question about courses in grade 12

Applying to College
1

i’m going into grade 12 next year (senior), in canada. i will be taking 7 academic core subjects, math, pre-calc, social studies, english, bio, chem, physics. I’m in a semester system, so up to 4 cores in 1 semester, and 4 in the other.

Currently i’m leaning towards this setup:

1st semester: math, bio, chem
2nd semester: pre-calc, social, english, physics

the reason is that i want max time to study for the SAT Is in the first semester, so i might be taking a spare (meaning no class in that time slot). Also, i want to take Math 2, bio, and chem for my SAT IIs. I’m going into business/finance in uni.

but heres the thing:

Will by taking only 3 courses in the first semester, therefore only submitting 3 complete marks, make your uni application look bad? like if someone else has 4 marks or whatnot.

Also, would it be wise to take a spare, cause i read from harvard/princeton’s sites that they want students who maximize their work load, make me look lazy? or will they not care?

Update (please bear with me):

i talked with my friend, who is going to NYU this year, and i’ve decided not to take a spare, but to take 2 easy (hopefully) grade 12 options. in my case, keyboarding 301 and financial management 301. but the dillemma that neither he or I can solve is whether to take these two options in the first or 2nd semester. See, he said that if i take english instead of the 2 options in the first semester, there will be an advantage when uni’s are looking at my school + SAT marks, because if i do well in english class, but not so well in the SATs, the uni will see that i don’t completely suck at english.

but of course, the draw back to this is i get more work (essays, novel studies and whatnot), and get less sat prep.

whats you guy’s opinions on this?

2

<p>Don't take Keyboarding 301. Colleges will know you're taking a crappy course, and it makes you seem even lazier than taking a spare. Just take four academic classes first semester, and one like Financing Management 301 your second semester.</p>

3

<p>hmm is there a specific reason why i should take 4 cores 1st semester? also, i guess you do have a point with keyboarding.. I might just end up taking financial 301 and 302. or Psycology 301</p>

4

<p>bump this up</p>

5

<p>forget the easy courses. SEVEN academic solids is a high load, so you are fine course-wise. However, Math 2 requires precalc -- can you take precalc first semester? Otherwise, you won't be prepared for the test. I also concur that taking 1 english, 1 math and 1 science first semester makes sense, particularly if you score well in all subjects.</p>

6

<p>hmm well i can't take precalc (math 31) in first semester, i don't think. so i'll just try to get around that by trying to learn the stuff myself, i guess. </p>

<p>Well, now i'm actually leaning towards 2 financial managements, since i want to go into business in uni.</p>