<p>Would any colleges consider a study hall to be a negative thing when determining whether to admit a student? My daughter will be starting her junior year in high school shortly. She was in high school orchestra her first two years, but also took private cello lessons and was in a regional youth orchestra. High school orchestra did not require work outside of class that she wasn't already doing because of her other musical commitments. She has no plans to major in a music related field so she decided to drop high school orchestra and just continue with the private lessons and youth orchestra. Should she pick up an academic class or would a study hall be OK? Based on her first two years, she probably doesnt need a study hall, but an additional class that has homework might be too much. She had a full class load with no study halls her first 2 years and has a 4.0 GPA out of 4.0. Her extracurricular activities were science club, Science Olympiad, math team, honors orchestra, youth orchestra, volleyball, track, and some volunteering. She will be continuing all of those except volleyball. In addition she will be an officer in science club, will be doing more volunteering at the local food pantry and the public library, and will have a part-time job. Her current classes for junior year are AP Eng, AP Calc BC, AP World History, Physics, Spanish 4, and Gym/Health. She has 1 year long slot or 2 semester long slots to fill. She hasnt settled on any colleges or even majors yet, but we dont want her class selection this year to eliminate any possibilities for her when she starts applying next year.</p>
<p>Both of my kids had study hall their junior years. They had it 4 of 7 days each cycle (ours is a rotating schedule) alternating with chemistry lab. Senior year, DD had a study hall every day...DS did an independent study once per cycle in his "study all" period. Here's the thing...the high school transcript will not list "study hall". It will list the courses your child is taking. It looks to me like your kid has a full plate. Oh...by the way...despite my kids having study hall, they both got accepted into college:)</p>
<p>Her schedule sounds fine, and it seems she is fulfilling the basic classes needed for admissions (lang, history, etc) and she has plenty of ECs. However, if there were a non-core subject, like art which interested her, that would be a great thing to add. Or, since she will have time at school for HW, is there some other EC which she would like to join. What I am saying is it is fine as it is, but this could be an opportunity to try something new.</p>
<p>My kids school requires them to have one "free period" despite petitions from my d to take a computer class in that slot. </p>
<p>There is nothing cut and dried, if she is taking the most rigorous schedule for her, that would be sufficient.</p>
<p>May I suggest that you double-check with her outside musical organizations to make sure that she is still eligible to participate even if she is not in the high school orchestra?</p>
<p>Some youth orchestras, honors groups, etc. require the student to be a member of the school's ensemble in order to participate.</p>
<p>I also thought of "art" when I read her schedule. If she's been used to having music during her school day, she might welcome having a period each day that taps into her right side brain, all the intuitive/artistic neurons. Brain theory (probably misquoted) aside, it can be refreshing to the rest of her day to have an art class. Is there photography? </p>
<p>Also something like auto mechanics would serve her well in future years. Wish I knew more.</p>
<p>I've seen some kids pick up just one year of a language when this happens;
Japanese, Arabic, whatever might be offered but not necessarily envisioning a long relationship with it. That does generate more homework, however.</p>
<p>Our h.s. let kids register into courses all day long, including eating lunch during any course from a brown bag. My kids detested the lunchroom, which was a source of great problems in that school (poverty, fights, all tension and no goodness there). Screaming lunchroom monitors, ugh. Bad school.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful replies. It sounds like a study hall wont have a negative impact during the college admission process. My daughter has not made a final decision, but I thought I would pass along some more of the ideas she is considering in case they will be useful to future readers of this thread.</p>
<p>It seems likely that she will pick up at least the semester long course Biotechnology. Its along the lines of the suggestions to try something that interests her, but it doesnt stray far from the core subject areas. Its main benefit will be to allow her to explore an area that she might want to take further in college. It would not alleviate the concern about the homework load.</p>
<p>The next most likely possibility other than the study hall is an independent study class, possibly Astronomy. It may still have the extra homework issue, but she wants to pick a topic that covers one of her Science Olympiad events. Students compete in 2-4 events in Science Olympiad and each event requires extensive preparation with studying and/or construction activities starting in the late fall and going into April. An independent study tied to one of her events would mean that the homework would be stuff she would have been doing anyway.</p>
<p>She is also considering an art class, but a potential problem is her history of being inefficient, trying too much, and aiming for perfection when it comes to art projects. She has had to come in before school, during lunch, and after school to finish them in the past. Still, she does enjoy art and one of her possible college majors is Architecture for which art classes are good background to have. She had planned on taking an Architecture class this coming year, but the class was cancelled due to low numbers. Taking it as an independent study class is another option under consideration.</p>
<p>I liked the auto mechanics suggestion. Another potential college major is some area of engineering. I thought a class that dealt with engines could be a good background for some engineering fields and could also help her decide which field(s) of engineering she would or would not enjoy. However, that idea was rejected because of the common characteristics of the students in the relevant classes at her high school. Apparently a large percentage of the biggest troublemakers take those classes.</p>
<p>At her high school some of the departments utilize students as tutors and/or lab assistants and the students get some credit for the work. My daughter would probably be able to do that in either math or science. </p>
