<p>Do you think that colleges would look down upon my taking orchestra all four years of high school, which is general level opposed to the maximun level of AP courses? I am not taking orchestra for an easy A, but because I really enjoy it. I am currently a junior and have been taking orchestra since my freshman year. In order to participate, I had to take both chamber orchestra and concert orchestra. However, orchestra is a general level class in my school and thus my class rank has gone down because of this. Otherwise, I have been taking all honors classes and maintaining high A's in all my classes. Only 2 AP classes were offered to juniors this year. Because of orchestra, I could not take AP Statistics, but I am currently taking AP US History. Next year, I plan to take AP English Comp. and Lit., AP French, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, AP European History, and AP Bio and I want to self-study for AP Psych. and AP Env. Sci and possibly take orchestra again. My question being, will top-tier colleges look down upon my choice to stay in orchestra even though I work very hard in all of my studies? I am in the top 20 of my class which has 500 students, yet my counselor seems to look down on those not taking all honors/AP courses. I'd really appreciate some feedback. Thanks.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about a thing! Even a few APs is impressive!</p>
<p>They won’t. Orchestra/knowledge of musical instruments is considered worthwhile.</p>
<p>My daughter, jr also, has had similar concerns, but her general level class is photography. She will graduate with 4 general credits and 1 AP credit in photography. This has hurt her weighted gpa and class rank, but she loves photography and has won awards for her work. I believe that showing a passion for something other than academics is a plus. Colleges want well rounded students, not just students who have done nothing but study and pad their resume with various ECs that they have no real connection to. I applaud you for sticking with something that you love. And I think your guidance counselor is misguided if he/she looks down on you for your decision. Best of luck to you. One day I hope to be reading about how excited you are for getting accepted to your top choice school!</p>