I am currently a sophomore taking a study hall for possibly the entire year and I would like to know if it will affect college admissions chances. During the class period in which I have the study hall there are no honors courses available or electives that I am interested in. I am taking the hardest course load of any sophomore in my school (besides the study hall) and would like to know if it would be looked down upon by Ivy League caliber schools, specifically Yale, Cornell, Uchicago, and Duke (I am aware that duke and uchicago aren’t Ivy League). I would appreciate your opinions.
Don’t worry about this.
Noooo!!! Of course not!!
I have the feeling that course rigor really only applies to your 5 core subjects, and any APs (or electives) beyond that don’t really affect admission. It’s difficult to quantify the difference between someone who has taken AP Env Sci or not, because it’s such an easy class.
Colleges are not likely to even see on a transcript that you have a study hall, and if they do they won’t care.
If you have five academic courses that are honors (if possible) in English, math, science, soc sci, and foreign language, you are doing all you need to. If you have room for a sixth academic course while still getting in needed electives (gym, health, etc.), that could be good, but is not essential. Anything else is not at all necessary.
Our local private school makes every student have at least one free period.