<p>My freshman year grade - Mostly Bs, 1 or 2 As
My sophomore year grade - Mostly Bs, 1 or 2 A- and 1 C</p>
<p>Im going to be a Junior next month and my grades so far are not at all impressive and probably be a detriment for admission to top colleges. I only have 2 APs next year -- APUSH and AP Chem -- but I know that's not enough to show something even if I get ALL As. So I'm considering of dropping orchestra and take another AP class(it will probably be AP Stat).. do you think that's a good idea? I'm totally fine with this choice, except that I'm afraid that adcoms might look at this as a lack of perseverance and talent.</p>
<p>I know SATs and ECs count as much as GPA so please do not bring these up in this thread.</p>
<p>How long have you been taking orchestra? If you’ve been doing it for years, the show of dedication might be worth more than the AP class.</p>
<p>Where are you applying? That’d be a tad helpful. :)</p>
<p>It’s up to you. You’re right in that your grades will be detrimental in respect to top-30 colleges. That being said, you still have a decent shot at many great schools, including a good amount in the top-50, so long as you score well on the SAT/ACT.</p>
<p>Now, for your real question… it’s completely up to you. Given your 9th/10th year grades, I wouldn’t take another AP unless you truly believe that you can handle the workload. This is your junior year; better to get all-A’s with a few B’s with 2 AP’s rather than having 3 and perhaps bombing one of them.</p>
<p>Also, are you talented in your instrument? If you are, I’d so go orchestra either way. Orchestra and debate have been my electives for the first two years, and I’m taking them both again this year as a junior. I love both, and I doubt colleges would penalize me given that my other 5 classes are quite demanding.</p>
<p>Hope this has been helpful.</p>
<p>Without seeing your entire transcript with grades, it’s difficult to answer your question. My sense is that the orchestra versus another AP in not the main issue, but whether you are pushing too hard to take AP courses. I have a similar concern as in post #3. You want to avoid Cs in your junior year, and increase the number of As. The 2 AP courses that you’ve planning to take are challenging.</p>
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<p>Okay, I won’t. I’ll bring up that your SAT and ECs (combined) do not count as much as your G.P.A.</p>
<p>As decrescendo asked: Where are you applying? This is an important question because some schools require certain classes. This may not apply to you, but if you are applying to a University of California or California State University for example, ***you would not be eligible for admission ***without a “VPA” (visual and performing arts) class. So if you dropped orchestra for an AP class you would no longer have UCs or CSUs as options. </p>
<p>Be sure to research to requirements at the schools to which you plan to apply and check with your counselor to be sure you are meeting those requirements.</p>
<p>(And I second what ctyankee said about GPA.)</p>
<p>^^ thank you very much for the info. I was thinking of one of the UCs as my choice. I decided not to drop orchestra since I’ve been playing violin for 5 years now and I do enjoy playing it. I just thought 2 more years of this could be better spent on other AP classes to impress the adcoms… but nvm that now, I’m going to take orchestra. Thanks for your opinions everyone</p>