<p>my teacher whos really focused on us getting into college recommended that we dont take a free period. to those who do not know how free period works, u basically get the last period (which is 6th for me) off and get to leave school early. she told us that taking a free period off will affect ur college admissions. is this true? will having all APs or taking a class at a local community college and having the free period make that up?</p>
<p>I'm curious about this as well. I have a free period every day at my school, and I'm already over the credit limit for the year.</p>
<p>Well, I don't think it should matter if you have one free period. I know a few people who got into Stanford with a free period. As long as you have a challenging course load and meet the reqs to graduate you should be fine.</p>
<p>It's not a good idea to take the minimum amount of courses even if they're AP's, but one free period is fine.</p>
<p>I had 4/week when I applied. It doesn't hurt if you're taking a rigorous courseload and clearly not padding your schedule or taking like, basket weaving 101.</p>
<p>when saying padding ur schedule what do u mean? aha.</p>
<p>well i was thinking about taking all APs but i dont want to make my senior year full of work. and going to a community college would be the same as not having a free period. i do want to go to UCLA, but if the free period affects me then i have to reconsider it cuz my GPA isnt that good (3.7 W GPA after sophomore year, now a junior).</p>
<p>well, at my school anyways, all competent (as in ap/ib level) students have no logical classes to take 7th period beginning their junior year, although 3/4 of the students have a 7th period. if theres nothing you can take, thats definitely a reason to have a free period. at the same time, if there are classes that you can take, the ideal situation of course is to take them; you dont want colleges to think that youre taking a less-than-normal number of classes. overall, your goal should be to lose any rigor that would be fraught with ur schedule if you have a free period. in that case, then its fine.</p>
<p>Free periods waste a class slot.</p>
<p>Seriously. Free periods don't hurt you directly, but they hurt you indirectly. </p>
<p>You of course, want to take all the courses possible. That's the only way to look hardcore to admissions. Try to aim for AP National Scholar by the end of junior year -- you will have to self-study some exams, of course.</p>
<p>Which schedule looks more "rigorous"? 4APs and an extra class or 4 APs with another lunch period?</p>
<p>5 APs, of course! </p>
<p>You bloody fools. I would have loved to have had all-AP classes. (So instead of 43 advanced standing credits, I would have had 60, or something.) Don't waste your opportunities!</p>
<p>socalsoccerdude:</p>
<p>I had a free period senior year and will be attending UCLA this fall. However, I took a load of AP classes senior year.</p>
<p>ok, since my post gets disregarded for the most part...</p>
<p>socaldude, assuming that you want to go to a uc (go socal woot) it really doesnt matter. ive noticed some of my friends who take 4 classes can still get into a ucla/berkeley, even those who sometimes have no rigorous classes senior year. with a high 3.0something / 4.0 uc gpa, you can get into almost every uc so long as ur classes are normal and ur test scores are decent. </p>
<p>that being said, beyond the uc system, so much would be expected of you as a student. at my school, i have seen first-hand that students who dont take as many ap/ib classes as they can arent really smart and theyre just trying to survive. if you were, say, an ivy hopeful, a lack of true rigor would be significantly detrimental to your application.</p>
<p>that being said, i draw to my original point that for ucs, the rigor aspect of ur courses arent considered very heavily.</p>
<p>galoisen: yeah im trying to aim for that. me and this one other guy want to be the first ones in our schools to do that by the end of our junior years, but thats not mainly the reason. its for the admissions. </p>
<p>trickysocksman: yeah ive seen that happened, but i just want a good chance. ill work hard for my SAT(i still have a lot of opportunities) and look over the class options i have for senior year. </p>
<p>and what glass-eyes said made me feel like taking all APs and have the free period off. but u mustve had a good UC GPA to get into UCLA. thats what i dont have although i plan to get it to the average UCLA admission GPA by the end of my junior year.</p>
<p>Padding your schedule would be like filling it with easy, elective classes. If you're not doing that, your courseload is rigorous, and you're not lacking any required courses for admission, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a free period.</p>
<p>Free periods are one of the best parts of upperclass years. Don't underestimate how great it is to have a slot to just unwind in, do homework, hang out with friends, get coffee, etc. in. I don't believe they hurt you indirectly, because I believe adcoms are looking for kids who exist in a world outside of academics, not just kids who fill their schedule with APs. A free period doesn't make you look lazy, nor does it mean your courseload isn't rigorous enough.</p>
<p>It depends on how you handle it. In the case of my S, a junior, he has a "home study" for 5th period. (Sixth period and after is for the water polo team.) In fact, he does not come home. He uses the time, usually, to do homework in the library OR study for his on line class in linear algebra, which is going to be considered equivalent to an AP class for credit/GPA. Once CTY sends info to the school at the end of the two semesters, it will be translated into the credits for graduation.</p>
<p>S plans to do the same senior year with multivariable calculus. In this case, given the timing of college applications, it will show as "home study." However, his GC will handle this in her letter, and we'll also ensure that CTY provides info on class enrollment until he gets those credits at the first semester.</p>
<p>Bottom line: it will be covered, just have to dot those "i"s and cross those "t"s.</p>