<p>Freshman Year: Religion, English 1, Honors Algebra 1, World Cultures, Spanish 1, Band, Health and PE</p>
<p>Sophomore Year: Scripture, Honors English II, Honors Geometry, European History, Bilogy, Spanish II, Honors Symphonic Band</p>
<p>GPA Cumulative is 3.90</p>
<p>Junior Year Planned Classes: Religion (required), AP English Language/Composition, Honors Algebra II & Trig, Spanish III, AP U.S. History, Chemistry</p>
<p>Question: Does this seem like a good plan for the junior year classes? If he doesn't get into the AP English class, will that really hurt his chances for college admissions? I am wondering if he should try to take AP Chemistry if the AP English class doesn't happen.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.</p>
<p>It will depend on what level of college he’s aiming at, as hmom says.</p>
<p>The weaknesses I see in his courses so far IF he is aiming at the most selective schools are a) he should presumably have been in honors geometry freshman year to be on track to take calculus senior year, b) I don’t see any science freshman year, c) it doesn’t look as if he will get to the AP level in a foreign language by senior year (usually the V level, but maybe it’s different at this school), d) it’s unclear whether an honors level was available in his history classes, and e)it’s too bad that he has to take religion every year instead of an academic solid, but if it’s required, it’s required. </p>
<p>If he wants to get into the most selective schools, he should take every class at the highest level available to him and he should complete the bio/chem/physics lab science series, have 4 years of foreign language, 4 years of math preferably ending in calculus. So I’d suggest that he take AP Chem, if available, in addition to AP English and AP USH. If he can take Algebra II over the summer and get into Honors Precalc junior year and take calc senior year, that would be great.</p>
<p>If that kind of courseload is unrealistic for him to undertake and maintain a good GPA (is the 3.9 unweighted?), the fact is that he will still have a solid academic background and a great GPA, and there are lots of great colleges where he will have an excellent chance of admission.</p>
<p>Something to consider also is his likely class rank and his likely board scores. And you need to know what he would have to take for the GC to check off the “most rigorous” box on the Common App.</p>
<p>hmom5 is bang on. What types of schools is he is wanting to attend? My daughter’s reach school is Princeton and probably Harvard and Dartmouth. Vandy and Rice are also on her list. Her schedule is as follows:</p>
<p>Freshman:</p>
<p>Honors English I, Honors Algebra II, Honors Biology, Honors Geography, Honors Spanish II, Honors Computer Science and Wind Symphony</p>
<p>Sophomore:</p>
<p>Honors English II, Honors Pre-Cal, Honors Chemistry, AP World History, Honors Spanish III, AP Computer Science and Wind Symphony</p>
<p>Junior Year Planned and Currently Scheduled (they did this last month)</p>
<p>AP English III, AP Cal AB, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP US History, AP Music Theory, Wind Symphony</p>
<p>Even with this schedule, she feels (I think it is plenty) that she is coming up short. Wind Symphony/Marching Band is a double blocked class so if she were to drop that, she would have room for two more AP classes. I have encouraged her to do what she loves (playing the flute) and let the chips fall where they may. Her current GPA 110.785 (at her school, “regular” classes have a max grade of 100, Honors classes are “weighted” with a 1.15 factor and AP classes are weighted with a 1.29 factor) She is ranked #3 in her class out of 600+ students so the band does not seem to be “hurting” her. But with that said she would freak completely out if she scored under a 95 on anything…lol.</p>
<p>So…I guess my point is that is all relative to what your son’s goal are.</p>
<p>One semester into your daughter’s soph. year she has decided on “reach” schools? More importantly, has she set up a PAC for her senate campaign in 2030? Ha! Just kidding. Prior planning prevents poor performance</p>
<p>haha Frost…she is type A to the core…have no idea where she gets it from…lol. Anyway, I personally feel that kids think about college way too late. If you decided you want to go to HYP in your Junior year, your course has already been set. You are either make a 4.0 and prepping for the SAT or you are not. You cannot rewind. It amazes me how clueless some parents at my d’s school really are.</p>
<p>As another DC Parent, I can tell you that the competition for top schools is fierce around here. Although your child attends a private school, it is still possible that your school subscribes to Naviance. (Ask about it at your guidence office) All the public schools in our DC metro area county do. Once you/your child gets access to it, you will be able to see where the kids from your school have applied to, with what grades (weighted and unweighted) and test scores, and with what level of success.</p>
<p>DC parent, as others have said, the schedule really depends on how selective the colleges you’re looking at are. The schedule you put down really looks fine. It’s good to take challenging classes junior year, but be careful not to over do it; the work load increases drastically, then when you pile on any extracurriculars and SAT/ACT prep, there’s a lot on a junior’s plate. That being said, you might want to throw in an AP science junior year (although many schools require an honors level chem class before an AP). But AP English 11 and APUSH are both work intensive classes with rigorous AP exams, so you might want to not push the envelope too much.</p>