I am going to do something different today. Rather than discuss some aspect of the college admissions process I want to ask you what questions you have about the college admissions process. What do you want more information about? What don’t you understand?
I will try to answer any questions you may have with a few exceptions. I don’t answer questions about what someone’s chances are at a particular college. I can’t answer questions about what is the appropriate colleges for your needs. Otherwise, let me hear from you.
You can just comment on this post or if you wish to remain private, just drop me an email.
I will answer questions some time in the next few weeks.
You can trust us to help you find the best college for your needs. We offer a FREE 1/2 hour consultation to discuss your needs for college admissions counseling. Give us a call now at 888-970-BSMD(2763) or drop us an email.
We are parents who failed to plan for our child’s 11th and 12th grade curriculum in the 8th grade.
Our son attends a Catholic High School and is a sophomore. The school requires a full-credit course in Christian Doctrine every year, 1 year of Art, which he has not taken yet, and a fixed course load. Currently, he is taking Latin and Spanish for the second year – the second language was his choice.
In short, there is no way he can replicate the appearance of rigor his public school peers have the flexibility to create. He will need to make choices between the years of math, science, and language he completes, the number of languages, and the number and type of AP classes he takes.
For a student without medical school or engineering ambitions and a test/gpa profile below the Ivies, but solidly in the next tier, how do you prioritize without doing harm? We are leaning toward two years of science (chemistry and physics) to provide flexibility, but uncertain.
Are Catholic High School Students at a disadvantage in this world of course padding?
Your thoughts are appreciated, thank you.
Tom,
The good news here is that colleges are aware that different high schools have different requirements and it is often difficult to have the ideal curriculum. At the very least I would shoot for 4 years of English. The ability to communicate is important for all jobs. After that I would aim for at least 3 years of math and 3 years of social. Two years of science might be alright assuming he is not a science kid. Colleges do take the interests of the student into account. Normally 2 years of a single foreign language would be a minimum but since he is already doubling up on foreign languages I assume this is something he likes.
I wouldn’t say kids at parochial schools are necessarily at a disadvantage but having a take a religion course each year does reduce the available options.