I am currently an incoming senior and the thought of the college application process absolutely terrifies me, so I’ve been extremely worried about my schedule for next year. At my school, if you were able to test into the College English 101/103 course, then technically you do not have to take an English class your senior year due to it counting as two years of the four year requirement. So my question would be, would it look bad if I did not take that fourth year, and as a result had an open sixth period? I fear that the choices to pass up an English class AND a sixth course could be very detrimental.
However, I have maintained straight A’s, have a 4.76 GPA (last time I checked, at least), scored fairly well on the ACT and SAT and have taken mostly honors, AP, or college courses. So, to continue that trend of rigor, I have signed up for all AP or dual enrollment courses (with the exception of a regular class to complete my third year of a foreign language) and I was really hoping that I could use a free sixth period to work on college applications and to help manage extreme stress/mental health as I struggle with it immensely during the school year. And the way I see it, doesn’t testing into the actual dual enrollment college course your junior year portray your high level in the language, meaning you should focus your time elsewhere (for me, it would be replacing the English class with the AP Psych course I wasn’t able to fit in my schedule this past school year, especially since I’m considering it as a major)?
I am not set on which schools I ABSOLUTELY want to go to, but I definitely plan on applying to, and am interested in, universities such as UCLA, UCI, and possibly even some schools to the east. At this point, I don’t even care about the credits transferring; I would just hate for exemption from one type of core class and skipping a period leading to the ruining of my chances at being admitted to such schools. Nevertheless, my schedule is not yet set in stone and I plan on contacting the schools as well, but I feel like hearing feedback from others with personal experience or the outcomes of people with similar situations would help ease the panic that comes with college admission. Thank you in advance!
I’m not understanding the question. Unless I’m misunderstanding the question, the simple act of testing into a class does not count as taking the class. However, if you take 2 years of HS English and 2 semesters of college English and the HS counts all that as 4 years for diploma requirements and the prospective colleges accept that as fulfilling their recommendations, you’d be fine. However, as always, it’s best to check with the colleges in question.
Alternatively, to help handle the stress, you could swap one AP class with a reg/honors course. The GPA hit will be minuscule, and it will not have an effect on your overall course rigor.
Listen to skieurope, his advice is sound. You could just go ahead and take an english class anyway, if you are that concerned, or aks your high school counselor, AND have a free sixth period. Colleges don’t punish you for having a study hall. Not Harvard, not UCLA.
I am concerned that you are panicking and you haven’t even begun the process yet. You need to breathe. You will get into college. You DO NOT need to take all AP classes. That is a myth. If you Californian, are looking at UC…, and your grades are already there, and you already have a transcript full of rigorous classes, then I will say, “congrats and welcome to UC…” You are not doing yourself any favors by freaking out about something that hasn’t even begun yet.
It’s good that you are not set on schools you absolutely want to go to. Don’t be. You might not get into the school of your dreams. Many people don’t. Assume you won’t, and if you do, it’s a bonus. Apply to a balanced list of colleges that you like, and would be happy to attend. That’s the key to having a successful application experience.
@skieurope First, thank you for your reply! I apologize for the confusion, I meant that if you test into and take the College English 101/103 course then my high school counts those two semesters of being in the college class (and passing!) as two years of taking an English. So yes, technically I have fulfilled the high school’s four year requirement as I have already completed 2 years of high school classes and the two semesters of that college course. I guess my concerns lie with whether or not they fulfill the colleges’ requirements, as you said. But, of course I will still contact them. (:
As for the switching of my courses, I’m pretty much locked in to what I have since I’ve either already taken the regular/honors course my earlier years of high school, they don’t offer any, or it would be a step down from what I’ve already taken (ex. I took AP Calc AB this last school year, and some of the only other options for me would be something like AP Stats or a regular Trig class, but why take Trig if I already completed AP Calc, you know?).
Also, to add to my original post, another reason why I would rather not take a sixth period is because it’s one less class to worry about, one less class that can affect my GPA, and if I were to take a sixth period it probably would have no relevancy to my possible career choices. For example, if I were to take a sixth period, it’d probably be another irrelevant, regular elective, such as culinary, even though I’m not looking into that field. So I figure it’s better to not take it at all and not risk getting below an A, having it take time away from my other courses, and just having some random, space-filling elective on my transcripts right?
@Lindagaf Thank you for your reply as well. (: I most definitely am going to talk to a high school counselor during registration time, because my counselor isn’t exactly the most credible so I’d like to hear other counselors’ feedback. But you’re right, if anything I may just take the English class, and pass up the Psych class another year (considering how there are some issues regarding the teacher and I don’t want that affecting me or my grades).
I most definitely am freaking out, but I thank you for your comforting words and reassurance, I guess the only reason why I’m piling on such hard classes is to compensate for not playing a sport (only because I decided I should focus on studies in high school). But, as I started progressing through high school and heard more and more about what colleges are looking for, participating in a sport seemed to be one of the most prominent qualifiers, and is one that I am lacking. Thus, I pile on the AP/college courses, continue with my handful of clubs and other extracurriculars, and hope that’s enough to counteract not having academic AND athletic achievement. That’s why I’m so concerned with my classes and an open period on my transcript. >.<
Lots of kids don’t play a sport. My own D got into eight excellent colleges and she doesn’t play a sport. She had a few clubs, a musical instrument, and bits of other things. There is no benefit to trying to be in a hundred activites. They like to see a kid committed to a few things and being active outside of school and homework. Piling on extra hard classes doesn’t compensate for a lack of a sport. You won’t be penalized for not being an athlete.
Re your question about not taking an extra class to risk not getting an A…take an elective you are INTERESTED in. If you are interested, you will probably get an A without trying. My D took Art. She enjoys art. I am certain no college didn’t admit her because she took an art class. Surely there must be something you are interested in that isn’t intense and super academic? There isn’t a digital tech class, or graphic design, or engineering, or fashion, or creative writing, or sociology, or something that piques your interest? My D had four APs this year. That’s plenty rigorous. She loved her art class because she got to focus on something thing she enjoyed doing and it made a real change in the day. Colleges don’t like academic drones who do nothing but high level classes for the sake of trying to look impressive. Of course, this is only relevant if you decide to take an extra class rather than have a study hall.
Can I just say that you might look back and realize you were stressed over nothing, and that you needlessly forced yourself to take an insanely rigorous course load? Conventional wisdom on CC says that there is no benefit to taking more than 6-8 AP courses. Plenty of kids, too many, load up on APs thinking it will impress adcoms. It won’t. What will impress them is a rigorous school record that isn’t crazy, combined with good grades, good test scores, great essays, great teacher recs, and ECs that give them an idea of who you are. If you are just applying to UCs, you are already in. Leave a little time in your senior year to have fun and enjoy being at the top of the totem pole. Good luck!