<p>is it better to take the hardest classes ( intensive math and science ) and get B+ versus taking regular math and science classes and getting an A- or an A. Do colleges look at courses taken? My school does not rank or even put the GPA on the high school transcript.</p>
<p>Harder class always. Just don’t get any C’s.</p>
<p>Harder class if you think you can handle it</p>
<p>If you’re choosing between higher grades and honors classes, choose higher grades in honors classes.
~Jed Yang</p>
<p>College reps have explicitly told me, “It is better to get a B in an honors course than an A in a regular one.”</p>
<p>That being said, an A in an honors course is obviously best, and if you really put your mind to it, no matter how difficult the course, you can pull of anything. The most selective colleges expect to see “mostly As.”</p>
<p>Thiscouldbeheaven, how is that at all helpful?? OP, obviously you’ll want to do the best you can in the highest level classes that you can handle, but a B in an honors class is better than an A when you don’t seem to be challenging yourself.</p>
<p>Easier classes with higher grades looks better than harder classes and lower grades. Only your class rank matters.</p>
<p>my school does not rank the students.</p>
<p>^^colleges say they’ll look down on students that take easy classes just to have a high unweighted gpa- for the most selective colleges, course rigor is one of the most important factors, so take the hardest courseload that you can.</p>
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<p>This is a very valid point. If you are looking at the most selective colleges, they will want to see exactly this. In these applicant pools, a very large proportion of the applicants will have both a rigorous schedule and high grades, and they will be at an advantage in the admissions process.</p>
<p>However, if you are aiming at less selective colleges, I would sign up for honors classes and see how they go. If you don’t like them, you can usually drop down to regular. However, I do believe that, for most people, if one sets his/her mind to get an A in a hard class, he/she can often do it.</p>
<p>At selective schools, adcom will compare courses you have taken vs courss offered at your high school. If they see a lot of APs, and you haven’t taken any, then it would be red flag to them. For many high schools which do not rank, they will often have a school profile sent in conjunction with your transcript. It is a way for a college to compare your grades relative to your peers.</p>
<p>When your GC sends in your recommendation letter, there will be a box for him/her to check off to indicate if you took the most rigorous course load. If you want to go to highly selective school, it is important that the box is checked.</p>
<p>I have a nephew who was not able to take the most rigorous course load because he moved in the middle of high school, so he wasn’t on the right track to take some of those courses. His GC explained it in his recommednation letter, he was able to get a pass and was admitted to a top 15.</p>
<p>I have a niece who didn’t change school from grade 6-12. She decided not to take the most rigorous courses at her high school, even though she had close to 4.0, she was rejected by most of top schools.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>thanx. this really helps. My school offers both intensive and regular courses in math and science. Only 15% of the class usually takes the intensive courses.( grading is really tough- no grade inflation at all ) Also no AP courses at my school. But almost all students give the AP exams and generally get 4 or 5 in their AP exams. I am worried because i have mostly B/B+ 's in my intensive courses. Will that look bad on my school transcript?</p>
<p>it depends on how you do in comparison to the rest of your grade; if most people in these classes manage to get As, then it may not look the best to the most selective schools. however, at many schools getting a B or B+ in the hardest classes is very impressive, so it really just depends on the context of your high school.</p>
<p>Don’t kill yourself to please the system, brah. It doesn’t care about you.</p>
<p>But dominate.</p>