Recently i have come across the dilemma of choosing my courses for next year , keep in mind i want to take the classes that will give me the best chance at getting into a college with a sub 50% acceptance rate.
Stay at catholic school and take; honors english, H history, H alg 2, Ap Chem, honors spanish 3
OR
Go to public school and take; AP english lang, APUSH, CP Concepts of Physics, CP Alg 2 and H Spanish 3
Which would look better for harder colleges and why??
Public school for sure. I don’t know maybe I’m bias though.
does it matter if i have cps on my transcript instead of honors despite having more maps there?
aps*
What is CP?
CP is college prep, so standard classes.
Got it. Your application will be assessed in context of what your school offers. If your current school offers only 7 APs, and a nearby public school offers 20, your app is not going to be compared to those kids. If you are doing well in your current school, going to a different school for the sake of a better application is not going to help you. If anything, it might make your application a little weaker. Remember you will have to submit letters of rec from teachers and your counselor. Those are very important. I would think that if you are a good student and are confident that your grades and letters of rec will be strong, I would stay put.
Changing school is also very disruptive socially, in terms of friends, etc… Do you need to rock that boat? That could also cause your grades to drop, and that is a bad idea. On the other hand, maybe if things aren’t great at your current school, going to a different school might be a good thing, especially if you are unhappy at your current school. Do not switch schools thinking more APs will help your app. They won’t.
Are you strong and interested in science? Do you want to pursue science in college? If so, taking regular Physics instead of AP Chem is a bad choice. Are you saying that you have no options for honors science in public school - you can only take regular Physics Junior year?
For each high school, what colleges do graduates go on to?
Also, how do graduates place into entry level courses in college? If a high school’s graduates usually place into remedial courses in college, that is a bad sign. If A students in AP courses typically score 3 or lower on AP tests, that is also a bad sign.
I.e. look at the big picture of how well high school prepares you for college, not just bits of college admission points.