<p>I don't know what to do.
What I want to take is:
AP comp gov
AP statistics
AP Environmental Science
Leadership
Dance 1
English
Econ/ Law</p>
<p>My counselor wants me to take:
AP French Lang
AP Statistics
AP Environmental Science
AP Gov/ Econ
Leadership
Dance 1
English</p>
<p>What do you think I should do?
Keep in mine I have multiple ECs to keep up with as well as leadership positions (club president, youth and gov vp, senior class sec)</p>
<p>I don't want to overwhelm myself but I want to look good to colleges.</p>
<p>don’t push yourself more than you’re willing. colleges want to see you thrive in challenges. it’s certainly better than doing simply “above average” in them</p>
<p>good luck</p>
<p>By “colleges” I’ll assume very selective colleges. For these:</p>
<p>AP French Lang [core course]
AP Statistics [a better choice is calculus AB, or BC]
AP Environmental Science [a better choice is a lab science course – chem, bio or physics]
AP Gov/ Econ [core course History/Social Science]
Dance 1
English [core course]</p>
<p>The core course groups are: English, History/Social Science, Foreign language, Math, Lab Science.</p>
<p>Not all courses need to be AP. So the lab science course can be honors, or even standard track.</p>
<p>I don’t have any insight into what you’ve already taken, so some of these may not make sense. I didn’t list “Leadership” since that is specific to your school, and I don’t have insight what it entails.</p>
<p>If you’re planning to apply to less selective colleges, then either your schedule or your counselor’s will work.</p>
<p>So the questions you are asking:
Should you take “Econ/Law” + AP Comparative Govt
Or take AP French + AP Gov/econ</p>
<p>I highly recommend AP French if you’re talented in French and the teacher doesn’t have a rep for being a slave driver. If this isn’t the case, take your little “econ/law” class I suppose.</p>
<p>I’d also recommend AP Gov/Econ over AP Comparative Govt and the regular level Econ class, but if you have some convincing reason to take AP Comparative Govt, go for it.</p>
<p>The question is how important is it to you that your guidance counselor check the box on the recommendation form that says you took the ‘most rigorous possible’ schedule. If you aren’t aiming at schools where that check is going to matter, or you already know that you’re not in that category, than it’s not a problem. </p>
<p>There may be a reason to stick with the French as well: Many schools have a language requirement which you can opt out of if you have achieved a certain level of language proficiency. Of course, if you are a native speaker of another language, or plan to apply to schools that don’t have a language requirement, or just can’t stick the idea of another year of Madame, then let it go.</p>
<p>If time is the issue, take a hard look at all those ECs and figure out which ones are the most important to you. It’s better to demonstrate some serious commitment to a few activities than doing a lot of face time at many in which you are only somewhat interested.</p>