My school only has one AP French class and one Calc II class (the highest math in my school after BC which I took this year) and they’re at the same time. I am taking AP French and still have periods to fill. MIT and other top universities offer classes online for free and no credit and include many calc topics. Would it be a good idea to take an independent study for a period or two to do those courses? Do they even look good on college applications (I’m going to be a senior)?
A first question is whether your high school has requirements for a certain number of years of a subject, and then whether they would recognize an online course to count.
As you note, these are typically videos/handouts, not actual courses. I think they’re great to learn from. But if you have a requirement for 4 years of math, as our school does, you might come up short. Unless an advanced 8th grade math class would count. Check with your school on what’s available.
If you meet all requirements then yes, independent advanced coursework based on your interests looks good on a college application.
Better would be something like a real, graded online course, like Johns Hopkins offers - but that has a fairly significant cost associated with it.
Though to be honest, advanced math in school could be better for college apps than an AP language, depending on your intended school/major.
Talk to your Guidance counselor…I would only take courses that you can get credit for.
Colleges don’t care so much about independent courses w/ no credit…they are not standardized.
See if there are online options or Community College options.
Calc II and BC should be synonymous, unless what your school is calling calc 2 is closer to what other schools call calc 3. Regardless, a credit option, whether online or at a community college would be better than an no credit course.