No Honors Freshman Year

Let’s say I didn’t take any honors classes freshman year but took a lot of honors sophomore through senior year; would I still have a chance for selective colleges or Ivies?

Most Ivy League and top-notch universities value academic growth. So, even by not taking honors classes, if you show consistent improvement and demonstrate a hard work ethic, you have a possibility of getting in to a great school. Just remember, the quality of the course matters more than the quantity.

Thank you @vk1026

Anyone else?

Will your application be thrown in the trash with no honors courses as a freshman? No. So yes, you have a chance, albeit the 5% chance that everyone else has. Course rigor is a key part of the application, but for universities that evaluate holistically it is far from the only part.

Do the best you can in the courses you are in. If you are in a regular class, get A’s. Maybe next year you will be in Honors. Maybe ivys are not in your future…but there are 3000 colleges in the USA so there is a college for you.

I will be taking honors next year. @bopper

Then do your best!

@skieurope Thanks

@bopper Thanks again!

Need more suggestions; anyone else?

Maybe, Ivies will want to be seeing APs tho. Honors making up a bulk but ivies consider class rank and how many aps taken. To get a good class rank at least at my school most kids are taking all honors with many kids taking over 10 APS to have somewhat competitive class rank (top 15% or so) my school is competitive but many schools are too. Keep this in mind

Good advice thanks @theinvokingsyndicate

The only problem is there is a limited number of APs; would I be penalized if I didn’t take a lot but took at least some that my school offered starting Junior year? @theinvokingsyndicate

Not really, you’d be alright if everybody at your school has to face the same things. But I’ve learned you can really take whatever classes you want even if the school says otherwise. Get your parents involved if needed. But it isn’t necessary if you don’t want to initiate it. Schools compare you to the other kids in the school so if APs aren’t offered till Junior year and you don’t take them until junior year you’re fine.

Yeah exactly. I did have one issue with my school earlier. They would only let me take Biology Honors even though I wanted to take Chemistry Honors and Biology Honors at the same time. I didn’t get my parents involved, but I managed to persuade the Science supervisor enough by talking about my current good grades. He decided to talk to my current Math and Science teachers (these grades are used for deciding science classes that are taken) and they both gave good reviews for me. So I’m basically the only Freshman in the school who’s taking Bio Honors and Chem Honors at the same time. I don’t really want to take any AP classes because even if I argued, sophomores literally can’t take any APs except Macroeconomics AP, which is not really a course I want to take. Thanks for the reply again. XD @theinvokingsyndicate

No. Not at all. You cannot take what is not offered, and all colleges know that. AOs will judge your course selection based upon what is available

Thanks again @skieurope