<p>So, my school is switching from a block schedule to an A/B schedule, which opens up the opportunity for an 8th period to be added. The counseling office made it clear that the only options for this 8th block would be choir, band, late arrival, or early release. The early release/late arrival could be every day, or every other day (depending on how many classes you want to take).</p>
<p>I opted for a late arrival every other day, because I live far from my school, and getting up early to take the bus to school has affected my performance/motivation in school the past two years. However, I've since found out that other students in my class are taking extra academic classes (like two science classes) and academically-inclined electives (such as newspaper).</p>
<p>Although I'm not sure if I could handle another academic course this year (I'm retaking two classes that I failed last year), it worries me that it'll look like I'm slacking. I mean, if I were offered an actual class, I probably would've considered it. </p>
<p>Will this affect my admission into college? Do schools see students with late arrivals as lazy slackers? </p>
<p>[My top choices are Columbia College (Chicago), Roosevelt University (Chicago), and SUNY New Paltz.]</p>
<p>All I can say is something similar with me. Originally I was going to take an extra class first semester to get a ridiculous practical art credit out of the way, leaving me with an early start. However, I also opted to take summer school to get a ridiculous semester of health out of the way, and waking up as early as I would have to, even for such a short amount of time, was too much hell, I got physically ill from it. So I’ve decided to move the practical art credit to senior year. If you’re like me, and waking up even earlier than say 6:30 makes you feel queasy, then late start will be a good choice. Plus studies show that people work much better with more sleep</p>
<p>just take the late arrival. I’m taking early release instead of an extra academic class junior year. I talked to an ex-admissions officer from dartmouth and he told me that they would rather I do well in my 4APs and 2 additional classes than suffer through and possibly get lower grades in 5APs and 2 regulars. I think you could apply the same logic. If lack of sleep caused you to fail two classes last year, then take the late arrival and focus on doing well in the 7 classes that you do have and getting the highest GPA possible.</p>
<p>If the rest of your schedule is fine (average amount of APs, etc.) for your school, take the late arrival. Woe was me when I realized in junior year that nobody * didn’t * take a TA (=study hall) period if they had a lot of APs. Better to feel good in the morning than to be stuck with some lame class.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, everyone! I’ll take the late arrival.</p>