<p>I’m wondering from what perspective the rigor of a student’s schedule is viewed. </p>
<p>I understand that top colleges want to see the most rigorous schedule that one’s school offers. But let’s say student A at a small school takes 4-5 APs by the time he graduates out of the 5-6 his school offers, and student B at a larger school takes 13 out of the 20 or so APs offered. </p>
<p>Now both students have essentially taken the toughest courseload offered to him or her, but obviously there is a discrepancy when you directly compare the two. </p>
<p>Will colleges simply say “both students took the toughest courseload” and view them in equal regard? That seems unfair for student B, who had to work a lot harder to maintain his good GPA vs student A. </p>
<p>Or will they say “both students took the toughest courseload, but student B obviously was able to deal with a tougher one than A, so we’ll give student A the nod”.</p>
<p>“Will colleges simply say “both students took the toughest courseload” and view them in equal regard?”
Pretty much yes. Also, keep in mind that applicants are evaluated in the context of their academic environment.</p>
<p>But it is a lot easier to dedicate time to ECs and maintain a 4.0 when you only have a few APs compared to having your schedule stacked with APs. Shouldn’t the student who had an overall more rigorous courseload get some sort of acknowledgement that he dealt with more?</p>
<p>In principle both students took the most rigorous curriculum offered at their school, and assuming they did equally well on the courses they took they are to some extent “equal”. But life isn’t always that simple. The student at the larger school had more options and more ways to showcase his talent. This may have been through an extraordinary paper for one of his classes, or through an exceptional reference from one of his teachers in an advanced class.</p>
<p>So the larger school (or in the case of strong private academic schools) offers more options to excel. And the student who takes advantage of those options may indeed demonstrate a unique area of excellence. That’s less the case in the smaller school. But even there, an inquisitive student through independent study, summer courses, etc. may also find a unique opportunity to excel and become a stronger candidate than one who does well primarily grade wise.</p>
<p>It also depends on what kind of school you’re shooting for. If you’re trying to get into Harvard or Stanford, then you better believe that they’ll reject you if you went to Podunk High, even if you took the most rigorous curriculum available to you. They simply have too many applicants who went to name brand high schools schools for a Podunk grad to be a serious contender.</p>
<p>On the other hand, most state schools and second tier schools take context more into account. Honestly, there’s not much of a different either way for most schools.</p>