<p>I'm applying to colleges up to Ivy's. The problem is, with APUSH, AP CALC AB, and varsity basketball, I had to drop AP Bio. I'm currently in my junior year.
What I plan to do is take a biology class at a community college, as well as another "easy" science such as environmental science. I heard that classes at community colleges are easier than AP classes; will colleges know this and will it hurt me in admissions that I took an easier class at a community college?
Also, I am wondering when to take the Bio and when to take the ES. If I take Bio during next semester, I would probably be able to take the AP test and earn a 4. However, my reasoning was that if I took bio in the summer, it would ensure that I could focus on all my grades in second semester junior year, and then I would be able to spend the summer to get a good subject test score for bio. The only download for this would be that I wouldn't take the AP test, and also colleges might think that I'm taking the easy way out?
Do you guys think overall that colleges will know that I wasn't able to maintain good grades by taking AP Bio at my high school? Your insight is appreciated. thanks.</p>
<p>Sheesh, don’t you have a guidance counselor at your school? That’s the person you should be talking to.</p>
<p>But, look, colleges know that scheduling problems happen. And if it wasn’t a scheduling problem, and you dropped AP Bio just because it was too much work, they’ll likely know that also. They can compare your course list with what they’ve seen from your high school before.</p>
<p>That having been said, they also know that it takes some real effort to go out and find a way to do a class outside of school that you couldn’t do in school. And that’s what you’re doing. So that will count in your favor.</p>
<p>I think your plan sounds like a good one. And you might, as an alternative, be able to find an online AP Bio course over the summer. You wouldn’t have the test result yet, of course, but that’s not really what’s important. So, if you can find an affordable online AP bio class , then that might be an option. If not, then go with the community college class. (And I’m serious about it being affordable. Don’t spend more than you can afford just to get the AP designation - it’s not worth it.)</p>
<p>Will the community college grades be on your high school transcript or will you be submitting them separately?</p>
<p>If you don’t take a course no college cares. What they care about is what your counselor will say on the counselor rec about your courseload - most demanding, very demanding etc. You can see the flag they have to check on top right side of the attached link.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.du.edu/apply/media/documents/2012CASSR.pdf[/url]”>http://www.du.edu/apply/media/documents/2012CASSR.pdf</a></p>
<p>So as dodgermom says, only your counselor knows.</p>
<p>Thanks texaspg. They will be on my high school transcript, but instead of being under “junior year,” it will be under a separate box under that says “name of college” along with the date which I took the courses. Will this hurt me?
Also, since I’ve never really talked to my guidance counselor, I’ve heard from the Assistant Principal who is friends with my parents that generally the guidance counselors just submit a general rec letter. However, if you do well on the PSAT and get national merit, they will actually spend time writing a genuine. How much overall do you think the guidance counselor letter has on applications? Thanks</p>
<p>Check out the form. They “have to” flag the strength of your schedule which is clearly the question you are asking.</p>
<p>thanks for the reply. it was kind of both a scheduling problem and a problem of too much work. i dropped bio; however, there were legitimately no other science classes in the school that were available for me to take. i would have been willing to take something decent such as physics h, but it wasnt available. im just wondering if i still complete all my sciences outside of school during the summer when i have lots of free time, if it would strongly hurt me b/c colleges would think im being lazy. i reasoned that by taking the subject tests it would show that i actually understood the material.</p>
<p>Taking a demanding schedule includes taking classes outside of school. Like I said, they’ve all seen scheduling problems before. Some kids just let it slide. Others go out of their way to find another way to take the course. Sounds like you fall in the latter category . . . and that’s a good thing.</p>
<p>Touch base with your guidance counselor, but, like I said, it sounds like your plan is a good one.</p>
<p>And, FWIW, my kid took several classes online that weren’t available at his school. They weren’t added to his transcript or factored into his GPA, but the transcript from his online program was appended to his high school transcript, so the colleges could see what he had done and what his grades were. As long as the info’s there, that’s what counts.</p>
<p>Regarding GCs, they can be highly important, particularly for the elite schools, but most of them are overworked and sort of generic, much like their letters. Truth be told, top quality GCs are often the difference between the top rated public and private high schools and your garden variety good quality suburban HS. </p>
