<p>I totally understand that. I know for a fact that schools like Yale will take that into consideration. MIT is not what I was talking about when I said “holistic”. Since you don’t have to declare your major before you get into Yale or most of the Ivy League, that really is not an issue. Again, it is the most rigorous courseload your school offers. I know for a fact in my D’s freshman class there are kids who came from schools that had very little going for them academically. However, there must have been something in the student to make Yale want to take a chance on them. There are plenty of supports for kids like this that will allow them to make up for whatever was lacking in their high school.</p>
<p>And, all high schools are not created equal. So if you believe that someone taking Physics at a particular high school is automatically on par with someone taking it at a rigorous college prep high school, you are mistaken. They too are going to be at a disadvantage going in.</p>