Hi everyone, I am a Junior scheduling my courses for senior year. I know that colleges want to see consistency or an upward trend in grades/course difficulty so I’d like your input on a question that I have-
In freshman year, I took two AP courses. I scored around a 93 unweighted in my classes
In sophomore year, I took four AP courses with almost no study halls or lunches. I scored around a 96 unweighted in my classes.
This year I took six AP courses with almost no study halls or lunches, as well as TAing for my AP chem teacher from last year. I have an average of 95 for most of my classes.
Next year I want to have senior privilege, and I really don’t have the motivation to take rigorous courses which I am not super interested in. There are 8 periods in my school day and previously I had been filling up my schedule completely. Would it be bad if I only took:
1- some sort of art or music elective (to complete requirements)
2- AP English
3 - Multivariable Calc(because I am taking BC this year)
4 - AP Physics C
5- Organic Chem(Honors)
6 - and some other non-AP/honors elective like philosophy or journalism or something?
I’ve already taken literally every other high level course that interests me. I want to apply as a physics/engineering major, but I haven’t taken AP bio or AP comp sci A- should I add either of these? Thanks for your input.
MultiV Calc and Orgo are generally not considered the sign of a senior slacking off, so I wouldn’t sweat it too much.
The answer could change depending on a few factors including:
How selective are the schools you’re planning to apply to?
Rigor matters at highly selective schools. At less selective schools, not so much.
How does your transcript look compared to others in your HS in terms of rigor when taking into consideration the schools you’re planning to apply to?
Where does your GPA and standardized test scores put you relative to other students at your HS taking into consideration the selectivity of the schools you’re planning to apply to?
Are large numbers of your HS classmates applying to the same highly selective schools you are?
If you’re in a school where a very large cohort of kids apply to MIT, Harvard, etc (if you’re in NYC, for example, Stuy and a very few others would fit the bill) and you’re applying there as well, you will be judged directly against peers from your HS. Where you fit in will matter - a lot. Otherwise, not so much.
I think there’s a difference between less rigor and non-rigorous. Slacking off to a non-rigorous schedule would be a problem. But taking post-AP math, two AP courses, and having exhausted AP foreign language would likely not raise concerns, IMO, even technically being “less rigorous”.