<p>One problem that a friend of mine came across as her kid is undergoing the transfer from CC to a 4 year college process. One school told her that they had a drop-dead, non-negotiable GPA requirement of 3.65 in CC classes. Her son had a 3.60. He took 2 calculus classes, a physics class and a chemistry class–a really tough CC curriculum. </p>
<p>You really have to know the nitty gritty when it comes to colleges. Had he known the 3.65 was non-negotiable, he would have taken some easier classes to make sure his GPA stayed above the line.</p>
<p>Bottom line: your kid should take what classes he wants to take and do the best in them as he can. But be aware that there could be a time when it makes great sense to protect your GPA.</p>
<p>At our D’s LAC, GPA+SAT+ACT+rank together count for no more than 20% of admission criteria. The rest is based on courses taken, interview, recommendations, essays and ECs. I suspect this is typical. State schools will weight a bit more toward the numbers.</p>
<p>vossron, what LAC is this? I know that LACs do take a more holistic approach to admissions than large publics (where sheer volume of applicants forces them to use numbers for an initial cutoff), but combining all the numbers for only 20% of the decision? I can see stats being 50% the decision-making process, but are you sure about 20%?</p>
<p>I would advise people to just let this one go. It’s annoying that people game the system but they are going to do it to the degree they can in all walks of life & you will find it everywhere.</p>
<p>You can’t control other people’s behavior only yours. Slimeyness abounds any time there is competition. Take the high road and be proud of your kids slime free achievements!</p>
<p>Oh and we have had students self study for AP tests in our school. It’s common in small schools with limited AP offerings. It’s possible that the Independent Study AP is in fact on the up and up.</p>
<p>I agree with hmom5 that selective colleges care about rank, but that doesn’t mean that they care about the difference between #1 and #3 or #4 just because a particular school says that this kid is ranked #1 and that one #4. Apart from situations like that in Texas, where valedictorians get special treatment and the top 10% is an absolute line, from a college admissions standpoint I do not believe that there is any reason to get agitated about something that could cost your 4.0 UW kid with many APs a couple of local ranking spots. In my experience, at least, it is normal and unsurprising for a college to take a more thoughtful, more adventuresome, or more accomplished lower-ranked student (but not way lower-ranked) over a higher-ranked classmate. Especially with better test scores.</p>
<p>There’s a million reasons out there for parents to look at other kids and think they are gaming or have an unfair advantage. For every parent thinking like the OP that the system is gamed, there is one who thinks that the ability to play sports is valued too highly. The list goes on from there.</p>
<p>I saw the effects of this in my kid’s class. The lower-ranked kids with more rigorous schedules/ECs beat the higher-ranked kids in terms of admissions to the most elite colleges, unless those kids had some other major hook. The only place it hurt was for scholarships that were strictly based on rank.</p>
<p>Quote: “Apart from situations like that in Texas, where valedictorians get special treatment and the top 10% is an absolute line, from a college admissions standpoint I do not believe that there is any reason to get agitated about something that could cost your 4.0 UW kid with many APs a couple of local ranking spots.”</p>
<p>hmom5,
How do you do that quote thing where the editor puts the quote in the “box”? I just don’t seem to posess the requisite skill, and couldn’t figure out the solution.</p>
<p>FAP - And another kid somewhere, with the same amazing math talent as your S, can’t afford JHU-CTY courses. I get their brochures every year (took the SAT for CTY in 8th grade), and my middle-class parents certainly aren’t willing to pay for them. Nor can we afford courses at the local flagship U, and the CC has very poor liberal arts offerings (local U has an AA transfer program, but tuition is set at the U level). </p>
<p>I think my high school’s policy, including outside courses on the transcript but not calculated into the GPA at all, is fair.</p>
<p>I took AP Independent Study 20+ years ago, since I had maxed out on the French offered by my school as a junior. I did independent study of French literature, reading and writing Moliere, Corneille and others, and I assure you it was as rigorous as any AP French Lit course that could have been offered. </p>
<p>The idea of showing up at the school board “front and center” to object to some other kid doing something is really obnoxious, and I would be scornful of a parent doing so for the sole purpose of “showing up” some other family. It’s not a lesson I would want to teach my kids. Worry about yourself and don’t spend one minute’s worth of time worrying about what others are doing.</p>
<p>I think that the ability to play sports IS valued too highly, but that doesn’t mean that someone who plays sports is “gaming the system” or doing something unethical and that I should strive to show them up somehow.</p>
<p>Well, that’s a problem at a broader level, certainly … but think of this way. If UT is indeed filled with kids who got 4.0’s from never having taken an honors / weighted course, and all the kids who stretched themselves and took a chance on honors / weighted courses didn’t make the 10% cut and went elsewhere, then why would anybody want to go to UT in the first place? Think of it as a blessing that gets you out and away from that mentality.</p>
<p>“vossron, what LAC is this? I know that LACs do take a more holistic approach to admissions than large publics (where sheer volume of applicants forces them to use numbers for an initial cutoff), but combining all the numbers for only 20% of the decision? I can see stats being 50% the decision-making process, but are you sure about 20%?”</p>
<p>When I said “I suspect this is typical” I meant at LACs. Maybe I should mean at holistic LACs. Maybe it’s not typical, and I only hope it is! :)</p>
<p>Brackettallens, you’re in a difficult position. We were in a similar position a few years ago. My S chose AP over less challenging dual credit classes and watched many classmates skate through the dual credit offerings and get higher grades and higher ranks. However, his standardized test scores blew them all out of the water. With such a small class size at your kid’s school, I’m sure very small differences can get a kid in or out of the top 10% which probably only has 5 or 6 kids. If your kid does not want to go to UT, then I think you really should not worry about it. Trust that most colleges will recognize that he truly took the most challenging courses available at his school and excelled at them even if his rank is “low.” If he wants to go to UT, then you have to decide if you’re going to play the game and possibly get him a lower quality education so he can go to UT. In doing so, however, you may be decreasing his chances at other schools.</p>