Newspaper or AP Classes?

Applying to College
1

<p>I'm taking Newspaper (Advanced Journalism) this year (soph). It counts as an elective and the college prep 4 credits.</p>

<p>I'm debating about next year. If I take Newspaper again, which I want to, I'll cheat myself out of either a 2nd Science AP or Math AP. But I'm confident I can become at least one of the editors by next year with a very slim chance at becoming editor-in-chief by senior year. </p>

<p>Should I just drop it next year and take the extra AP class? (Like, I'll double on either Science or Math jr year).</p>

<p>Oh, and although I love Newspaper and like doing it, I don't plan on majoring in anything in the liberal arts portion of colleges. So.. AP Class or Newspaper?</p>

<p>I was also wondering.. would it look good if I dropped Newspaper next year for another AP class but then did Newspaper again senior year? Because I'll have room in my schedule for an elective in senior year...</p>

2

<p>Wow, your situation sounds exactly like my dilemma sophomore year. I too was debating whether I should take newspaper or double up in science to boost my gpa.</p>

<p>What I ultimately decided was to just stick with newspaper all three years; good ec to have and I really enjoyed it. Also, with all the AP and honors courses I was taking, I found it nice to have 8th period Newspaper to look forward to every day. My class rank didn't suffer much either, 25/1100 as opposed to maybe a 5/1100. :&lt;/p>

<p>Oh, i wasn't/am not planning to major in journalism or anything in college either.</p>

3

<p>In my experience, colleges are looking for the most challenging classes shown on a transcript. They are looking for a good GPA with honors/AP classes instead of the state required curriculum and electives, so if you have a good GPA, at least 3 or 4 classes that are the most challenging at your school (they can't penalize you if your school does not offer honors or AP's) and good SAT/ACT scores, you should be able to take Newspaper again in Sr. year.</p>

4

<p>take newspaper.</p>

<p>I was in the exact same situation the past three years; I chose yearbook each time. And it has paid off - as a two-year editor-in-chief of the publication, I have plenty of real passion and real initiative for the EC that will be seen in recs and essays.</p>

5

<p>sainclare: The thing is that my school has a 6-periods-a-day schedule. If only newspaper was a 0 period...</p>

<p>ephemeral: Yes, if only I knew that I had a very good shot at editor-in-chief. There are already two kids in my grade that are sure to be editor(s)-in-chief if they continue newspaper next year. And that's if the advisor chooses two. My only vitrually guaranteed place is one of the 7 editors.</p>

6

<p>Newspaper it is. No question..</p>

7

<p>My son was one of the Managing Editors of his award-winning h.s newspaper. As part of his applications, he submitted samples of the sections he had edited, as well as articles he had written. I'm convinced that his position got him into a school which otherwise would never have accepted him. It was worth far more than a single AP class.</p>

8

<p>I agree with everyone. Take newspaper.</p>

9

<p>Okay, everyone is saying stick with newspaper.. but then my class rank (currently 1) will drop and my GPA will also be less than others. </p>

<p>So could someone answer if skipping newspaper jr. year and then taking it again sr. year is a good idea?</p>

10

<p>Skipping junior year and doing it senior year would be kinda consistent. I don't know... is your class rank = 1 THAT important to you?</p>

11

<p>Modulation: Sort of; the next rank down is rank 13. (over 10 top ten, all number ones) Being #1 isn't that important, but being top ten is, at least to me. </p>

<p>But is being top ten important to get into school like UCLA/Berkeley and above?</p>

12

<p>You have a classic dilemma and there is no perfect answer. </p>

<p>I think one relevant question is how truly good is the newspaper? And is it really a passion or is it just something to do that is fun and will "look" like a good E.C.?</p>

<p>Are there specific academic classes that you would really love to take but have to give up because of newspaper? Do you really need and want the extra science class?</p>

