<p>I'm new to this site.. I find it so helpful since I hardly know anything about the college process. I was told that a rigorous courseload is very important. My counselor, on the other hand, thinks that easy A's are better..but I want to take the classes that I'm interested in and that are challenging at the same time.</p>
<p>Those who got accepted to Stanford (Stanford is my dream school, though I know it's beyond my reach).. could you please share your high school courseload? Especially junior and senior years. I'm very unsure about the courses I chose for my junior year. I'm not asking to see if there's a magical pattern that seems to lead to Stanford acceptance; I just want to see how my schedule compares to yours</p>
<p>Thank you! :)</p>
<p>ps. I already checked the 'Acceptance threads' which were very helpful, but I couldn't find any schedules/courses</p>
<p>I can't say for sure because I haven't applied anywhere yet, but I would think a college would rahter see a B in AP or IB than an A in regular. If you could get an A in regular, whay aren't you taking the extra push? These people like initiative.</p>
<p>I think the best approach is to take the hardest schedule that you can get a 3.7-4.0 in.
I took every AP except Spanish and Bio.
my schedule junior year was:
H chem, AP Eng, AP Econ, APUSH, AP Calc, German
senior year
Ap gov, AP english, H physics, T.A, Art, german</p>
<p>Junior year: AP American, AP Bio, IB Visual Arts, Intro Calc, Photography, Honors English, Journalism, Health (required)
Senior year: AP Art History, AP Calc, AP English Lit, AP Studio Art, Photography, Honors Physics, Urban Studies</p>
<p>All in all, fair balance of APs and regular courses</p>
<p>The students who get in are the ones who take the hardest courses AND get As in them. Therefore, there is no trade-off :) I myself took classes at the local university for several years. They weren't necessarily advanced, but they were more thought-based than the memorization present at my high school.</p>
<p>Good students don't like every subject but at the same time they can succeed in most of them subjects. Take the most rigorous possible and disregard your interests when it comes to academic subjects such as literature, mathematics, sciences, and social studies.</p>
<p>The comments here remind me of what I was told one year by a Yale rep...
a parent asked if it was better to get As in honors or Bs in APs. The man shook his head, smiled, and said, "As in APs."</p>
<p>They're going to look at what's available at your school, and how you've taken advantage of the opportunities that were available.</p>
<p>This does NOT mean they look at apclassesyoutook/apclassesavailable. I only took 4/4/3 AP classes my sophomore/junior/senior years, and this was because I wanted to take Band and German in addition to AP core classes. (I ran out of English that last year). But I'm pretty sure the Stanford adcom respects commitments like mine to Band, and did not take points off because I wasn't taking an AP class.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Show them that you're trying hard and taking advantage of what your school makes available, but that does not mean you have to be an AP freak and forgo all other non-AP opportunities.</p>
<p>7th Grade: Algebra I
8th Grade: Geometry
9th Grade: Algebra II, Spanish I, English 9 Honors, Health/Art, Chemistry, Biology
10th Grade: AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, AP Art History, Human Anatomy/Art, English 10 Honors, World History Honors
11th Grade: PE/PE, AP Composition, AP Biology, AP US History, Physics, Art/AP Government
12th Grade: AP Economics/PE, AP Literature, AP Physics B, AP Art Portfolio</p>
<p>If your Guidance Counselor is being a ***** about classes, just have your parents write a letter to the principal demanding that you take what you want, not this crap the GC wants you to take.</p>