Hi! I am a junior and i’m worried that my schedule isn’t showing i’m able to handle college level work.
Honors Pre-Calc
Honors English 11
Honors Spanish 3
Honors US History
AP Human Geography
Honors Chemistry(hardest honors class according to guidance counselor)
Regular Psych/Sociology(I really wanted to do dual enrollment but I’m not sure why I didn’t get in. I’m upset that this will look bad to colleges)
Marketing 2
-Will not taking a dual enrollment course this year look bad on my transcript? I’ve been so upset about this. I thought I had signed up for it. I feel like I am screwed in terms of earning college credit since I can’t take the AP exam. Will taking a regular class look bad to colleges when I apply? I’m still not sure why my guidance counselor put me in a regular class. 
the class starts next semester and i’m afraid it won’t prepare me for college since the dual enrollment course is more challenging. I feel like I could do fairly well in the dual enrollment course tho since i’d be motivated to earn college credit.
- I’m worried since junior year is the most important year in high school. If i challenge myself senior year, will colleges still see that? And i hate regular classes. i feel like they go too slow. I’ve never taken a regular class in HS before. I’m worried that I won’t get that leg up that people who take the college courses get.
Well, if you’re taking the hardest classes possible (that you can handle, of course), then there isn’t much you can do. If you haven’t already, I’d talk to your counselor to see why you couldn’t get into the dual enrollment course.
Does your school offer more APs? I’d recommend taking those if you’re able to.
Yes, my school offers more APs. As a senior, I’m thinking about taking 1-2. AP Spanish and AP Stats or Calc. My school doesn’t have many dual credit courses but i’d rather take those. I’m taking 1 dual credit senior year. I’m taking harder classes than I did last year. I’m taking 1 more honors and an ap. Next year will be slightly more challenging tho
What schools do you plan on applying to? APs look much better than dual-credit if you’re going out of state. It really depends on what courses your school offers though. If there aren’t a lot of APs or dual-credit classes, colleges won’t penalize you, but if you’re not taking advantage of them, especially AP courses, that can be a red flag to highly competitive schools.
I’ve taken both APs and a couple of dual-credit courses, and from my experience, upper-level AP courses are more difficult than dual-credit, which I know is true for a lot of students, and colleges know this.
Are you able to change your schedule for next semester at all?
Relax. Your schedule is plenty rigorous. You’re enrolled in all honors and AP classes with the exception of one. Don’t take Chemistry just because the guidance counselor said it’s the hardest honors science class. Whether you take honors bio, chem or physics, is not going to determine the outcome of your college application. In my daughter’s school, they have a policy that says students may take a maximum of 4 high level courses; the other 2 or 3 courses must be standard level. Every year her school sends kids to University of Chicago and Cornell etc. My point is you don’t need to stress so much about this. It’s important to take rigorous courses but it’s also important to have a life.
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I’ll try to see if I can enroll in the dual credit class for next semester. After break ends, I’m going to set up a meeting with my counselor to discuss this. I’ll check with him if I can switch to the dual enrollment course. The course starts next semester and hasn’t stated yet. My school offers a good amount of APs and honors but not many dual credit courses.
Well, the thing is, I like taking honors and AP courses. I like Honors chemistry, it’s a fun class. But, many of my classmates are taking the dual credit course this year and what if it looks bad that I took the regular course. And I feel that I won’t be prepared for college if I don’t take it.
Rigorous enough to do what?
Honors classes, with a few AP classes, is probably a more rigorous schedule than than most high school students who are successful in college. It’s roughly comparable to my D’s junior year schedule and she’s graduating from a T10 engineering school this year.
Is it rigorous enough to impress admissions officers at Caltech and MIT? Probably not. But that’s true for 99% of high school students.
Yes, colleges see your senior year schedule and the courses you are taking. Focus on earning the best grades you can in your current classes, take a set of rigorous courses corresponding to your preparation and ability senior year, and look for colleges appropriate to your preparation. There will likely be many very good colleges at which you will be a good fit.
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What if I take a regular class instead of the dual credit version? Would it look bad to a college? And senior year I plan on taking the dual credit version and two more APs
What schools do you plan on applying to? Also, are the classes related to your intended major offered as dual-credit and APs? If that’s the case, it would look better to colleges if you’re challenging yourself in the area you plan on going into.
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I want to go into business, and my school doesn’t offer advanced economics classes unfortunately. If they did, I’d take them for sure. The dual credit class is psychology/sociology, and I want to skip the intro to psych class in college. Also, I want to take that class to better prepare me for college. I’m also planning on taking either AP statistics or calculus AB my senior year. I’m leaning towards statistics, though. I’m thinking about doing accounting, but i’m not exactly sure yet. Also, I think taking AP Spanish would benefit me in this field.