<p>I will be a senior in the fall and plan on applying to a couple of top-tier and second-tier schools, including Yale, Princeton, Penn, Stanford, Berkeley, Duke, Northwestern, and UChicago. I was hoping if somebody would be able to just look at my senior courseload and give me an opinion to whether it is rigorous enough for me to be a competitive applicant. I plan on declaring myself as a political science major.</p>
<p>All my academic classes are taken at the community college so it works on a semester system. Also, these are not the only classes I am taking, as I am taking a couple of classes at my high school.</p>
<p>First semester
Calculus 1
Human Sexuality
Comparative Government</p>
<p>Second semester
General Physics or Intro to Physics
General Biology
Art History
General Philosophy</p>
<p>Does my first semester seem too light? Calculus is the only 5 unit class in my first semester coursework, whereas there are two 5 unit classes (Physics and Biology) in my second semester coursework. I wanted to make sure I had time for my college applications, last-minute SAT testing, and extracirriculars, but is there a chance that colleges will think my classes weren't too difficult? Thank you!</p>
<p>I doubt it. You’re taking classes at a community college. I’m assuming you exhausted all other options at your HS?</p>
<p>Besides math classes (which are only offered up to Algebra 2), there are no any science, social science, or English classes for the upperclassmen to take. I took all the high school classes available in my freshman and sophomore year. Right now, I’m just taking a biotech class, Journalism, Leadership, and a couple of seminars in my high school </p>
<p>Also, do you think I should take Intro to Physics or General Physics? General Physics is considered the equivalent to AP Physics C, but I’m worried that it may be too diffucult to handle with General Biology.</p>
<p>Thanks for the quick reply, kiterunner18!</p>
<p>As long as you take the most rigorous curriculum available to you, you should be fine. In your case, it seems as though you even went beyond the normal curriculum to take advantage of what is not normally offered, which is especially impressive. As your fellow high schooler, I’m not familiar with any of these classes or their level of difficulty, so I was wondering whether you should let your guidance counselor drop a note about rigor of these courses as a way of explanation? I would not have known that general physics is equivalent of AP physics C, for instance (but I guess an admission officer probably would?).</p>
<p>I actually took both physics C and AP bio at the same time. For me it was okay, because I didn’t get that much homework in either of these classes and I took both regular bio and physics before the APs. Why not sign up for both and give it a try :)?</p>
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<p>Since it’s at a community college, I wouldn’t bet on it. Have your counselor write that you’re going above and beyond, and to also mention the course equivalencies. That way they have a better idea of what exactly you’re taking. If you’re planning on taking the corresponding AP exam, list that too.</p>
<p>xrCalico23 - To be honest, I’m not really sure what is the most rigorous coursework available to me, since my community college basically offers everything. I structured my courses so that they would fulfill my IGETC requirements, which basically exempts me from having to take any of the lower-breadth courses if I decide to attend a UC. Good job on taking AP Physics and AP Bio simultaneously! For me, taking them together sounds really difficult but I am leaning towards trying. Thanks!</p>
<p>An0maly - I haven’t taken any AP exams 
Do you think this will reflect negatively on me during college admissions? I like your suggestion about talking to my counselor, thanks!</p>