I am a rising junior and I have almost finalized my course selections for next year, however I am having trouble with one decision. These are my courses for next year:
AP LANG
AP CALC AB
AP COMP SCI
AP CHEM
PHYSICS DE
Spanish 5H
INTRO TO BUS + MARKETING
In the future I hope to either go into engineering or business, and I do feel my course selection reflects that. However, for the past two years of high school I took orchestra. I’m not sure if I should continue orchestra or continue spanish. I already have my spanish requirement of 4 years, but continuing till AP would be good. The reason I say this is one, Spanish is an honors class and I will receive the .5 bump, two, Orchestra will be very time consuming next year as I need to focus on dance training. I’m not sure what to do. The colleges I’m aiming for are UVA and UNC, both of which have a holistic view on admissions. Would dropping Orchestra look bad on my college application, or would it be a benefit. No matter what, I do plan to talk about my dance career in my college essays as dance is one of my greatest passions. I just do not want one decision to prevent me from getting into the college of my dreams.
Just a thought– what about replacing Intro to Business & Marketing with Orchestra? It sounds like that would solve the weighting issue, since Intro to Bus. isn’t an honors class. I think commitment to an activity like Orchestra would definitely benefit you when applying to colleges that have a holistic application process– not to mention the fact that keeping music in your life can benefit you personally (I almost considered dropping band to take a second science class, and I’m so glad I didn’t). On the other hand, if you’re really not into Orchestra and the time commitment would be too much, that’s a different story.
Sticking with a foreign language is also important (both for the admissions process and for life), and AP Spanish is a great class. On the other hand, Intro to Bus & Marketing seems like it wouldn’t be the best use of your time considering the other options you have. For one thing, you’re not sure if you want to go into that or engineering, and you’ll likely have to take a similar class when you go to college since it’s not an AP. And this may just be common to my school, but I feel like those career-oriented classes are often a bit of a joke and not particularly interesting.
Best of luck with your decision!
I would seeif you really need two lab sciences…maybe do one science and keep Spanish and orchestra.