Managing student workload to Ivy AI

MrLuckyNJ
Mon, 16 Jul 2018 15:30:36 +0000

situation: my son is targeting Ivy for football. I believe he has a good chance of being recruited if his AI puts him in highest band; below that I can see his chances diminishing as his height is not ideal for his position.

He has been taking rigorous schedule first 2 years - 4 honors each year. For upcoming Junior year he will be taking Calc BC, AP Physics plus 2 more honors. He plans to be an engineering major. In researching A.I. we’ve discovered it utilizes unweighted GPA. leading to my question:

Is there a counter-argument to backing off on rigor of classes for a student in his situation going into Junior year? I have read on a few threads that a C on your transcript can be a deal breaker at some Ivies unless you are a top athlete in recruiting class.

My logic tells me to let him drop honors English to avoid a notoriously hard grader, and help him perform a little better in his sports (he would regularly operate on 6 to 6.5 hours of sleep a night last year which is not healthy or sustainable imho). But, it does go against everything we have been doing as parents and frankly just feels wrong to tell a driven, high-performing student it is OK to back off on rigor. My argument is that we didn’t make the rules and at this point in his high school career getting on an Ivy coach’s list increases his chances of getting in by order of magnitude over the general applicant population.

Any perspectives greatly appreciated