Free/TA Period?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Hi everyone. I am an Indian who wants to major in CS at a Top 20 school. Getting some stats out of the way, I have a weighted GPA of 4.45 as of the end of junior year (4.5 by the end of senior year) and an unweighted GPA of 3.95. I have taken 6 AP classes till now as well as 2 PLTW courses that give me college credit.

My schedule for senior year looks like this:

AP US Government and Politics
VHS AP Physics C
Calculus III: Multivariable (Free)
Digital Electronics
French 3
Engineering Design and Development
Free
Senior English Honors

I should point out the following:

  • VHS AP Physics C is through Virtual High School (online obviously) so I have no teacher to report to this period
  • Calculus III: Multivariable is a community college course that’s after school so I have a free period in school for it
  • Digital Electronics is an independent study with the teacher due to scheduling conflicts

I will be speaking to my guidance counselor about what to do with the free period, but I’m heavily leaning towards being a teacher aide for either Calculus AB or BC. I will be getting recommendation letters from both teachers, and I am also founding a Mu Alpha Theta chapter with the AB teacher. Further reasoning for why I need the free period is that I need to complete lab assignments for Physics C, and the only time the three VHS Physics C students (me included) have available is that period.

Furthermore, there aren’t many electives left for me to take, especially not during my free period. Any remaining electives are just low-hanging fruit like Photoshop that I’m not very interested in and would probably not be useful to my application.

Thanks for the feedback!

2

By the way, I should mention that before scheduling conflicts, I was going to take Band in place of one of the free periods.

3

I think you’re in great shape! I’m guessing your test scores are pretty high and the EC’s look good?

Resist the urge to fill your free periods, unless you have any unmet graduation requirements. You’ll want some time for college applications and to enjoy any possible perks of being a senior, such as open study and lunch off campus. If there is something you really want to take that doesn’t involve any homework, that would work too, but I think having the study time for Physics C is a better idea…

4

Yep! Decent long term ECs and some work experience, not to mention a project portfolio (CAD and some code) website that will be part of my MIT application probably. SAT superscore is a 1540 and I’ve taken Math 2 and Physics.

Perks of the two free periods are that I have them right after my lunch waves so I basically have an extended lunch.

5

Don’t fill that free period. Your schedule is demanding as is - well-balanced and reflecting your interests.