We just finished registering for classes at my high school and i’m afraid that my course load is too weak to get me into a top 25-50 school. I don’t know what i want to major in because i have so many interests, but i think i would like to go into some area of Medicine, Music, or Architecture(i love math)
My current schedule for my junior year
Principles of Biology 1(Summer before my junior year)
AP Language and Compilation
AP U.S. History 2
AP Chemistry
Pre-Calculus(the teacher isn’t very good so i am considering dual enrolling the course)
Therapeutics
Concert Band
Jazz Band
Marching Band(First Semester)
*-The Therapeutics course is a Career Technical Class, I plan to “Complete” the Career Tech. Pathway that therapeutics is a part of. By doing this i will receive CNA certification.(my school requires that you complete 1 Career Tech. Pathway in order to graduate)
If anyone could give my advice on my courses that would be great!
Your course load is fine, maybe a little band heavy. Also, this is nit-picky, but if you’re looking at T50 schools, you’re going to need to know the difference between “to” and “too”.
@izrk02 I didn’t read over it to check my grammar thank you for pointing that out. I’m not a strong English student, but i guess you know that from the mistake.
@inthegarden I took Spanish 1 my freshman year and i am currently taking Spanish 2. I don’t feel comfortable taking Spanish 3(Highest level my school offers). I Struggled in Spanish 1 and i am currently struggling in Spanish 2. i am going home every day and spend over an hour studying for Spanish and i’m still making a B-. Spanish isn’t Weighted at my school so it is pulling down my GPA a significant amount.(I make A’s in my other classes) I also HATE Spanish, i would have preferred learning another foreign language but it is the only one offered at my school.
I agree, most selective colleges want at least three years of foreign language. If you don’t yet have three years, you may want to add another year of foreign language.
@SchoolLover22 , that’s unfortunate and I sympathize. It’s just that failing to have at least level three could jeopardize your future acceptances at some schools more than a B grade or a slightly lower weighted GPA. Colleges don’t tend to use the weighted GPA in admissions anyway…they convert back to the 4.0 scale and look at your course rigor in the context of what your high school offers. There is not a school in the U.S. that would penalize you for taking a Spanish 3 class instead of yet one more AP in areas in which you already have a lot of classes. If you were looking at T-20s, the B in a a subject might hurt .you but if you otherwise have a strong GPA and application I do believe schools ranked around 20-50 wouldn’t reject you over some Bs in one subject but they might reject you for lack of that subject. High school is the time for a balanced education.
Lots of students struggle with math or English and must work an hour or more per day on them, but would never stop taking these after only two years. FL is also a core subject and I recommend struggling with it one more year. Could you get a tutor? Some schools offer peer tutoring before or after school through NHS (my daughter is doing this).
If in doubt, google some of the names of colleges you’re interested in and “common data set”after the college name. Then scroll to section C of the last year’s common data set for the school.This will tell you all kinds of information about the characteristics of the last freshman class enrolled…GPA range, SAT/ACT, etc. As well, there will be a list of the minimum and recommended high school classes expected for admittance. Do NOT expect that the minimum will be enough but treat the recommended level to be what will give you the best chances for admissions. This could give you useful information in making decisions that you won’t regret later.
Could you take the Spanish in summer instead of Biology? Then you could focus on that one thing without the other pressures and get it over with…just a thought.
^^^ you need to exceed minimums not meet them where you can. Just because your not good at something doesn’t mean to give up. There are plenty of online programs and even ones on your phone like Duolingo that can help. Use your summer to maybe practice, get a tutor if you can. You might need 2 hours to get it down. Then on the common app where it additional information you can explain that this was your worst subject but you wanted to challenge yourself to get better. They appreciate that stuff. Use Duolingo daily or the like for 10 minutes while your chilling.
@Knowsstuff@inthegarden thanks for the advice! i’ll talk to my Spanish teacher and see if she thinks i would be able to do decent in the class and talk to my guidance office about trying to fit it into my scheduled.
I do have a couple questions. After looking art the Common Data Sets for the colleges i’m interested in i saw that the majority of the colleges recommend a Computer Science Credit. What do they mean by a Computer Science credit?
I think your work load is fine. Also, your interest in band is good. To enhance your overall academic profile would be to take 1-2 community college classes this summer such as Psych100 and/or Lanugage and some other elective.
BTW, depending on your interest/major, you may consider entering a college as a jazz or music major and then transferring out. For example, the Jazz program at UCLA is recruiting in a big way so the acceptance rate is very high compared to other majors. Of course, you have to be exceptional and audition, but if you are, it could work as an option if that sort of school is a reach. You could then transfer to most majors in Letters and Sciences. This wouldn’t suffice if you were to move to a science but isanother option to consider…