Grade 12 Year Options

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

Hi! So I think for context’s sake, I should include the fact that I’m currently a junior @ a Canadian high school. I have dozens more credits than necessary to graduate right now, the only credit I’m missing is an English 12, which I’m taking in the form of AP Eng Lit this year. By the end of this year, I’ll have all of my ACT/SAT 2 scores, I’ll have taken almost all of our school’s AP’s and non-elective courses, and I will have very few classes left for next year. The universities I’m currently hoping to apply to include Yale & Princeton in the States and I’m looking into majors in the sciences right now.

Here’s my question, I’m not very sure what would be the best curricular option for next year.

  1. I could just take as many courses as possible at my school next year, maybe with some recognized online courses available in our district (e.g. AP Calc BC, AP French, AP Euro History).

  2. One of teachers mentioned to me recently that it is possible to arrange with my school to be a part-time student next year. That would entail getting afternoons or entire days off and I was thinking I could spend that time either finding a more permanent volunteering gig or getting a part-time job which I currently don’t have. As of right now, I also don’t have a lot of volunteer hours.

So, I was wondering if you guys had any opinions on which of these two options might be better, especially if I were going to apply to Ivies? Option 2 in particular is one I’m not familiar with and I don’t know anyone who’s done this before, so I have no reference point on whether it’ll reflect positively, negatively, etc. on any uni applications. Thanks!!

2

Would taking AP English, AP calculus, AP French and AP Euro at school or online be considered part time?

3

I honestly doubt volunteer hours may make a significant difference in your application to super elite schools, barring a well-thought out, independently-developed volunteer opportunity. If you choose to do school part-time in 12th grade, I’d consider contacting research labs in fields you’re interested in (if any) if there are universities near you ASAP, since you want to major in the sciences. From a strategic college admissions point of view, this could be a big plus, but more importantly, it should give you a taste of what the sciences are like at tertiary level and beyond.

4

Thanks! I’ll look into it!