Is it bad to take one study hall junior year?

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

I have many sports and ECs that I think could make up for having a study hall. My main concern is if this would look bad to colleges, especially top 10-20 ones like Northwestern, Vanderbilt, WashU…

If I were to switch out my study hall with a class, I was thinking of AP Environmental Science. I’m not sure what to do :confused:

Second semester next year, I plan on taking AP Language, APUSH, AP Biology, Honors Precalculus and Honors Latin. I don’t see the point in taking “filler” classes that bring down my GPA that I don’t have too much interest in, and I’m not too sure about taking APES because that would slightly overload my schedule.

2

If you take APES, you would definitely boost your W GPA (maybe even UW GPA b/c APES is easy).

However, study hall could also boost your GPA indirectly by raising your grades across the board. How good of a student are you?

3

So far I’ve maintained straight As sophomore year while taking 4 honors classes (1 AP) both semesters. I’m a hard worker but I’m easily stressed and I’m not sure how I’ll handle 4 APs with my ECs, but if I drop all of my ECs I’m sure I could do it.

However I hear APES is a blow-off class and I’m almost considering self-studying it, so !! I guess my next concern is how hard APES is. I’m interested in it, and I’ve gotten As in all honors science classes so far…

4

Take the study hall. It comes in handy when you need a mental break from school or time to review class material.

5

@efang16

Taking the study hall is preferable to dropping your EC’s.

6

Will colleges consider taking a study hall a negative as opposed to taking an unweighted filler class like business or art?

7

@efang16

It doesn’t matter, EC’s are much more important than a filler class.

8

As an adult, I would say let this be a chance for you to take a free “fun” class…explore photography, cooking, art, anatomy, music, etc. etc. Don’t be caught up in the GPA race to nowhere…Take this chance to learn something new.

9

A study hall is not going to make or break your application. Do what works for you and will help you have a satisfying and successful year.