What are the best courses to take during high school?

<p>Obviously you should take core classes like science, math, English, foreign language, etc. And AP classes are important too, of course. But what about electives? What are the best elective classes you could take in high school to prepare for college or the real world? Or just to take because they are fun? I'm sure most of you on here have taken full loads of all AP classes and such, but for all of you who take some electives, what have been your favorites?</p>

<p>An elective is any class that isn’t required, not just a class that isn’t in a core academic subject. I don’t really like the random half-credit classes my school has because they’re usually full of annoying/disruptive people. I’ve taken two philosophy classes and a creative writing class at a local university…those are fun. </p>

<p>Any kind that you like. It really depends on the person. A lot of people at my school take criminal justice, because it’s supposedly a really fun class, they watch movies a lot of the time, and it’s a dual-enrollment class. I personally like journalism the best (for a multitude of reasons). A lot of people I know also enjoyed taking psychology.</p>

<p>Biotech Engineering, TA, Web Page Design, and Current Social Issues have been my favorite electives. </p>

<p>TA has been particularly awesome - It’s with my AP Physics teacher during his plan period. He has 4 TA’s that period, so we often race around the room in chairs, we’ve had a party with a pinata at the end of a particularly stressful week, he built a tent in the corner of the room for us to take a nap… It’s bee pretty freaking awesome. All the TA’s that have to make copies, fill vending machines, and staple papers are super jealous.</p>

<p>Biotech has been really fun and it looks good for college. I’ve been able to make a stem cell model, yeastmobile, aquaponics system, and a prosthetic hand in this class. I have a lot of fun with all the projects!!</p>

<p>Current Social Issues was great as well, especially since I like debating. Would have been more fun if my class wasn’t so homogenous though - everybody was a republican except one! </p>

<p>Good suggestions, thank you. I agree that most of the semester classes are filled with disruptive/annoying people. However, this is the only amount of free time I have in my schedule, unless I decide to take out astronomy, which I would really like to take if possible. There aren’t many computer science classes at my school, since nobody ever signs up for them (so they never run). I’ve thought about taking psychology, which I think would be pretty interesting. I’m very interested in sciences in general, so anything related to that, I’m sure I would enjoy. </p>

<p>Would you suggest maybe taking a class at the local community college? </p>

<p>The reason I have an extra semester class is because I was originally signed up for a senior project (which is basically where you get the last period of the day off and you go off and do some kind of supervised project), but one thing led to another, and I’m not able to do that anymore. So I need to find another option. I’d like to avoid taking a study hall (for the longest time, I have refused to take a study hall. I feel like it will look bad to colleges), but since I’m taking 5 AP’s next year, and have a lot of extra curricular activities, I’m considering it more now.</p>

<p>Classes that I have loved/love:
Art History, Astronomy, AP US Hist, AP Bio, AP Gov’t, AP Lang, AP Lit, French
Definitely take classes that interest you, especially AP classes! </p>

<p>I’ve never taken a CC course but if you want to be ahead of the game, then go for it. It sounds likes it could be a good experience.</p>

<p>I should probably also add what my schedule will be for this next year, in addition to what I’m in this year.</p>

<p>Junior year: </p>

<p>AP Calculus BC
Honors English 11
Physics I
AP Gov’t and Politics
Honors Biology
Jazz Band
Concert Band
Choir</p>

<p>Senior Year:</p>

<p>AP Stats
AP English Literature
AP Biology
AP Physics 2
AP Spanish IV (will take Spanish III at CC over the summer)
Concert Band
Choir
Astronomy (1st semester)/Elective (2nd semester)</p>