<p>Do you have other ECs?</p>

<p>Can you write for the newspaper anyway without "doing" it?</p>

13

<p>The Newspaper did not receive any awards last year, but I'm fairly certain that it will this year. The editors / in-chiefs who were seniors last year went to the likes of NYU, UC Berkeley and UCLA, although I think they are majoring in liberal arts.</p>

<p>Too be honest: It's fun, I enjoy myself in that class. Plus I had the advisor as an English teacher last year and will have her for English next year. I genuinely love doing it and designing stuff and all that jazz. Plus, I'm a pretty awesome writer if I do say so myself. A passion? I'm not sure if I have an "passions" as of now. I don't even know how to define a "passion." </p>

<p>Well, since I know that I don't want to do anything in liberal arts, the extra science class would help to get into the math/science of colleges, correct?</p>

<p>I can be a staff writer under special circumstances, but I can't be an editor or hold any leadership positions.</p>

14

<p>^haha wow what a dilemma. I actually had this same conflict before my junior year when i joined the newspaper staff. i chose taking newspaper (pursuing my passion to write) and be ranked 2 over taking a 7th AP class and being valedictorian now. this year as a senior i'm a section editor and i absolutely love the class. i feel that i've gotten very valuable leadership experience with that position, as well as developed my journalistic skills overall, so i'm happy.</p>

<p>but on the other hand, i totally understand you wanting to take that other AP class. All the responses so far have been in favor of journalism, but i would urge you to evaluate your priorities and long term goals and decide what's more important to you. make sure you plan ahead so everything you want to fit in your schedule by the end of high school will fit.</p>

<p>i personally took 2 science classes in 9th and 10th grade each (chem and APES in 9th, AP Physics B and AP Chem in 10th). sophomore year it got really hard and i wouldn't recommend taking those exact classes (i personally wish i'd done ap chem and ap bio together instead), but i know i'd never have not taken 2 ap sciences that year no matter what anyone told me. my ultimate passion is to pursue medicine, not become a journalist, though i hope to be an english major possibly. i loved being in both those ap science classes and i learned a lot. </p>

<p>you're lucky you can still write on the staff without taking the journalism class (if i understood you correctly). we're not allowed to do that. i know if i was in your situation as a sophomore, i probably would have chosen to take that 2nd math or science AP class and write for the paper on the side but not pursue an editor position. i would hate to drop from #1 to #13, not b/c of how it looks like to colleges, but b/c my class is super-competitive with each other, lol. </p>

<p>plus if science/math is more your passion and what you'd like to pursue in the future than humanities/journalism, it makes a lot more sense to take the 2 aps. plus you'll need to take science sat 2's for math/sci colleges like MIT or Caltech. You'll probably want to get them out of the way asap. (i did the SAT 2 for chem at the end of sophomore year and i wish i'd done physics too)</p>

<p>additionally, look to see if there are any newspapers or newsletters in your community outside of school that you could join and pursue a leadership position in. </p>

<p>and on a side note, look into the siemens ap award. i found out about it like a week ago, and i'm really annoyed. i've taken 4 science aps and 1 math and gotten 5's on all of them, but i didn't take all the right ones or even enough of the right ones to qualify. if i'd known about it earlier, even just a year or two earlier, i could have easily self-studied ap stats on my own or changed my schedule around to take the right ap classes before my senior year, ugh.</p>

<p>anyways, super-long post haha, but good luck!! you're lucky to be a sophomore, but don't mess up! this is super cliche but follow your heart and pursue whatever you care more about. if that's journalism, go for it, but don't do it just because a bunch of random strangers on CC think you should. there are other factors to consider too.</p>

<p>oh yeah and don't plan to do the journalism class one year, and not do it junior year and then do it again seinor year. that completely defeats the purpose of having a EC you've been deeply involved with long-term (which is what colleges prefer than short little stints). either wait till junior year, or drop it altogether.</p>

<p>it all comes down to this: being in the top 1% or writing for the paper? question is, how much do you want to write for the paper? is it worth the sacrifice?</p>