I will be starting high school next year and I was wondering if I should take honors algebra 1, honors biology, honors English and honors history. My mom thinks I should only take honors algebra and honors biology freshman year because I will be attending a new school district and already be going through transitioning from middle school to high school. I also will be attending a STEM highschool, one of the best in my state so it will be a big step up from my public school. I want to get into a school like Stanford or Princeton, would this ruin my chances if I only take two honors classes freshman year? I’m a straight A student.
Schools like Stanford and Princeton like to see that you have take the most the most demanding schedule you can handle. When you apply to colleges, your guidance counselor is asked to rank you courseload from most demanding on down. You want them to be able to check the hardest schedule box. Also, if your HS weights Honors classes higher, your weighted gpa will be boosted by having more honors classes. Stanford only accepted 4.8% of their applicants last year so if you can’t handle an all honors schedule and do well, you probably should be setting your sights a little lower. Good luck!
But Stanford doesn’t look at freshmen year? Besides I’ll take 4 honors next year and 4 APs junior year and senior year.
You should not make a schedule based upon how Stanford, or their peers, will view a transcript. With a 4.8% acceptance rate, the odds are that you will not be going to Stanford, so don’t use them as a benchmark. As mentioned above, take the hardest course load that you can handle.