<p>Okay, so I have the book '376 Best Colleges' by the Princeton Review. One of the categories is Recommended Courses. For example, it says that Johns Hopkins (one of my top choices) recommends that I take 4 years of Foreign Language. I was curious about the importance of this, and wanted to take science courses (preferably AP) instead. Are these recommended courses important?</p>
<p>Also, I am a musician and was wondering if that would help my chances of getting into a college. Our school's marching band took 2nd place at nationals this past year, and we are looking very promising for this upcoming year. Would this help me, and would the college require me to be in their band?</p>
<p>Finally, I am unsure how to use my early decision. Should I use my early decision for a reach or should I use it to apply to a college I really want to go to and am pretty sure I would get into with ED, but unsure for RD?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Mike</p>
<p>The most selective schools will likely consider completing level 4 or higher (e.g. AP) of a foreign language to be better than completing level 3. Some may also have foreign language graduation requirements for which completing level 4 may help (e.g. by placing you into a higher level college language course so you can fulfill the requirement with fewer college courses).</p>
<p>Yes, recommended courses are important, and for highly selective schools, like JHU, applicants are often advised to consider ‘recommended’ as ‘required’ to be the most competitive candidate possible. Do applicants without the recommended courses get admitted? Yes. Do applicants with all of the recommended courses get denied? Yes. That’s because rigor of course work is only one factor in admissions, albeit a very important one. The rigor of your courses, your grades in these courses and standardized testing will be the most important measures of your HS academics.</p>
<p>Which moves us on to your second question. Yes, participating in ECs such as band are important and help to define you as an individual in your application. Schools are looking for dedication and leadership in ECs. While ECs are necessary for selective schools, you need to have the academics first.</p>
<p>No, you are not required to participate in the same ECs in college that you did in HS.</p>
<p>Please do some searching and reading here on ED, it’s a complex issue and depends on many factors, such as: your financial situation, your need to compare FA packages, the school you’re applying to, your qualifications for that school, whether or not the school is your first choice, etc.</p>
<p>p.s. books like the PR one are good starts for getting overviews of various schools, but for specifics like application requirements, recommended courses, etc. ALWAYS consult the college website. Policies change and books are often out of date, so the website must always be checked.</p>