<p>I have finally decided to join College Confidential! Anyways, I have an issue with my school; being it is such a tiny school(a graduating class might consist of 65 students), it is nearly impossible to take any APs ,or even worthwhile courses for that matter, my senior year. That being said, I have only four real classes in my first two semesters, my schedule being set up like so:
1)Economics
2)Eng 103
3-4)SH
5)Chem Lab/SH
6)Chemistry
7)Health
8)SH/Gym
Do you feel it would look better on my transcript if I were to take up different classes for simply leisure, such as painting or video production, or should I just leave my schedule as is?</p>
<p>Adcoms know that video production and painting are more rigorous than study hall, if that’s what you’re asking.</p>
<p>Yeah, that was basically what I was asking, but, in all reality, will the difference between taking an elective and a study hall be that great when a college sees my transcript?</p>
<p>One study hall is fine but three study halls (am I reading that correctly)? That sends a message that maybe senioritis started early.</p>
<p>No math? No foreign language? I think the lack of those classes is more concerning than study hall vs art.</p>
<p>Are you saying that you have already taken all the AP classes that your school offers? Remember that you can take online classes or community college classes if you are looking for more rigor.
I think you are better off taking online APs than filling up your schedule with fluffy classes that don’t interest you.</p>
<p>Your break is in the middle of your day. Is there any way to move it to the end of the day so you can make better use of your time?</p>
<p>Our D has a similar situation as a senior and is opting to keep the 3 free periods (she’s taking 5 APs). She’ll use the 3 off periods to leave campus and do research with a professor at a local college.</p>
<p>You should not have study hall during your Senior Year and certainly not several SH periods!!! Colleges WANT to see 5 “academic” (honors/AP) classes each year plus 1-3 electives. This could not only affect admission but also the ability to get grants in your financial aid package or how much of your financial need is covered… and thus the affordability of the school where you’d get in.
If you’ve already taken all the AP classes you qualified for: look for online classes, classes from a community college, or independent study. You should have at least one among: history, foreign language (level 3 or 4 or AP), precalculus (or calculus). If none of these are possibilities, then yes take video production, art, current events, anything that would help you get the guidance counselor say you took the most rigorous curriculum available.
You must not have ANY SH during your day junior and senior year unless you’re only going to apply to non-selective colleges (like your local community college). If you intend to apply to your state’s public flagship, a selective public college, or a selective private college, your schedule will almost garantee you won’t get in and certainly will not be decent or sufficient financial aid (such a schedule would qualify as “least rigorous” and thus make you a target for “gapping” even if you managed to get in somewhere).</p>
<p>You have to bare with me, guys! My school offers 4 AP classes altogether, those being Biology,US History, Psychology, and Studio Art. My grades have never been the best in science(mostly Bs), so I fear I would have trouble being accepted into AP Bio, I already took US last year (I attended vocational training school half day last year so I couldn’t take APUSH, I understand now that was a huge mistake), and I would love to take AP Psych, but the second half of my year, I’m taking College Sociology and College Government on the periods AP Psych is offered, and I have chemistry the only other period it is offered (I know, all of my tough college level classes are only given in the second semester, go figure right?) To be 100% honest, I didn’t even realize the huge difference AP and honors classes made until halfway through last year, and I was pretty screwed at that point!</p>
<p>I took three years of French, but French 4 and 5 are no longer offered at my school. Would it be wise to take up Spanish? Also,I have already completed Trigonometry, and I’m a pretty bad math student, should I still consider taking Precalc?</p>
<p>Thank you guys so much, by the way! I wasn’t aware that you could take APs online! Would they still go on my transcript? Also, if I could get my study halls near the end of the day, I definitely would, but, again, my school is very small, so the classes I am taking are usually only offered on that specific period.</p>
<p>If you took 3 years of French and that’s all that’s offered 1° make sure your counselor will write that in the School Profile (a bullet-point list may make his/her job easier). 2° you’re fine. You don’t need to take another foreign language.
If you had trouble with trig, try statistics rather than precalc. But precalc is definitely better than a study hall period if you can’t get stats.
Can you take APUSH - it’s like the second level of “regular” US history. You’d go into more depth for some periods, read different materials, etc so even if technically it’s the same country and the same periods, you’d learn lots of different approaches, techniques, and content.
Can you take AP Psych first semester and self study the rest while you take College Sociology and College Governement (is that Dual Enrollment at a local community college?)
Do anything you can to replace your study hall periods by actual classes.
Also, prep for the SAT or the ACT, do NOT go to the test “cold”. It’s a specific format you have to train for.</p>
<p>Okay, I spoke with my guidance counselor, and she managed to get me down to two study halls, and I elected to take Government instead of College Government in order to get AP Psychology back! I also talked to her about taking APs online, and she had no idea that was even a possibility! I’m looking at finding another AP to take during one of my study halls in order to improve my trancript! Also, I have taken the SAT once cold, and only managed an 1850. I do plan to take it at least one or two more times, along with possibly the ACT.</p>
<p>AColby - you have not told us what your academic goals are. If you want to attend a regional public university, then your current course load is fine. Making the suggested changes will make you more competitive for scholarships, but it is more important to keep your grades up and raise your test scores. AP are always good because they can earn college credit.</p>
<p>However, if your goal is a more selective private or public flagship college, you should try to fill all your study hall periods, either with core academic classes or an outside activity as suggested by niceday. This will demonstrate your academic curiosity, pursuit of challenges and course rigor. If still available, I would recommend signing up for both Spanish 1 and Precalc.</p>
<p>My dream goal would be to be admitted to a private school like the University Of Rochester, but other schools I am considering are the University Of Hartford, SUNY Albany, Antioch College, and Siena College. My intended major has not been decided, but it will be somewhere along the lines of Sociology, Psychology,Journalism,or Anthropology.Also, I did consider taking Spanish 1 , Statistics,and Precalc, all of which were only offered on periods that were already full on my schedule.</p>
<p>With your schedule as it stands now, you’d be very, very disadvantaged in relation to others who also want to get into any of the schools you named ^
Has your counselor been able to figure out if you can take AP classes online? Is there dual enrollment with a local college/community college?</p>
<p>Sorry for taking so long! I am very aware of the disadvantage I’m at with that schedule, but I did get myself to only one study hall a day.However, in order to do so, I had to drop College Gov’t for regular Government, but was then able to take AP Psychology. My counselor, shockingly, had no idea about even the existence of online APs, but I plan to look into it myself. As far as dual enrollment is concerned, I am taking English 103 through a local community college.</p>