I’m a rising senior at a tiny school in rural PA and I need some help with my schedule. There’s one tiny aspect that I can’t get out of my mind and I just want to make sure that this isn’t a deal-breaker for top LACs. My school is a regular charter school that’s completely open-curriculum (there are graduation requirements to abide by, but they aren’t enforced by counselors every grade; i.e. it doesn’t matter if you fulfill them in 9th grade or 12th). It’s also notoriously bad with advising so as an incoming freshman, I was just under the impression that I could take whatever I wanted and be fine. This attitude changed this year when I realized that my junior year was incredibly not rigorous because I mainly took math classes and electives (but surprisingly all the right science classes). I couldn’t fit in those AP classes that juniors/seniors usually took because those classes have prereqs. My school has 5 APs and I can take AP Calc BC and Chem my senior year, and I convinced my counselor to let me take AP Gov because I’m interested in majoring in political science but it was under the condition that I take regular US History (a “sophomore” class) alongside it because that’s a grad requirement. I also need to catch up on my English credits by taking a couple of semester core classes. All in all, I’m looking at 9 (half of which are regular or honors) classes my senior year just because I was so screwed in my advising department. I tried asking my counselor about the possibility of taking dual-enrollment classes during the summer or fall year and he said those wouldn’t count on my high school transcript. Everything else is ok - I have my 3 years of foreign language, standardized tests, and ecs. How bad of a deal breaker is this for schools like Haverford, Smith, Wellesley, etc.? What about GWU or AU?
You can do some of this homework for yourself. For example, Wellesley says:
[quote]entering students normally have completed four years of college preparatory studies in secondary school that include training in clear and coherent writing and in interpreting literature; history; training in the principles of mathematics (typically four years); competence in at least one foreign language, ancient or modern (usually four years of study); and experience in at least two laboratory sciences.
Students planning to concentrate in mathematics, premedical studies, or natural sciences are urged to elect additional courses in mathematics and science in secondary school and to complete mathematics coursework through pre-calculus. Students planning to concentrate in language or literature are urged to study a modern foreign language and Latin or Greek.[/quote]
In general, the type of schools you are considering assume 4 years each of English, Social Studies (incl History), Math, a (lab) Science, and 3/4 years (or to a given level) of Foreign Language.
Missing any one of those is not necessarily a deal breaker, but the more you are missing the more of a disadvantage.
In the collegekids schools there was no way to take 9 classes (6 was the max), so I don’t know if the norm (much less realistic) in your school is 9. Is summer school a possibility for you?
I appreciate the response! I may have been a bit unclear in my post - I’ll have 4 years in all of those subjects (except FL, where I have 3). I think what worries me is because I was the product of awful scheduling, I’ll have to double-up on classes in History and English my senior year and I’m under the impression that that’s not the most appealing position to be in for those top schools. You’re right in that taking 9 classes is definitely not the norm (3 of those are semester classes and will be in the 2nd sem), though a lot of kids are in that position because, again, no rigid course requirements. Summer school is explicitly for those who are failing or under a 2.0 GPA, but it certainly won’t hurt to ask and I’ll reach out asap. Thank you 
Revisit the option to take a college class or two this summer since you have not had any APs until senior year. Your high school may not count it as dual enrollment, but you send the transcripts directly from the college in the common app process.
The LACs may not count the credits, but they will see you can do college level work. And if you end up at a college who does take the credit - well, you are one step closer to not being in this boat in 4 years from now.
The colleges have suggested requirements, but especially with Covid schedules for part of HS they understand things do not always line up. My D21 did not have English in 10th because she really wanted another STEM AP course that conflicted, but was accepted into top colleges and programs. She still had 4 HS English credits, but one was in 8th grade. The common app and other school specific apps do not make it easy to document or do not care about middle school courses.
Remember that the school counselor puts together the recommendations for the colleges, so be respectful while advocating for yourself. And make sure they know your strengths and what you are passionate about. I suggest you have all of your items done early and ready to go and monitor that their parts are checked off in each application portal in advance of the deadlines.
That’s a great idea, thank you! I was able to sign up for two classes at my CC for this summer. Hopefully that shows some colleges I can take rigor (and negates the fact that I have to take a sophomore class my senior year… lol).
That is great!
You have got this!
Just be careful. Summer classes are normally at an accelerated rate. Some students are not ready for the pace.
Can you list out the courses you have already taken in high school here? Might help us to get some perspective.
Does your state have an online school? You might be able to pick up that sophomore class during summer school. If your state doesn’t offer it look at North Carolina Virtual Public School (https://ncvps.org/). Kids from other states and schools can take online courses through that also. You don’t have to be in NC although there are some restrictions and you would need to clear it with your school. You may be able to satisfy that US History and maybe an English class through that. I think this would be a better option for you than loading up on Community College courses because it would knock those old requirements out of the way and reduce your senior year schedule and your transcript when applying to colleges in the fall would have your missing courses.
Nothing wrong with taking Community College courses, too, but if it’s not satisfying your high school requirements it might be better to see you can find a way to do that this summer.
Sure thing. I’ll categorize them:
English (2.5 credits out of 4 as of junior year):
Creative Writing (semester course, but counts as an English credit instead of an elective) - 9th grade
Honors English and Composition II - 10th
Honors American Literature - 11th
AP Literature & a semester English class - 12th
Science:
Honors Bio, Astronomy elective - 9th
Honors Chem, Forensics elective - 10th
Honors Physics - 11th
AP Biology - 12th
Social Studies (yikes):
Psychology elective, Economics elective (neither count as an official SS credit) - 9th
Honors Civics - 11th
AP US Gov and Politics & Honors(?) US History - 12th
Foreign Language:
Russian I - 9th
Russian II - 10th
Russian III (the last level offered) - 11th
I’ll spare you the ungodly amount of math electives but I took up to Calc I (our equivalent of AP Calc AB and thus lets me take BC as a senior) as of this year.
I’m not aware if my state has an online school, but my counselor made it pretty clear that he only accepts credits done through our regular school or summer school (which I also asked him about recently and apparently I’m not eligible even with my circumstances). Definitely not opposed to shooting him another email to clarify though. Thank you all for your input!
I don’t think your unusual class schedule is going to work against you. Your weren’t filling your schedule with underwater basketweaving (which, admittedly, I think would be a pretty challenging course…don’t know why it’s the stereotypical fallback for an easy class). I definitely don’t think that your coursework would be the reason for a denial, should you get one. But your transcript is only one aspect of the application: your essays, standardized test scores, letters of recommendation, extracurriculars, etc, all play an important role (how important is reported in each college’s Common Data Set).
Wishing you the best of luck!
This just lifted a huge weight off my shoulder. Thank you so, so much!