<p>I already posted this on high school life but I feel this is the more appropriate forum. </p>
<p>I already have to pick classes for next year (my sophomore year) and I have a dilemma. I want to take the following classes:</p>
<p>AP Euro History
AP Composition
AP Biology
Multi-variable Calculus
Honors Latin 2
Genetics (elective)
Theater</p>
<p>But if I do this, I won't really have time for more than my two favorite EC's: Robotics and Yearbook, so I will have to quit some EC's. Personally, I would rather legit classes than ECs, but I heard ECs seem to have a huge impact on college acceptance.</p>
<p>^course rigor is WAY more important. The ivy league applicants/top 20 school applicants have both strong course rigor and strong EC’s. Stick with that tough schedule and just take on a couple of EC’s that you are passionate about. You don’t have to everything, just take a few EC’s and dedicate yourself to them. The latter looks much better than the former to college adcoms. Your only a sophomore, wow! (Multivariable Calculus!) So yes, theres still time. Don’t quit robotics or journalism if you like them a lot. How many Ap’s does your school offer that you could take? You could plan out your ap’s and maybe take less this year and more during the next 2 years. Btw, for a sophomore, that is an overwhelmingly beastly schedule. Good luck :)</p>
<p>My school has all APs except for geography, and even some higher than AP classes, so you can’t run out, and there is no highest course load- simply to many hard classes. What I am aiming for with this schedule is that it will allow me to take AP Physics C junior year and Modern Physics senior year, which I would prefer to being in a play I do not really like.</p>
<p>So having literally two things on the EC section will not really hurt me with my course load?</p>
<p>It shouldn’t hurt you as long as you show that you are truly dedicated and passionate about those ECs. Colleges would rather see you have a few ECs that you are truly committed to than a laundry list of activites, all of which you barely spend much time on. Also, I agree that ECs are secondary to course load rigor.</p>
<p>Course rigor is far more important, and depth in ECs is vastly preferable to breadth. </p>
<p>Still, without somewhat significant ECs, admission to top schools–despite class rigor–is unlikely. It might be worth your while to look into math and science competitions to flesh out your application. And see if you can’t win a few Robotics awards.</p>
<p>In aiming not at Ivies but at the “next tier down” ie Northwestern, UC Berkeley, NYU, CMU, etc, should I bother myself at competitions, or just focus at good grades in hard classes?</p>
No, but you need to show leadership or achievement in them. Here’s what Stanford says in its FAQ about ECs (its fair to assume that for schools that care about ECs they will look at them the same way)
<p>I’m having a great deal of difficulty understanding your dilemma. What I don’t understand is how a sophomore would be taking AP Composition, Multi-variable calculus, and Genetics, and is planning to take Modern Physics in senior year. If in fact you are at the level these courses suggest, then defer them to college, and do your ECs.</p>
<p>fogcity, it is just that all this… interests me. I do not want to live my life based on college acceptances, and since I want to go into engineering or pure science, I feel that taking these courses would better prepare me for my job than ECs I find boring. Then, in college, where in math and physics I will be two years ahead of the normal student, I could meet people with contacts. Who could introduce me to people willing to hire me. I’m not taking these classes just cause they look good on a transcript. It is because they interest me and would prepare me for a job.</p>
<p>My dilemma is that the only place I could say this is in an interview, which most colleges do not have :/</p>
<p>Also, I am not your typical video game playing math nerd. I have a social life, go out often, and am able to actually talk to people instead of drooling about the importance of string theory (Even though I find it very important)</p>