Hi guys. Today I got my report card and I am very happy. I got a 4.0 GPA both semesters (al CP classes tho) and finished in top 7% of my class. During this year, I participated in my high school badminton team (JV) too. Pretty happy with my results. What do you guys think?
Now for sophomore year, any tips you guys would like to give? I am talking all CP classes again, but in second semester I may transfer into a harder math or chemistry class, since this year I found out math too be too easy and biology to be pretty easy.
Do you guys think it’s better to just chill with A’s in CP classes? Or take AP if I find the class to be easy but do more work and risk a B in chemistry?
Congratulations! 4.0 and top 7% is great.
You probably can’t transfer to a harder math/science class in the middle of the year- honors/AP is faster paced and you will end up behind. Ask the admin if you can switch to honors math and chemistry if they offer it, but you can’t do AP if you don’t have the prerequisites.
I would say it’s better to get A’s and B’s in AP/honors classes than all A’s in CP classes. Even if you don’t do as well, AP will be more challenging and prepare you better for college. Of course you don’t need to do only AP and honors, but it would be good to do a few each year.
If you got all A’s in CP classes, try to move to some honors classes. Do not just chill…colleges want to see you take the most rigorous classes that you can…Sounds like you should do honors math and science…send your GC an email over the summer saying you want to switch.
If you got A’s in all your CP classes and found math&science too easy, ask to be placed into Honors.
Honors Math, Honors chemistry, and Honors English would be a good start.
Indeed, for 4-year colleges, a B in Honors Classes will be more valuable than an A in CP classes.
You can’t go from CP to Honors in the middle of the year because Honors goes faster and more in-depth; ask your guidance counselor, considering your excellent results, to place you AT LEAST in Honors Math, Chem, and English (if you got an A in History it may also be another subject in which to take Honors, but you don’t want to overwhelm yourself.) Make sure you take a foreign language up to level 3 at least, and add some classes like art, computer science, psychology…
If that schedule turns out to be too difficult, just “drop down” one level in the class you’re struggling with. Ask your GC how that’s done at your school -you would probably have 2-3 weeks to mak up your mind.
Great job on those accomplishments! Like everyone else has said, try to go up to some honors level classes. Even if you don’t do as well, colleges will lol favorably upon the rigor and who knows, your class rank might even go up.