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RMmom
Member
| Joined: | Fri Oct 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | California USA |
| Posts: | 46 |
| Mana: |  |
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Posted: Sun Oct 21st, 2007 05:03 pm |
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All,
My D is a sophomore in HS and an excellent athlete. She is doing well in college prep classes in addition to participating on 2 varsity teams and a club team. She is also very involved with our Church and does a lot of community service.
She has expressed interest in attending a UC school. Some of her teachers have suggested that she take more honors or AP courses if she wants to get into a UC. The problem is that in order to be successful in honors or AP courses she would have to give up some of her other activities.
In her mind, sports are number 1. Running is what keeps her sane and I could never ask her to give that up. She has the potential for an athletic scholarship, but we are not counting on it. She has been told by some coaches (including a head coach at UCLA), that if she approaches the college coaches and offers to walk on without a scholarship, they can help her get into the school.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has experience with this aspect of the college admissions process. I don't want to lead her down the wrong path.
thanks
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lfm
Member
| Joined: | Sat Jul 28th, 2007 |
| Location: | California USA |
| Posts: | 110 |
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Posted: Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 01:36 am |
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A better school will have harder classes and higher expectations. The reason these schools want to see the harder courses on the transcripts is to prove that the child is capable. When your d goes to college will she remain focused on her extra curriculars?
Last year, when my s was a junior, I really loaded up his schedule (we homeschool). He needed to prove to the schools, his parents and himself that he could handle the load at a top school. It took a couple of weeks for him to figure it out, but he did, and had an excellent year.
Laura
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CarolynLawrence
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 3216 |
| Mana: |   |
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Posted: Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 02:06 am |
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One thing to keep in mind is that athletic injuries can unexpectedly change those promises from college coaches. And, each coach typically only has a few "slots" that they can pull strings with in admissions each year, so much depends on where your daughter might fall in the desirability pool as a walk-on. Coaches have told me that it's much easier to convince admissions to take a student if the student is already in the running academically.
The challenge of a student's curriculum is the first thing colleges will consider. While there are plenty of colleges that will take students who haven't taken AP and honors courses, many schools, including the UC's, receive so many applications from students who HAVE challenged themselves, that it can be difficult to stand out in the admissions pool if you are the applicant who hasn't. Again, athletics might overcome this to an extent, but what if you daughter is injured, her interests change, or she decides she doesn't want to be play in college? A lot can change between sophomore year and senior year, and I would lean towards keeping as many options open as possible, just in case. That doesn't necessarily mean loading her up with all AP courses, but rather focusing of building in gradual increases in challege in the areas where her academic strengths lie.
Another question is this: What does your daughter want to do? I wouldn't necessarily push a kid who is dead set against more academic challenge into it against their will, but, by the same token, kids are often more able and willing to take on greater challenge than parents might believe. So, my advice would be to talk with your daughter and have her talk with her school counselor, teachers, and high school coach. Then let her weigh the decision of where her priorities lie.
Last edited on Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 02:13 am by CarolynLawrence
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RMmom
Member
| Joined: | Fri Oct 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | California USA |
| Posts: | 46 |
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Posted: Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 01:54 pm |
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She says she wants to take on the more challenging courses, but when she has, she has not been overly successful. She is certainly intelligent enough, but not really willing to apply herself. She is currently taking an Honors history/MUN course. While she is capable of doing the work, my husband and I must be constantly reminding her to stay on task and get things done ahead of time.
My biggest fear with her taking honors classes is that other areas of her life where is very successful will suffer. She has never been a terribly self confident kid. Whenever she has struggled in school it has effected everything else in her life. The only thing that has ever given her confidence is sports.
I appreciate the guidance. Unfortunately, in a school with 4000 kids, the guidance councelors are not readily available.
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WestrnMom
Super Moderator
| Joined: | Fri May 26th, 2006 |
| Location: | West Coast, USA |
| Posts: | 1173 |
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Posted: Mon Oct 22nd, 2007 03:59 pm |
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If her grades will suffer, I'd suggest taking a challenging courseload but not the AP versions of the classes and sticking with her sports, knowing in advance she might not get into the most competitive schools. Those schools look for students who can handle all challenges well, including the coursework. They are highly competitive. There are UCs that are not as competitive. If she is willing to forgo UCLA, Cal, and UCSD, and focus on the less competitive UCs, then she should do what she loves in high school. Another solution is to have her take those honors/AP courses and plan to hire tutors for each of them.
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