<p>My daughter participates in the spring season sport of Track and Field. During the off-season and even during the beginning of the season it is useful to spend time exercising to prepare for the season and she plans on doing that. Her high school offers a gym class called Strength and Conditioning so if she were to take that class then she would free up after-school time that would otherwise be spent exercising.</p>
<p>I also noticed this somewhat related thread which had some good ideas: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=377270%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=377270</a></p>
<p>In our high school, NOBODY who wants to be competitive in college admissions takes study hall. Study hall is rarely even mentioned - like a thing that just isn't done. I know they offer Study hall but it seems to be only for the kids who are taking remedial classes or have no ambition. Our school offers so many choices that my boys would have liked to take 8 or 9 classes each semester rather than the 7 allowed. I wouldn't advise study hall - learn something new and fun instead of wasting the time.</p>
<p>While it probably depends on the high school, if she might apply to the super elite schools, I think study hall, especially taken junior year, will hurt. Will her GC be able to say she has taken the most rigorous curriculum your school offers if she takes study hall? If you were really gunning for a school at the tip top, I'd recommend another foreign language or looking into a class at a local college. I'm a long time alumni interviewer for Yale and the kids I see who get in are not taking study hall. Many competitive candidates have a full loads at their high school plus a college course.</p>
<p>Study hall should not foreclose competitive colleges, but I suspect it would be a negative for the most selective schools.</p>
<p>More anecdotes, my D had a study hall her senior year, and it did not effect her admissions. She did take the most rigorous course load available, although she could have taken one more academic class during that period, but it would have been an academic class geared toward lower achieving students, not at the level of her other classes. College classes were not an option for her. She ended up in the study hall because the community service project that she was going to do was moved to another period, and she could not change her schedule enough to free up that time slot.
Her junior year was very tough, and she enjoyed the respite that common room gave her, seniors also had off campus privileges for lunch, so she went out for lunch once or twice a week.
She is at a competitive college, not HYP.</p>
<p>I think the appropriate message is that a study hall couldn't possibly hurt, but something she might do in that period (instead of nothing) could actually help. And missing a chance to help is . . . hurting, at least a little.</p>
<p>But take all this with a grain of salt. It wouldn't do her any good to take on another class or project that stressed her out to the point that it affected everything she does, and might just make her look scattered and unfocused anyway. Do what makes her happy, centered, and productive, and that will come through on her college applications. And if that forgone Japanese class or basket-weaving club keeps her out of Harvard and sends her to her second-choice school -- well, she'll be happy, centered, and productive there, and that's the right way to live.</p>
<p>I don't think it has a negative impact because it isn't mentioned on the transcript, but fun electives are always nice</p>
<p>I had a study hall freshman year because I had wanted to take Computer Graphics, but it didn't fit into my schedule, and during that free period, the only classes offered were some math electives (I hate math) and child care (uh. no thanks). So I just took Study Hall. I ended up doing a lot of out-of-class artwork during that free period, and it gave me a chance to participate in more clubs that first year. </p>
<p>Junior year I think I might be having a Study Hall every other day because I'm taking 3 classes that meet every other day--AP US Gov't; Gym (req); and AP Physics Lab--and there are no other course offerings that meet every other day. Therefore, it's inevitable. </p>
<p>Senior year I definitely want a Study Hall...its a long story but because of the way my schedule has been, I'll have finished all the offered academic offerings in English, History, and Math with only 4 classes my senior year. The only other things left would be an AP Science, and various electives. I'm not taking another AP Science because I'm planning on a Humanities major. Instead I'll fill up 3/4 of the remaining slots with AP Studio Art and the following semester long courses: AP Calc Lab, Gym (req), Honors Forensics, Honors Sociology.
This leaves me with one free period. I can either use this as a Study Hall, take a full-year elective or two more semester long electives, or take one semester long elective and a semester long Study Hall. </p>
<p>The bonus is that, in my school if you are a Senior with a first period Study Hall, you get to come in late to school.
considering that my school starts at 7:15 in the morning, this is a big plus, haha.</p>
<p>oh yeah--here's the catch. In my school, Lunch is not required, and I've never had a Lunch period. (Teachers are required let you eat during certain periods with the exception of Chemistry courses) So the missing period in my transcript will probably just look like Lunch. Its pointless to take actual Lunch though--you get a lot more done in a Study Hall because it is in a classroom as opposed to a cafeteria</p>
<p>I just graduated from high school and I found study halls to be quite helpful, but there are a few things to consider first, being if your daughter has all the classes she needs scheduled and if your school uses block scheduling or not. My school had three days a week of non-block scheduling (8 45-minute classes) and two days a week of block scheduling (4 90-minute classes). I took a lot of AP classes last year and really needed a break in between them, which my study hall allowed me to do. The study hall gave me time to prepare for tests in other classes, catch up on work, deal with some administrative issues (like tracking down teachers for recommendations, etc.), or to just take breather.
On block days however, I found the 90-minute study halls to be too long. If your daughter's school uses 45-minute (or thereabouts) periods, I'd say having a study hall can be useful. But if the school has 90-minute (or thereabouts) periods, I'd recommend that she sign up for another class instead.
I also found that when I had a study hall (mine was in the middle of the school day), it was much easier to concentrate on classes at the end of the day.</p>