<p>At D’s HS, the college GCs aren’t even called that - we have GCs for the regular high school scheduling and advising, then we have the college advisors who do nothing but work with kids planning for college and doing the whole application thing, plus interact with the schools and advocate for students at those schools. The GCs are pretty worthless for anything other than a scheduling problem and we stopped using them years ago. We just went to the college advisors who are far more informed and tied in to what top level kids need - D’s entire HS course map was plotted out by sophomore year by her college advisor and with only a few minor adjustments, we’ve stuck to it all the way through.</p>
<p>I know I recommend the book a lot, but if you really want to see how a college advisor/GC at a top private HS and an admission officer at an elite LAC interact and can influence where a student goes, read “The Gatekeepers”.</p>
<p>[The</a> Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College: Jacques Steinberg: Amazon.com](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/The-Gatekeepers-Admissions-Process-Premier/dp/0142003085/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1384790568&sr=8-2&keywords=the+gatekeepers]The”>http://www.amazon.com/The-Gatekeepers-Admissions-Process-Premier/dp/0142003085/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1384790568&sr=8-2&keywords=the+gatekeepers)</p>
<p>The Gatekeepers was a great read and very educational. I still recall going on a tour of a LAC back east soon after reading this book, and a mom from Greenwich CT spilling her worries to me about her son’s admissions prospects - going on and on about student B she knows who had a 2300 and straight As and didn’t get in to XX, etc. I smiled at her and asked “Well, was he interesting?” She looked at me blankly, she just didn’t get it…</p>
<p>dodgersmom, your kid must either attend a small school or you have the funding for a lot of guidance counselors…where my DD attends? It’d take her a week to get the appt. and then the counselor would have to be reminded who she is…and then maybe - maybe - she would have concrete advice.</p>
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The problem is you placed priority on an EC over your academics. If you have a desire to be competitive at the ivy level, unless you are a recruitable athlete, then course rigor and grades are paramount over your sport. If you are a recruited athlete you need to be statistically admissible so you really need both, athletics and academics. Ivy, and ivy calibre, expect you to be able to handle a rigorous academic schedule as well as your ECs. Spreading your academics out over the summer doesn’t show the same ability to perform at a high level with many things going on. Your peers that will be applying will have the whole package.</p>
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<p>Wow. I disagree. Totally.</p>
<p>First, some form of athletics is probably required at the OP’s school. Second, he’s good enough to have made varsity, so why the heck shouldn’t he do it? And, third, he’s honoring a commitment to his team . . . which, in the long run, says a lot more about his character than an “A” in AP Bio.</p>
<p>I don’t think we are as far apart as you may think dodgersmom. I think it may have been better for the OP to get a B in AP Bio, and stick with his EC. I don’t think it’s all or nothing. I can’t tell from the OPs post. I may be misunderstanding it, but it sounds like he may be taking less then a full schedule. Dropping an academic course completely in favor of an EC is not the answer IMO. If I’m off base on how I’m reading this then I apologize.</p>
<p>One of my kids got overwhelmed second semester of his Jr year with APs, SATs, and a very demanding academic EC. He worked with his coach and they decided that semester he would take a less leading role, giving someone else a chance to shine. His hours would be less so he could focus on schoolwork, but he didn’t bail on his team either. You have to communicate and be realistic about what you can do. Sure, if he’d dropped his EC he could have gotten better grades easily. If he had dropped an AP he could have stayed 100% at his EC. Neither of those choices would have been good for him overall. Sometimes there are compromises to be made.</p>
<p>Don’t assume that CC biology will be easier. It’s a lot of information coming in half the amount of time. Your overall grade can be based on 2 or 3 tests with no “homework grade” as a cushion. The college sciences can have certain pre-reqs… have you taken AP chem? (college level chem is a pre-reg for bio at our local community college.) </p>
<p>My daughter took an oceanography class last year at the community college and I do think there were kids who thought it would be an “easy science.” Half the class dropped due to difficulty and of the other half, only two were able to get an “A.” My daughter was one of those “A’s” but she had to actually work for it unlike what she’d experienced in high school classes.</p>
<p>It’ll depend on the quality of your local community college but don’t make assumptions.</p>