<p>So, my guidance counselor called me and told me that I have a scheduling conflict for senior year. I can either take AP Spanish or continue with the biomedical magnet program that I have been in for the last three years. I am really confused on which to pick. I love spanish a lot, but I'm worried that it will look bad if I drop out of the magnet program as a senior, like I'm trying to take the easy way out. The biomed class is by far the hardest class in our school, AP or not, and I would likely get higher grades in AP Spanish. Also, AP Spanish is a weighted grade, thus increasing my gpa and class rank, while biomed is factored as a normal class, even though it is very difficult. So I really have no idea what to do. Suggestions?</p>
<p>I would drop AP Spanish. I have a friend who reads college applications for the UC’s. She said they like to see depth of involvement. If that biomedical magnet program is something you have been doing for three years, finish it out! I’ve got three kids. All got into good colleges and this is what I instructed them to do throughout high school. It worked for them. Hopefully, it will work for you too. Good luck.</p>
<p>Do you enjoy the biomedical magnet program? Is there any way you could take AP Spanish as an online course? D did that with French her senior year and it worked out well for her.</p>
<p>Keep the unique biomedical magnet. It cannot be replicated.
AP Spanish can be taken online, or you can continue Spanish at community college.</p>
<p>I always told my kids not to close doors that cannot be reopened.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone else - and I’m a big fan of taking as much foreign language as possible. I’d definitely look into whether the school would let you take Spanish on line or at a CC.</p>
<p>We’re in Virginia so D took French through Virtual Virginia. It looks like Maryland has a similar program- [Welcome</a> to Maryland Virtual Learning Opportunities](<a href=“mdk12online.org”>http://mdk12online.org/) - would that be an option for you? AP Spanish is available. </p>
<p>And in case I wasn’t clear before: Don’t drop the magnet program.</p>
<p>A friend of ours had a conflict this past year with AP French. Our school permitted her to take it independent study. Not sure of all the details, but it worked out.</p>
<p>You should decide yourself, everybody has different set of circumstances, nobody can tell you what is the best for you. To many variables. Either way, not very important in terms of your acceptance to college. The most important will be GPA / rigor of classes, class rank (even if school does not rank), standardized test score. The rest is more or less details that some admissions will not pay much attention, because your stats might be either very impressive to them or fall short. Here is your focus, the rest, whatever your heart desires.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice guys. I decided to stick with the biomed program, and I got to be an aide for a Spanish 2 class, so I still will be immersed in the Spanish language.</p>
<p>If it is the PLTW Biomed program, I agree that you shouldn’t drop it, especially if you are looking to take advanced science classes in college. S is in those classes and they are truly challenging and rewarding.</p>
<p>Perfect! Great decision… Not that my opinion matters, but still, great decision. :-)</p>
<p>One of the factors others may not be taking in to account in their responses is how your biomedical magnet class shows up on your transcript. Does it show up as a science class or does it show up as an elective? More competitive colleges expect you to take as close to 4 years of the 5 “core” requirements (English, Math, Science, Foreign Lang, Science). It would never be viewed favorably by a college to drop a core class for an elective but swapping between them (i.e. taking 2 sciences and the dropping the foreign language) could be acceptable. </p>
<p>D had a similar scheduling conflict this past year – her senior year. A good piece of advice that we received was to contact the admissions officers at the schools that you are most interested in. Although they won’t give you a definitive answer, they’ll give you a sense of how they would view it. If you hear back from several schools, their responses could help guide you in your decision.</p>