Thanks for this! I think it’s so important for all of us to keep our stereotypes in check and hear from personal humans with lived experience!
My kids did not go to very selective schools, they needed merit to go oos. One mistake my exercise science major made was not taking physics, AP chemistry or AP biology (although she did take 9 AP’s). She regretted only taking honors bio and honors chem in HS when faced with college bio, chem and physics (but managed). She was protecting her HS gpa (just one B), but didn’t realize how much harder she was making her freshman year at college. My oldest tapped out at honors pre calculus (no AP) and then AP stat. She needed to take calculus in college. It seems the focus is getting into college, not preparing for college.
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I’m happy to hear that William and Mary is on your son’s list. My son just finished his sophomore year as a physics major and loves it there. His favorite class last semester was in the music department. He absolutely loved the Prof and was really excited that she is going to be teaching a class on the Grateful Dead that he hopes to take at some point. W&M is a wonderful cross between a liberal arts college and an R1 research university ( it’s classification is changing from 2 to 1 next year). That being said, it is very much a fit school. It and Williamsburg in general don’t appeal to everyone. I would recommend visiting and setting up an interview if you can. The interviews are with students and word on the street is a good interview can help with admissions but a bad interview won’t hurt you. I would also recommend submitting an arts portfolio for either theatre or music. Again, it can only help and shows them that you are really interested in the school.
I am adding some links below highlighting some of the research and opportunities in neuroscience - including two neuroscience students selected for Goldwater scholarships this year. The opportunities in the sciences are really amazing especially for a smaller and not super elite school.
Since I opened up the can of worms about AP calc up thread, I will say that I don’t think your son’s application would necessarily be dead in the water without it at William and Mary. They have a very holistic admissions process and both AP bio and chem should demonstrate that he is not avoiding rigorous classes. I think the current senior year course selections are fine as long as your son understands that at the most competitive schools (especially JHU and Wesleyan) the overwhelming majority of STEM applicants will have taken AP calculus. So, yeah it may put him at a distinct disadvantage for admissions at those types of schools - but the vast majority of applicants who have taken Calc BC and beyond are going to be rejected anyways.
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I agree in general but many parents do post that their kids got in without stats or pre calc.
Or it might be as simple as, the student will end up at a school a bit less ranked - nothing wrong with that…
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If OP’s kid is at a Main Line HS (or nearby), I would think Haverford would expect calculus.
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I’m just so grateful for this community! We have an info session for Rochester later today and I just came from a deep website dive and LOVED what I saw for my son and am super excited to learn more. This school was not on my radar at all, and wouldn’t have been if it wasn’t for this thread. We also really like the look of Vassar and will be visiting that soon as well!
Thank you everyone 
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I think Rochester is under-rated – very strong faculty in a number of fields. My sister went there back in the dark ages and had a very good experience. I strongly suggested it for my daughter, though she went in another direction. One of my son’s business school classmates had a very good experience there as well.
Have you thought about Carnegie-Mellon? Very good in engineering, some sciences, economics and probably other social sciences, and has a very good theater department. I don’t know if it is too hard to get in – the chancing is for others to do.
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Rochester was suggested by S24’s college counselor, and it ended up one of my biggest “up” visits. I had not been there before and I really liked everything about it–the campus, the kids, the curriculum, the focus on student research in every department and not just STEM–all very cool to me.
So, I totally agree, it checks so many of the boxes various people are looking for, and a lot of people seem to love it when they actually do go.
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Ugggg, I get this, it looks like he’s taking stat because it’s easier while it’s actually that he just wishes he had room for both (he’d let go of english if he could LOL). I get it though, not only would it strengthen his app for these schools, but also better prepare him for coursework once he’s there and he’ll have to take stat anyway. So little time, so many fascinating courses!
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