<p>It's time for me to start planning my junior year and I'm being pressured to continue into Dance Company for the next two years at my school. I feel that William and Mary would be more impressed if I was taking an other AP or Honors class instead of another fine art. So far I have 2 Fine Arts credits. Would it be beneficial for me to take another two years of dance or is it unnecessary?</p>
<p>There are several threads here about what W & M is looking for in terms of a rigorous curriculum. What kind of APs or Honors courses have you taken so far, and how many APs are you likely to graduate with? And, a related question: how many APs does your hs offer? Colleges evaluate applicants in terms of how they challenge themselves within their own school’s offerings. If your hs offers APs in sciences, math, history, English, and languages, W & M will want to see that you have taken several of these courses. And if your school offers no APs, W & M (of course) won’t hold it against you that you haven’t taken them. </p>
<p>A few years ago, the W & M alumni magazine posted an article (<a href=“https://alumni.wm.edu/magazine/spgsum_2007/feature_5.shtml[/url]”>https://alumni.wm.edu/magazine/spgsum_2007/feature_5.shtml</a> ) in which an admissions official talked about having five admissions bases covered: bio, chem, physics, calculus, and 4-5 years of a foreign language. The article also mentioned looking for 2 APs during junior year and 4 during senior year (provided the school offers that many). My d (also a dancer) did not take physics and had only 4 years of a foreign language, and was accepted; however, she did have 5 APs, including Bio and Chem, and 2 other college-level courses (SUPA). </p>
<p>W & M isn’t known for its dance or fine arts departments. It’s much more of an academically-focused school. If you enjoy dance and want to be in the dance company, by all means, do so! W & M and other selective schools are looking for students who have followed their passions and interests. But if taking dance would come at the expense of pursuing a challenging curriculum, I’d advise against it.</p>
<p>I agree with what frazzled said.</p>
<p>The other posts are very informative. What’s key is that you continue to be enrolled in core classes each year you’re in high school (English, math, science, social science) and that you do enroll in some of the rigorous courses made available to you (such as APs). Taking electives is fine and encouraged if they’re something in which you have a personal interest but make sure that the academic part of your program is covered as well.</p>
<p>My schedule for next year is…
English 11 AP
Modern World History AP
Comparative Government AP
Precalculus
Chemistry GT(gifted and talented)
French IV Honors</p>
<p>I don’t think either would interfere with my academic courses.
3 AP courses junior year is good right?
I’ve always been told that schools wanted “well rounded students” which is why I was considering continuing with dance and taking Dance Company next year, but if I did journalism I would be webmaster which is something I can also put on my application as leadership.</p>
<p>It’s great to take 3 APs in your junior year. What APs do you plan to take as a senior? Does your school offer AP Chem, and is the gifted and talented Chem class a pre-req for that? </p>
<p>Perhaps it’s just the way I read it, but your first post sounded pretty ambiguous about continuing to dance (being pressured to continue into the Dance Company, asking if it was unnecessary) - if you prefer journalism to dance, do that instead. What will you want to study at W & M? It has a dance minor, which my d is enjoying, but no advanced ballet offerings, which she misses. One last nosy question 
- are you in or out of state?</p>
<p>It used to be popular to say that schools wanted “well-rounded” students, but I don’t really think that’s true any longer. Schools want well-rounded *classes<a href=“or%20student%20bodies”>/i</a>, made up of people with diverse interests, some of whom are very lopsided in those interests - i.e., they’re all about music or languages or service or dance. Sure, a genuinely BWRK (bright well-rounded kid, in CC-speak) with great stats is appealing to adcoms, but those adcoms are looking for academically qualified lopsided kids, too. Hope W&M Admission will comment on this.</p>
<p>As a senior I’ll probably take 3 AP classes: English 12 AP, French V AP(maybe), and Human Geography AP. AP Chem isn’t offered at my school. GT in Maryland is like AP, but with out the AP Test if that makes sense. It’s a weighted merit class.</p>
<p>I’ve been dancing for almost 10 years now, so I’ve been contemplating a dance minor for a while now, but I’m still undecided. If I am accepted to W & M, I’d hope to major in International Relations. And I’m out of state ): . I’ve been told that W & M won’t mind if I take 4 years of a fine art, but I feel that since I’m out of state it’s different.</p>