Today Mrs Loukydad and I went with DS to his interview day at Louisville for their GEMS (guaranteed entrance to Med school) program. About four hours including luncheon and Med school tour. 21 finalists invited and I think 19 showed (others presumably deciding to attend other schools). They will be accepting 10 into the program, so the odds from here aren’t too bad, especially since there were many there like DS still considering other schools. Still stiff competition though. 34.2 average ACT score for the 21 finalists.
Fortunately or unfortunately I think the impact on DS is that U of L is still a contender if he were to be chosen for GEMS. Will make his decision harder than it was looking to be between U of K and U of L. Just when I was pretty sure it was over. You guys probably think I am crazy since we have been back and forth so much, but it seems like they keep taking turns showing him the love!
@LOUKYDAD those are great odds for GEMS. It sure would be hard to pass up guaranteed admission to med school. Things will fall into place and either school will be a great choice for him.
@shelleee DS has done AP classes in Math and Science and Dual Enrollment for English and Social Studies (junior/senior year only). He did not know if he would stay in-state or go out of state so he balanced it out. Our GC recommends DE or a combination of both for students staying in-state public school and AP for private or OOS as AP credits are more likely to be accepted (if you do well on AP tests).
My friend is a professor at the University of WA. He says at least 1/3 of the freshmen each year shouldnot be there. They are highly unpreparred. He says our school is One of the few that the kids are consistently prepared, if not over prepared. We are a small private school. Most of our classes are honors or AP and there is a huge difference between honors and AP according to my daughter.
@shelleee My daughter went the route of DE/CCP both from the high school and nearby college. She checked with her college of choice and worked her senior schedule around courses that would transfer for general education requirements. As a current college sophomore, she is taking junior level courses and is on track to graduate early if she chooses. She didn’t want the stress of AP tests and it has worked out well for her.
My son OTOH is going the AP track and will have nine when he graduates this year along with some DE/CCP at the high school. He feels AP is harder, but can depend on the teacher. His top three college choices all handle AP/DE/CCP differently. It ranges where one will accept all three to cover some requirements while another won’t accept any to cover requirements, even with scores of 4’s and 5’s.
As you can tell, two kids and two different paths. We did a lot of research ahead of time. After discussions around options and what they could mean, they chose their senior schedule similar to what you did. And it sounds like you know your kids. If DS21 and DD28 aren’t strong test takers or would enjoy school with less pressure like my daughter, we found the DE/CCP worked out well. She is at a private school, but as another poster said, YMMV.
@RoonilWazlib99 we are also still waiting for VT (and Clemson) but going on the assumption he’ll get into both based on our Naviance. His GPA and SAT are well into the green for both. Hopefully we’re not going to be shocked.
@chb088 - I am worried we will be in for a rude shock.
S18 applied for the Davenport through the Engineering Department and was informed that they took the top 15% of applicants through to the next round (they determined the top 15% by looking at the students’ academics, leadership, and service). He was not offered a space as a semifinalist. He is soon to be a National Merit Finalist, has a 3.95uw GPA in a full IB program, has a 1550 on the SAT and a 35 on the ACT (with 36 in English and Reading and a 35 in Math), is an Eagle Scout, has several hundred hours of community service, helped start a club sophomore year related to his career interest and is now serving as President, was selected as his school’s DAR Good Citizen winner in a class of over 600 students, is captain of his varsity sports team, and more. If that isn’t in the top 15% of applicants for that one scholarship, I’m not sure how he is going to fare in the admissions decisions overall.
Our DE classes are almost $700 for the year and are offered at the local CC. So my kids have taken AP exclusively, although I told them I would pay for DE English, as that teacher is wonderful. College advisors I spoke with indicated that AP courses with 5s on the test were much stronger when applying to competitive schools. YMMV, I suspect classes through a well-known institution would also show sufficient rigor, but that was not an option for us.
On level courses are not college prep at our HS. Most students wanting to attend four year schools take honors and then AP English and history. A bit of complaining about dilution by the top students but they still get 4s and 5s. I dislike our curriculum in Texas but have few complaints about the teachers in the district, they truly love the students.
@RoonilWazlib99 ah yes Engineering. My S18 didn’t apply for Engineering. That is tough. Coincidentally, my son is also his school’s Good Citizen, out of 630+ kids! How cool. Sending positive thoughts for your kiddo!
DS has done a lot of AP (13) and just a few DE (3) classes. Generalizing but I have always thought that because the AP classes have a more standardized curriculum and uniform exam, they can carry more weight if the goal is to demonstrate rigor and ability to adcoms and scholarship committees. I know they are taught differently HS to HS and some teachers are more effective than others, so it is never quite fair, but still there is more ability to readily compare how much one student has mastered the content versus another. With DE class from different CCs in different cities it is much harder for an adcom to make that kind of comparison, so they may or may not discount a DE class vs an AP.
On the other hand, DE makes a lot of sense if the goal is just to knock out transferable credits that you know are gen ed requirements at the school you think you are likely to attend. Example last semester DS took a public speaking class that we know will transfer to both UK and U of L. This semester he is knocking out second semester English (score on AP English Language test covers the first semester). Last year he took an Intro to Humanties class. Three core requirements he won’t have to take. He is essentially done with all gen ed at both schools minus one or two classes. He can easily graduate in three years from either school if he decides to. If he doesn’t he will definitely have completed more than one major.
Plus in our case DS prefers and I prefer he doesn’t have to leave his HS campus.
Our HS only offers a few DE and they aren’t nearly as rigorous as AP. S18 took a few business classes that were level 2( still considered college prep) but they were MUCH easier than the AP/Honors courses he’s taken until now.
I am so upset. Been dealing with a serious surgery and hospitalization of my mom. (She is home and recovering now thankfully). Anyway all this stuff took a backseat and we just realized we missed the deadline for getting a form in to financial aid office at Smith. It was due Jan 25. This is one of D’s few schools that actually give merit scholarships and I feel like she stood a good chance for one. D is devastated, as am I.
Anyone think there is any chance they will accept it late?
Plan to call tomorrow
@swtaffy904 sorry to hear about you mom. I hope she is feeling better and on her way to healing. I agree with @ShrimpBurrito, call them. You have nothing to lose.
@swtaffy904 I’d certainly call. Sometimes life throws curves we cannot plan for. I’m glad mom is on the mend but I’d definately call and ask for an accommodation due to a true family emergency.
As to the FA document, I think they will accept it late. When I’ve asked about FA deadlines in the past, I was told that getting something in late may just delay when you will hear about FA, but that’s about it. January 25 was only a few weeks ago. I really don’t think it’s going to hurt you at all, nor should it have any impact on a merit award. Hang in there!
Based on our experiences, AP has proven to be more rigorous than DE. Core (non-AP) classes at our high school for the most part seem ridiculously easy for someone who is capable of AP/DE. My DD20 took Core World History and Core English II this year (because she hates those subjects and taking 5 AP classes her freshman year was too heavy a workload for her given her EC involvement. She easily has made 98-100 in those classes with little to no effort. She will be back to taking all AP/Honors/DE classes her junior year. Although she has liked having a couple blowoff classes, DH and I feel that she needs to be challenged. It’s almost like our school needs 3 levels, Core/Core Plus or Honors/AP as the Core gets watered down to the lowest student in the class. For DS18 he would never even consider taking a core class in high school. He couldn’t believe we let his sister talk us into letting her drop down this year. His words “that’s just lazy”. Yes, they are two different kids altogether. And turns out in this case, he was right!
I agree @S18D20mom that ideally there should be three tiers: on-level, honors, AP. Choosing all of your classes from the two extremes can be a difficult balancing act.