As and Honors

eyemgh
Sun, 11 Oct 2015 17:05:41 +0000

@YellowTiger, CP admissions is a bit quirky in that it is based 100% on an algorithm. As @Gumbymom said, you can read all about it in that post.

Specifically to your points, they are apples and oranges. First the GPA. CP “weights” GPA by adding up to 8 points to the calculation. Even though there is likely differences between honors, AP and IB, they don’t differentiate. For every A you get 4 points, every B, 3, etc. you come up with a total, divide by the number of courses and, VOILA! you get a GPA. It seems like it would, but choosing which semesters you want your honors/IB/AP to count towards really doesn’t matter. It effectively turns a B into an A, a C into a B, etc, but what it does mathematically is adds 8 points to your total before dividing by the number of classes. As you can see, it doesn’t matter what class you assign that point to, it’s still one point.

Where students can become a bit penalized for overachieving is when they’ve taken LOTS of classes. That dilutes the impact of the 8 points.

Now onto rigor. It’s also true that an AP class is not the same as an AP/IB class and CP, again doesn’t directly differentiate. Based on the typical high school curricula though they really do. Let’s start with math. Schools don’t offer AP algebra, since there isn’t such a beast. A few do, but most schools don’t offer non-AP Calculus. So, when it comes to math, everyone is on the same footing. Language is the same. Most schools make the 4th year AP. Where it seems to create an unfairness is in science. EVERYONE knows AP physics, especially the Calculus based Mechanics one, is VERY different than “regular” physics. Same goes for chem and bio. The thing is, if you only take the non-AP versions Freshman and Sophomore year, you won’t amass the maximum number of rigor points for lab science. You have to take more and at most schools those upper level sciences are almost always AP or IB.

Lastly, something you haven’t mentioned, but is another area that can be seen as unfair, CP only looks at EC hours and leadership can be anything. National Key Club president and Secretary of the school chess club count the same. They are very different in prestigue but both allow you to “check the box.” These are the sorts of things that make a difference, but also create randomness at holistic admission schools.

There are certainly exceptions, but for a totally objective algorithm, it’s pretty well thought out.

Hope that helps.