I have been told colleges look heavily at your junior year courses. I’ve been trying to determine whether my junior year course selection will be considered enough “course rigor” for top colleges? We have 7 class periods at our school. I’ll be taking:
APUSH
AP Calculus AB
AP Engl lit
AP Physics
Orchestra
Debate
Applied Music
I personally think this is a big enough load but I can always switch out my applied music class for something more “rigorous” if I need to. Don’t really want to though. I don’t want to stress out too much. Life’s short. Seriously. And I enjoy music. But will adcoms think I should’ve taken something tougher?
Course rigor is not only about what courses you take, but how it stacks up against what is typical in your current school. Your guidance counselor will check a box about your course rigor that will go with their report to colleges. IMO, the person to ask your question is your own GC.
Where is your foreign language class?
I would be very surprised if a Junior year schedule with four core AP courses isn’t considered rigorous by anyone.
Sure, people may add one or two elective/easy APs, but I don’t think many admissions folks are impressed by those.
I have the same question about a foreign language. Have you already taken three, preferably four, years/levels of a language. Four AP is more than enough for most schools. At the elite schools where it will be typical of an applicant, they will be looking for three or four years.
I will be finishing off my foreign language at a college. Therefore, my schedule would include the four core classes as AP’s, orchestra (I excel here and love my instrument…concertmaster), debate, and either Applied Music or AP Computer Principles. The extra AP would take up more time but wouldn’t necessarily be too hard. Is it worth it? To be honest, I’m getting pretty tired of playing this ridiculous game of trying to impress elite schools at the expense of my sanity and yet I am just competitive enough, in nature, to have a hard time resisting the urge. I’m sure many of you understand. Decisions, decisions…
PS, I quit asking my counselor questions last year. She’s new and doesn’t know the answers to anything and that’s why I am here. It’s frustrating. Thanks for helping me because I’m basically on my own.
So don’t. There is no rule that says that all high achieving students need to apply to elite schools. It’s a choice. The majority of students at my D’s HS, chased merit money and less competitive programs. They are all getting a great education.
What does this mean? What level of FL have you reached? Many schools want to see 3 -4 years of FL in HS.
I mean at my local community college as a dual program.