These are my classes for my junior year and I was wondering if it was rigorous enough. The only thing I’m debating is to switch out Spanish 5H with Artist Orchestra only because it would offer a .5 bump. Would it really make a difference? Pls help/respond asap. I do want to get into a top school.
AP CHEMISTRY
AP LANG
AP COMP SCI
AP CALC AB
PHYSICS DE
INTRO TO BUSINESS AND MARKETING
ARTIST ORCHESTRA
I think it’s fine, but the rigor of your schedule will not make the difference between acceptance and rejection from a top school. There are so many other factors to consider. And it is also more important to do as much as you’re capable while still maintaining a solid GPA.
It’s not necessarily rigor but I’m just worried that I might fall behind GPA wise because I’m only taking 5 weighted classes while some people may be taking 6 weighted classes.
You won’t know if you’re Valedictorian until after college decisions, so don’t worry too much about that. But I think you should do what’s best for you instead of trying to compete with everyone else. You’ll be happier and a 4.0 in 5 APs will look better than a 3.75 in 6. And as far as rankings go, if you do well I’m sure you can still be top 10%.
I mean I’ll be taking 4 APs and 1 dual enrollment not 5 APs, where aps have a 1 point bump and a dual enrollment has a .5. Do you still think I have a chance of being in the top 10% without Spanish 5 Honors.
Honestly, I’d focus more on your needs rather than trying to compete with everyone else. Seriously. Colleges would rather see an amazing GPA, versus a higher ranking. Most schools know that students tend to inflate those with online classes anyway, so oftentimes the weighted GPA isn’t considered an accurate reflection of a student’s capabilities.
I try not to worry bout what everyone else is doing, but my school is very competitive. There are sophmores taking 3 aps while I only took 1. And also isnt class rank determined by GPA?
It’s determined by weighted GPA, not unweighted. Unweighted is the grades alone, while weighted takes into account AP, IB, DE, online classes, etc. Nowadays, students are abusing this system in order to have absurdly high GPAS (in the 6s, 7s, 8s, and above) and become Valedictorian. Most universities are aware of this practice, and often look down on it. Which is why I would not recommend taking more classes than you are capable just for the sake of a class rank. If you do well in your classes, you should be fine. It’s only really a huge issue if you fall below 50% (in most cases).
It’s not that I am not capable of taking Spanish 5H and getting a good grade in it. I just feel like if I drop Orchestra then it would like I have no commitment. I also would kind of miss playing the instrument bc I have been playing it for 5 years. Even if I were to take Spanish 5H instead of Orchestra, I have dance which I have been continuing for 13 years(by the time of college apps). Would dropping orchestra be bad or would dropping spanish look bad?
Then don’t take Spanish, and PLEASE do not concern yourself with how something “looks.” Surefire way to ruin your high school career and have it end in disappointment.
@IvyGirl27 I agree with you about maintaining a good GPA, but, from watching interviews from college admissions and skimming through college books, rigor of you high school transcript is basically the #1 thing a college looks at (at least top colleges, anyway).
If there’s a youth orchestra in your area, you can join that and take another class. You can also take private lessons.
Colleges usually like AP over dual enrollment because AP is standardized and admissions know the course and its rigor, rather than a course at a public 2-year college. Personally, I take AP over dual enrollment because I know that colleges are accustomed to AP and because top universities probably wouldn’t accept credit from a 2-year university. Also, you have to take into account the course load. Colleges look for quality over quantity; they want to see that you’ve set /attainable/ standards for yourself. Make sure that you have a work load that can completed without losing your mind and having enough sleep. Try finding students who have taken those classes at your school and talk to them about your schedule.
Having 5 or 6 years of a foreign language would look extremely impressive to a top university, but you have to take into account the course loads for all of your classes/whether you have enough time to do Spanish homework and how badly you want to take orchestra.
If you don’t have an account with College Board already, I recommend you making one and looking at the high school classes and rankings of colleges you’re interested in at bigfuture.collegeboard.org. (Look up a college and, once you’re on its page, click ‘Applying’ on the left column or ‘See if you’re on track’ in blue on the top/under the college’s name.) This has greatly helped me in figuring out the classes I should take and the standards I should set for myself academically.
I am old-fashioned–The rigor of your schedule and grades depends on what you bring to the table. You seem to be trying to find the perfect strategy to get into particular school, just like most other high school graduates…
Colleges admit a class and all your moving pieces around the table won’t guarantee the outcome you seek. It’s important to have a strategy starting with how you compare to students admitted in earlier years. However, those statistics do not include all the wonderful students who were unsuccessful applicants,
There isn’t really a bright line to cross or a single little thing in your application that makes all the difference. I have rarely heard a college saying the equivalent of, “It sure is a good thing he took Spanish rather than Orchestra.” There are so many components to college and acceptance, If there was a sure-fired way to get admitted to your preferred school, someone would have written the book and made a fortune. Concurrently, colleges would be modifying their admissions standards.
Please! Make an application that represents you personally and academically and then let the admission chips fall where they may. You are about to attend your commencement. Commence!
First of all, colleges don’t like AP over Dual Enrollment. They actually like DE in small doses, because, <surprise!> (not) the best predictor of college success is success in college classes. If you can handl the fast pace and the autonomy and get an A, it tells adcoms you’re highly likely to be successful in college.
Second, top colleges don’t use weighted GPA’s. So take whatever you want as long as you get at least a B and preferably an A.
Third, colleges don’t care if you’re valedictorian. It’s a trinket given to students but it’s not even announced till you’re about to graduate. Being in the top 10% of a competitive high school is sufficient.</surprise!>
Fourth, your schedule is too lopsided
Having AP Chem, AP CS, and Physics DE = tripling up in science is not necessary; you need one each of bio, chem, physics + One class at AP or DE level.
You are missing a social science and a foreign language. Business/Marketing is a vocational class. If you need an easy class, save it for senior year.
New suggested schedule:
Spanish 5H
AP LANG
AP COMP SCI
AP CALC AB
PHYSICS DE
Honors American History
ARTIST ORCHESTRA
Our school does not offer honors us history, so its either academic or APUSH. Which is one of the reasons I am taking it over the summer. I really do not want to do APUSH. I’m just debating over Spanish 5H and Artist Orchestra. I really do want to take Intro to Business and Marketing so I can learn some basic concepts. I mean I can stop Spanish after 4 years, but the only reason I would continue is for the .5 GPA bump. Dropping Orchestra scares me a bit because I have been doing it for 2 years already. I’m already involved in fine arts as I am a dancer outside of school for 12 years and am training for my arangetram rn(dance graduation), after which I will be a teacher assistant and help teach younger batches. I really do not know what to do. I made the choice of taking 3 sciences based on my circumstance.
It seems to me like people are giving you advice, and you keep throwing back reasons why they’re wrong… So if you know what to do, why not just do it?
I dont know, I just do not want to make the wrong decision
As I said, you’re really interests in business basics, save that class for Senior year, when you’ll need a breather from college apps. For junior year, you really want to have a well-balanced schedule and avoid a vocational class for kids aiming for community college, if you’re aiming for a top school.