<p>Does your daughter dance outside of school? If so, then maybe she should drop advanced ballet class in favor of a higher GPA. If not, I strongly urge her to keep dance. I myself am a recent HS grad (battered but in one piece after admissions, whew!) and a dancer. Over the past two years, I really came to appreciate dance for its stress-relieving function; your daughter might discover the same, especially during the next two incredibly stressful years she has ahead of her.</p>
<p>In addition, should she take both AP Chem and Hon Physics, there’s no guarantee that she would be able to handle the workload. If she is taking other advanced courses (and I assume she is), then putting in an additional adv. science might stretch her too thin. I agree with Hunt in that an unweighted 4.0 is extremely important. Colleges do like to see students challenge themselves in course selection; but they do not like to see students fall short of that challenge. Is risking that 4.0 for a class she doesn’t even love worth it?</p>
<p>Also, how are her ECs? Even if she does feel as if she can definitely maintain her 4.0, her increased focus on school may risk her ECs. The same goes with studying for the SAT. As you said, it might be better for her to take the time to try to score high. </p>
<p>Lastly, one more tidbit: I ended up with an approximate unweighted 3.97 GPA because I foolishly took on more than I could chew during course selections. I was too confident in my straight-A abilities to realize that I had stretched myself too thin with my other advanced courses, my many ECs, and my other responsibilities. All I’m saying is that it’s definitely good to have a balance. However your daughter eventually chooses (and it should be her choice in the end), I wish her (and you) luck! :)</p>