A lot of these 'average' kids who go to 'average' colleges are the kids who excel in graduate school. How you apply to colleges and what skills you bring to the application process are critical, Woodall said. Only colleges specializing in a specific curriculum want to see a great deal of course work outside core subjects. They want to see the four years of English, three or four years of history, three or four years of science and the three or four years of math. The level of the course work is more important than the grade achieved in an individual class, Woodall added.
Colleges look at whether a student took an advanced placement or honors class.
Even if a student didn't make an A in such classes, colleges will take into account the academic level at which the student performed. Woodall said students shouldn't take an advanced placement class with the goal of skipping that subject in college. The reason children should take AP is that it's a good preparation for college. I had situations where my child could have opted out of a course. I opted for him to go on and take it at the college level.