Application Review: Strength of Curriculum

Hi everyone!

As Katie mentioned, this post begins a series of entries designed to give you a more in depth understanding of what we consider the most important parts of the application. First, I am going to focus on what is the number 1 most important part of our decision: the strength of your curriculum.

Notice I didn't say GPA or Rank in Class...No, it is the depth and overall strength of your curriculum that is given the most weight in our decision-making process. I want to give you all a visual to explain why the curriculum wins out vs. GPA.

Let's say you only had GPA to go by and you saw applicant #1 had a 3.67 vs. applicant #2 who had a 3.45...Would you automatically assume the #1 is the far superior candidate? Well it isn't that simple...

Look at this example below:

Applicant #1

Class #1 CP Statistics A-
Class #2 CP English 12 A
Class #3 CP Anatomy and Phys. A-
Class #4 H World History B+
Class #5 Drawing and Painting B+
Class #6 Intro to Business A

Overall GPA= 3.67

Class #1 AP Calculus B
Class #2 H English 12 B+
Class #3 H Physics B+
Class #4 AP US History A-
Class #5 H Spanish V A-
Class #6 CP Psychology A-



Overall GPA= 3.45


Now as you begin to evaluate the transcript you get a clearer picture.

So let's dig further:

Applicant #1 is taking 3 college prep level courses in Math, English, and Science. #1 is also taking an Honors level History class and two electives in Business and Art. #1 has taken mostly College Prep level courses with one Honors course and a few electives sprinkled in.

Applicant #2 is taking 3 Honors level courses in English, Science and a Foreign Language. #2 is also taking 2 AP courses in Math and Science. #2 is also taking a 1 College Prep level course in Psychology. #2 is taking mostly Honors courses with a few AP classes mixed in. #2 has also taken a fourth year of a foreign language instead of filling that slot with an elective.

Now which student do you think is a stronger candidate?

Keep in mind that this is an incomplete example because it is only showing one year of work. When we evaluate a curriculum for Admissions purposes, we look over the course of all four years and track the progression.

For example, let's take 2 students that are interested in Business.

Here is student #1 and his Math curriculum over four years
9th: Algebra 1
10th: Geometry
11th: Algebra 2
12th: Statistics

Now here is Student #2:
9th: Geometry
10th: Algebra II
11th: Pre Calculus
12th: Calculus

By evaluating these two progressions I would look more favorably on Student #2 because the depth of their math background is more in line with that of successful Business student's here.

The important thing to remember is that every student is different and therefore we do a holistic review of the application. We choose to evaluate every individual to see what their path has been and ultimately make our decision based upon four years of academic work.

Next up: Katie will discuss how your involvement in and outside your school plays a role in our Admissions process!