Let me explain why we don't have ideas about the ideal program in mind.
First of all, Virginia high schools have a lot of curricular diversity, as do the rest of the schools in this country. There seem to be roughly six types of advanced programs out there: Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Cambridge (AICE), Dual Enrollment, and then there are schools that combine two or more of those programs and schools that don't use them at all. Obviously, when it comes to the IB schools, you're either going for the full diploma or you aren't (we think you should for for gold, but understand that there are sometimes reasons students can't do that). With the other programs, the options vary from school to school. One school may be able to offer over 20 AP courses and another may offer five. One school may have such a tight collaboration with a Community College that they are able to offer dozens of Dual Enrollment courses, while others can only offer a handful.
We can't have a preferred number of advanced courses. It wouldn't be fair. If you attend a school with multiple options (IBs and APs, for example), we will adopt the philosophy of your school when it comes to determining what is the best possible program. Some high school have a definite hierarchy (which is evident in the profile they send us) and others consider all of their advanced programs to be at the same level.
We will look at the program you have chosen in reference to what was offered at your school. We wouldn't penalize a student who was only offered 5 AP courses at their school. We would look at the program they put together in light of their limited options. Ideally, as you've been able to make choices about your program, you will have worked in those advanced courses so that by senior year, you are close to college level work. You want to show your schools that you are ready for the next step; that the transition to college isn't going to rock your academic world in a bad way.
As with GPAs, resist the urge to compare your program to the program of a student from another school. We aren't comparing apples to oranges and neither should you.
If you're a junior or sophomore reading this, this is a time to think about balance. You want to decide how many of these top courses you can handle while still maintaining good grades. Don't sign up for every top class you can fit into your schedule if that means you'll be struggling and Cs. Similarly, don't shy away from challenges just to have all As. Obviously, it's nice to see all As in top courses, but we would rather see you sacrifice that A and get a challenging course into your program over taking the path of least resistance.
It's all about balance!
12 comments:
Ha, lovely picture!
Awesome shot!! I think you should enter this in a photo contest - it's great!!
lol "lease resistance"
Will it affect my application if I did not take as many AP class that my school had to offer, I could have taken more but I did not want to lose my life for school I mean fun has to come into play at sometime. Also, does work experiance help an application, or possibly show understanding for why I did not take on more AP classes: because if I did not work there would be no way I could afford college even with loans and scholarships.
Awww, that's such a great photo!
This photo says it all!
I agree with UVA is my dream. While a student should be challenged, high school is a time to grow in many ways only one of which is academics. Students involved in sports and other school activities should not be penalized in the admissions process because they did not take every honors or AP class offered. High school is an extension of childhood with real life and the stress it brings right around the corner.
To those talking about how you should be able to have fun in high school, this is just my opinion: I basically had no life in high school (granted, I've moved every 1-2 years because I'm an army brat so it's not like I had life-long friends) but I chose to dedicate myself entirely to academics and extra-curriculars and volunteering. That's right, I chose to do that. My reasoning was this: college fun is a whole lot MORE fun than high school fun. I delayed having as much fun in high school so I was sure to be able to get into UVa--my dream school. And to me it was entirely worth it now that I'm here. I. Love. UVA. I have tons of fun now and I'm still able to maintain a 3.84 gpa because you have a lot more time in college than you ever did in high school--you're just in classes for a lot less time each day.
Speaking of extra-curriculars, I sort of included them in the "get-in-to-college" package, because they are important. I think that Dean J has talked before though about how academics take first place and that tons of ec's cant make up for mediocre academics.
Anyway, looking back I realize that maybe I didn't need to take it quite so far, I probably could have had a life, but even so I still don't regret a single minute of it, whereas if I hadn't played on the safe side and I did choose to let my academics or ec's or volunteering slide to hang with my friends and I didn't end up at UVA I probably would have regretted it for the rest of my life. But that's just me, and you could have a totally different viewpoint about the whole situation.
As for work experience I'm sure it probably helps round out your app. But know that there are people here who have managed to make work/ec's/academics all balance, like my friend now worked 30 hours a week, played varsity basketball and maintained a high GPA with a hard course-load. That's not to say that everyone has to be able to do that, obviously. But know that just because you can't handle all of it at once or choose not to handle all of it at once, that doesn't mean that someone else isn't doing the exact same thing and doing it better. That's definitely a lesson I had to learn and it's not an easy one.
Um, I sort of rambled on forever and ever about all this. Sorry, just trying to put my two cents in.
Good work Dean J, we all think you're fabulous :D
And amazing shot of CavDog as well! Seems he's got balance all under control! :)
FirstYearHoo,
Thanks for writing tis, though its long, its worth reading.
Question - the mid year grade report and secondary school report forms are exactly the same. If I know my counselor is just going to send another copy of the report she did months ago, then should I just send my new transcipt without the report?
I am from a school that is not eligible to nominate for the Jefferson Scholar program and was hoping (as was my guidance counselor) that just maybe I would get picked out of the general applicant pool. I have not heard and assume that means I did not get my long shot. Can you confirm the process has moved along and all eligible candidates have been selected, so I can stop wondering?
I'm not sure how to answer questions that seem to be about balance...I talked about balance in the post.
Our current student is right, though, in saying that activities don't make up for academics. Each component of your application is a separate piece of the puzzle. The pieces don't overshadow each other.
Andre, we are most concerned with getting the mid-year grades. The Common App form is not a "must have". There are plenty of schools that just send a stack of mid-year grade reports without that form. We're fine with that.
Anon, I believe at large candidates have been notified.
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