Dropping an elective class for a TA period?

Applying to College
1

Hey guys,
I’m a junior in high school. I’m taking these classes, and got the following grades last semester:

Forensic Science - A
Speech and Debate - A
AP US History - B
Journalism - A
AP Computer Science - A
Digital Design - A
English - A
Precalculus - B

Because of the two B’s, I have a GPA of around 3.9, and I’m ranked 15th out of my class of 227.

I’m thinking of dropping Speech and Debate because I’d rather have the study time for APUSH and precalc, plus I’m not really enjoying the class. I wanted to replace it with a TA period with one of my favorite history teachers. My counselor and vice principal both say that it’s a bad idea, and it’ll show colleges that I lack rigor and discipline, but they’ve allowed me to make the choice on my own. I feel like because it’s an elective class and it doesn’t give me any college credit, it’s not a big deal, but now I’m second-guessing myself.

As a junior, will dropping this elective class in my second semester hurt me?

2

I think it’s fine if you really use the time to bring APUSH and Precalc up to an A. Those are more important core classes. But really follow through on that plan.

3

I would stay in the class.

4

Both sides have their merits and downsides.

  1. You drop your Speech and Debate class. Because of this, you have enough time and effort to spare so your APUSH and Precalc grades go up.

I would treat Speech and Debate as I would treat my Film and Media class- a “just to see” elective. Now, I don’t know if dropping these look really bad, but bringing up your grades might balance that.

  1. You continue taking your Speech and Debate class. Your grades stay the same, but colleges see that you can roll with the punches and stay in all your classes.

Like I said, dropping classes might make you look bad. How bad? I don’t really know, but I wouldn’t want to find out.

Two choices, two possible outcomes. Personally, I would drop the class if you feel it’s doing nothing for you. But, like some on CC would say, dropping any class is a bad choice.

5

Well, there’s your answer.

6

Consider how the colleges you’ll be applying to will be looking at this:

a) why the change so late in the semester?

b) why can’t the student remain in a class that they signed up for?

and most importantly

c) there is no way to quantify or compare what being a TA consists of for different teachers at different schools,
so they may be justifiably baffled as to why a solid student would need to schedule in a TA period. This would constitute a red flag, which although could probably be easily address, would still have put some doubts in the application reviewers/readers minds.

7

Would it make a difference if I said it wasn’t a TA class, but an academic mentorship? Where I help freshman who aren’t doing so well in class, not just correcting busywork for the teacher.

8

Regardless of how you phrase it, they will not be able to quantify what your grade means.
The question becomes, how will you be able to you clearly convey that it’s not just busywork for the teacher?

I once sat in an admission session at a top-20 school and heard the discussion re: a student with a TA/mentorship entry in their transcript. The supervising teacher was also a recommender.
The application readers speculated as to what this actually meant. Did the kid get coffee for the teacher, who didn’t have time for a Starbuks run, or was the student as genuinely helpful as the teacher wrote.

While it was good for a chuckle to break up the reading session, it also meant that - right or wrong - the ethics of both parties were on the table. It made the readers really scrutinize the application, looking for holes. After more discussion than usual (and with the regional rep, who had actually interviewed the student advocating hard for them) the student in question ultimately went into the ‘yes’ pile.
Although a positive outcome, it could easily have been different.

9

At this point (past the start of the 2nd semester by a couple weeks), you should stay in that class. And if you were to switch classes, it shouldn’t be to TA in a class, but to take a 2nd semester class (like AP micro or AP Gov?)
In addition, I notice that you don’t have a foreign language. Have you reached level 4 or AP already?
What type of colleges do you intend to apply to?

10

It wouldn’t show up on my transcript that I waited two or three weeks to switch. It would appear as though I switched right when the semester started. The deadline for this is Monday - after that it appears as an F on my transcript (so I’m trying to make this decision as soon as possible). I’ve talked to my counselor about this, and I’m pretty sure that’s not an issue (if that’s what you meant, at least).
I’m fluent in German, and took a placement test that gave me more than enough language credit to graduate. I would take an AP German course if only my school offered it, so instead I’ll probably end up taking a community college class on it.
I intent to apply to Oregon State, Portland State, San Jose State, Embry-Riddle, Stanford, and Technische Universität München/Berlin.

11

hop‌ -
Are you saying that it’s a bad idea to take a TA class and have that same teacher write a recommendation? Or that it’s a bad idea generally to take a TA class?

12

It’s not very good, because it shows that you took it easy. It’s a tiny bit better than having a study hall, but not much, and definitely a minus unless you have a plan with that teacher where you’re going to do specific things and can tie that in to the rest of your app. For example, you’re fluent in German: are you president of the German club, set up an AP German tutoring prep review group coordinated by the German teacher for those who wish they could take the AP, manage the German conversation club, take the most advanced classes offered in your community college, intend to minor in it, are taking online courses from German technical universities? Then adding being TA in German would “make sense”.
TA’ing in a random subject? Not so much.

I can’t help but notice the incredible range of universities you’re considering.
Portland State: non selective, commuter school with a large percentage of adult student (average age at a “traditional” college is about 20, at Portland State it’s 27, roughly the same as in an MBA program where students have 3-5 years of work experience), majority of students transferring in from the community college system.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Stanford, one of the hardest schools to get into, turns down 95% applicants, most of whom are the most accomplished you can imagine, with national or international-level prizes.
For UO or OSU, taking the TA class period wouldn’t make a difference and if it makes your life easier, go for it. SJSU will not care either, all they care about is GPA X SAT score (or ACT score).
For Stanford, it’d be extremely unwise, but unless your school offers few APs and you didn’t indicate honors level for your classes (ie., unless you know that for this schedule your guidance counselor will indiate “most rigorous offered”), it’s out of reach anyway.
In between, I don’t see HarveyMudd, CalTech (both reaches), Santa Clara,U of Pacific, Cal Poly SLO, CPP, URochester, Olin, RPI, (if you’re interested in STEM fields) or (if not) Occidental, Pitzer, Chapman, Reed, Lewis&Clark, U Puget Sound, Willamette, Whitman, not to mention aren’t you applying to UOregon, UWashington… any reason why?
If that’s because you ran the Net Price calculators and those colleges weren’t affordable, that’s good. :slight_smile:
If not, look into those, because your college list isn’t very balanced.
Typically, you’d have 2 safeties (colleges you like, ran the NPCs for and know your parents can pay for, and are sure you can get into beause you’re well above their 75% threshold), 3-5 matches (colleges you like, ran the NPCs for and can afford, and think you can get into because you’re above the average and closer to the 75% threshold), then as many reaches as you wish or can afford.

13

I honestly don’t see anything wrong with taking a TA period when you have a super busy semester. I’m a senior this year and on top of my family responsibilities,my health condition, and college applications I knew I couldn’t do too many APs without totally damaging my health and sanity. I took 4 AP classes (the max allowed by our schedule) and I took a TA period. This took a lot of pressure off me stress-wise and when I finished work I could work on my own homework. My counselor rated my schedule as most difficult. The next semester I just took a full couse load. I honestly don’t see anything wrong with a TA period if you’re schedule is still challenging. You could be taking a full course load, but if you’re overwhelmed by the work assigned by each AP class and your grades start slipping then it’s all for naught.

14

I took a TA period setting up labs for AP biology classes this year so that I could still have enough time for a part-time job (20 hrs/wk) outside of school. It’s probably less impressive to adcoms but I find the idea of shaping your schedule solely to impress others a little bit…naive (unless you’re going for serious merit aid or seriously shooting for HYPM).