I am a rising high school senior, and trying to decide what classes to take next year. I have always taken the most rigorous course-load (5 AP classes and an honors class junior year). Senior year, I am looking to take:
AP Calculus BC
Biology (I would take AP but you need to take regular bio, and I have taken AP Physics 1 & 2 the past 2 years)
English 4
AP Spanish Language
AP Human Geography
Voices (a select a capella group)
Study Hall (my counselor highly recommends having a study hall for college app purposes, plus basically EVERY senior takes a study hall in my school)
Then for my last class, I am deciding to either take Concert Choir (the general chorus class), or AP Computer Science A. It may seem like an obvious choice at first glance. But, in order to be in Voices, you need to take another ensemble (which would be concert choir). Technically, I can finesse my out of it, but it is not recommended. Also, I have heard that my AP Computer Science A class is not a very good class at all. The teacher does not teach much, it is a LOT of self learning, and she still grades very harshly. My question is, would it hurt my application if I took Concert Choir instead of AP Computer Science A. I am planning to major in Statistics/Data Science. I have already taken every other math AP course as well as AP Statistics (and have gotten A’s in all of them). I am looking to apply to Northeastern ED, just for reference of the difficulty/types of schools I’m looking at. Assuming the rest of my application fits the standards for Northeastern, would taking Concert Choir (and having 3 AP classes), really make a difference than taking AP Computer Science A (and having 4 AP classes)?
Unless you are hoping to be a CS major, it won’t matter.
Why AP HUGE senior year? That’s considered a fluff AP by most. Seniors should be taking AP Economics or AP Government, maybe AP Psychology. Are those offered by your school?
@Groundwork2022 AP HUGE is the only AP social studies left to take. I would LOVE to take AP Psychology, but our school does not offer it. Our school does not offer AP Government either, and I took AP Economics junior year. It’s either AP HUGE or no social studies (which some students end up doing).
In general I’d opt for Chorus. If you have four years of chorus it shows consistency and participation in that activity which is nice and you seem to enjoy it.
You may want to first check with your guidance counselor to be sure that taking one less AP class will not lower the schedule rigor that will be on his/her recommendation to colleges (I doubt one elective AP class will make a difference but it never hurts to be sure).
@PurpleTitan technically I do not need a social science of bio, but I feel like it definitely looks good for colleges to have all 4 years of the core subject areas.
@happy1 I’ll check with my counselor. She just recommends that I have a study hall
IDK about dropping the study hall especially since college app season can be unexpectedly hard for some people depending on how fast/easily college app writing (which is very different from writing taught in school) comes to them.
Is Biology required for graduation? I would replace that with AP CompSci. You might be able to skip an intro compsci class in college with it.
@ms50263 The fall is my least busy season for sure. Its still busy but definitely not as busy as the winter or spring. That’s why I was considering dropping the study hall as an option. Also, biology is not required for graduation. Technically, I could only take English and one random elective, then take 6 study halls and I’d be good for graduation because I’ve doubled up on so many subjects in the previous years. Do you feel like not having a year of a natural science could impact my application?
@PurpleTitan I agree there definitely is time outside of school I jut want to show the colleges that I am taking a rigorous course-load, so maybe the best option would be to drop the study hall.
I seriously doubt not taking bio matters. It would only matter if you were pursuing a bio-focused major. If you feel you have enough time come Fall, you can opt to drop the study hall then. But I remember when I was writing apps, study hall was a good time to have friends look over my essays/give feedback. Just a thought.
@ms50263 I’ll definitely talk to my counselor about bio. I agree because EVERYONE in my grade (well almost everyone) takes a study hall senior year because of applications.
I’ll preface this by saying I’m not an expert on Northeastern or Data Science, so my answer is more general.
I think it’s pretty unusual to graduate without taking any Bio at all. That’s probably a required class in 99% of HS.
Human Geo was the favorite class in HS of both of my kids who took it. They thought it was just interesting material. I realize that will vary from student to student, but that was our house’s perspective.
As long as your GC agrees that you still get the “most rigorous” box checked, your schedule looks plenty tough to me.
Life is too short to take an unnecessary class from a crappy teacher. I’ve done it, my kids have all done it. No one has ever not regretted it.
The advice I have been given is that it is good to have your core classes every year, even if you have doubled up earlier.
I think the music makes you sound more interesting than Comp Sci. I would assume Northeastern would have intro Comp Sci classes to catch you up if necessary.