviews, etc. - so there's opportunity to make up for weaknesses in one area with strengths in another. But if "David" is taking all honors and that is somehow gonna be seen as a strike against him (whether direct or relative to other applicants) then he needs to know that so he can work around it.</p>
<p>Yes, you can't exactly look at it point blank and tell if David is challenging himself, or if Johnny's working hard enough. That's why the GC in their letters/the forms they fill out will usually note how difficult they thik the coursework is.</p>