<p>I'll complete all AP courses at my school except for AP physics. I stand top 5% at my school and have good SAT score. I'm planning to take a free period a.k.a study hall instead of taking a ramdom class. Do you think it'll affect an application/admission? [I've acknowleged that admission includes many factors, i.e gpa, sat, extra-cur, etc.]</p>
<p>please give comments....many thanks!</p>
<p>Yale's FAQ page is pretty insistent about taking the most rigorous classes available. </p>
<p>At the same time, if you're in the top five, you're probably doing that. I mean, honestly, with this amount of information, all I can say is keep getting good grades in school and hope for the best.</p>
<p>i have two study halls out of seven periods, and i was accepted. granted, i literally didn't have any other classes i could've taken - unless i wanted to drop down a level - so there wasn't really a tougher courseload. it depends on what you could do instead and what you're already taking.</p>
<p>Way to have an awesome sn, : )</p>
<p>Yeah i was wondering this too! I'm gonna have pretty tough schedule next year and I can take another class..but I'll be really really busy. Kinda wanted to relax just a little bit senior year..especially w/ college apps and all. But if I just take an easier class, it's a total blowoff so I wanted to do teachers aid for one of my favorite teachers or something (like one that will probably do my recommendation and everything).</p>
<p>But that seems like I'm slacking off senior year and I'm not sure if they'll like that..</p>
<p>I've heard of a lot of people dropping one of their hardest classes after the first semester and taking study hall/teachers aid though..</p>
<p>As long as you take the most rigorous classes, it won't be a problem. </p>
<p>I've had a study hall ever semester of high school and I got in too, granted my school works on a 9 period schedule.</p>
<p>Take an art class.</p>
<p>Just keep in mind that colleges REQUIRE that you report any class you drop during senior year. Most people try to drop at the semester. Read the fine print.</p>
<p>Also, there was a student at our school last year that had two "late starts" allowing her to show up at 10 AM everyday. She got into Yale & Stanford. Almost all of the seniors have at least one late start.</p>
<p>I have a study hall, was accepted, but also had 5 APs.
You don't need to kill yourself, but keep it "rigorous."</p>
<p>I agree with lookingaround, I loveee my photography class. I'm taking Photo 2 and Acting 2 this semester. [Admissions-wise, I took Mentoring and Sociology (basically blowoffs) last semester with 5 APs and was accepted.] Art/performing arts classes are really fun and allow you to get in touch with your creative side in a way most classes don't. It's nice on a really stressful day to do an improv or go in the darkroom. Taking study hall would be good so you could do hw, but I think it's nice to have some fun electives.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure taking that extra period won't hurt since many seniors usually do it and they get to come to school a bit later or leave a bit earlier. I'm just suggesting an art class as a good way to fill up that extra time though. And you don't have to do an art class, but just any fun elective class. It's your senior year and I'm sure there's many of options for you to pick from. My art class senior year was a great way for me to just come in, relax and do some artwork while chatting with friends. The only homework we had was the occasional sketchbooks and looking back, I'm glad that I took that class instead of taking that period off. Photography's also a great class. Even drama. It might even look good on your application; the fact that instead of just taking all academic AP classes, you also took a 'creative' elective.</p>
<p>I agree with collegehopefull; a lot of top schools repeatedly state that one of the most important factors is that you're taking the most rigorous schedule available. If you have a free period when you could be taking a hard class, that probably doesn't look good. They're looking for students who can thrive in top-tier colleges, so you should prove that you can do well in whatever your high school offers, unless it's a really hard high school.</p>
<p>...but you never really know what affects admission, and I wouldn't recommend killing yourself senior year just to get into college. Not worth it.</p>