<p>Hi, so I have to finish choosing my classes for my senior year in high school.
Here are the classes I’ll take:</p>
<p>Multivariable Calculus (core class)
AP Literature (core class)
AP Physics C (core class)
Economics (core class)
AP Drawing/Studio
Foundations of Engineering
Orchestra</p>
<p>My counselor advised that I should take 5 core classes, meaning that I will have to drop my orchestra class and switch it for AP Psych, which I really don’t want to. He also told me that having 4 core classes instead of 5 may make my app look bad, depending on the school.</p>
<p>The schools I will most likely apply to next year for architecture are as follows:</p>
<p>Cooper Union
Syracuse U
Cornell
Temple U
Drexel U
Cal Poly Pomona</p>
<p>Based on these schools, does anyone know what I should do? Should I keep my orchestra with the 4 core classes?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Just my opinion, but psych would be a better option. When I was in arch school, there were many psychology courses the arch majors took, both general and with an architectural theme. Therefore, that may look more favorably than orchestra. Schools like Cooper Union probably couldn’t care less about orchestra or band. But research this for yourself first…</p>
<p>It would also matter how accomplished you are in orchestra. If your an all state drummer, it shows you dedication and talent rather than never receiving any recognition for your instrument</p>
<p>I can see your guidance counselor’s point but I think sometimes everyone is overly focused on taking high achieving classes instead of enjoying the short time you are in high school. If you love orchestra and it helps make you feel some balance with your work load I wouldn’t necessarily dump it. From what I have heard.</p>
<p>CooperUnion- no idea
Cornell may care but your portfolio is very important to their admission.
Syracuse may or may not care if the rest of your grades are high
Temple and Drexel are not as difficult to get in as the other schools so less of a concern
Cal poly pomona only admits 1% of OOS students so hard to know whether it will help or not.</p>
<p>If your GPA and SAT scores are high, then schools will see that and I think focus on that.</p>
<p>Hassapi:</p>
<p>For Cornell and Syracuse, what matters most is your portfolio and your interview. For Cooper, it’s their home test. So I’d agree with Lakemom…if you love orchestra, stick with it. Do what you love and what will give you joy and a feeling of accomplishment. You already have a challenging class schedule. Yet another academic core course will make little difference and will be done and gone in a year. Orchestra may be something you pursue for a lifetime.</p>
<p>In fact, at my daughter’s interview for Syracuse architecture, the professor spent a good part of the interview talking to her about her non-academic passion, which is dance and musical theater. She got in.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your replies! I’ve decided to keep the orchestra, hopefully I won’t regret this when I apply for colleges next year.</p>
<p>Your counselor doesn’t understand how the selection for architecture schools works. Especially considering the schools you’ve applied to, your portfolio/hometest will be considerably more important that your stats.</p>
<p>Cooper Union won’t care at all what classes you’re taking. You could have zero APs, a 3.0, and mediocre SATs, but if you put together a hometest that they like, you’re in.
Syracuse - the portfolio is LOADS more important than your grades. I have a 3.6 gpa with only 3 APs during my entire high school career and I got in sitting on a hefty scholarship.
Cornell - They’re also extremely heavy on your portfolio and interview. But because of the sheer size of the applicant pool for the No. 1 Undergrad Architecture program in the nation, they can afford to be highly selective and weed out applicants with a low gpa/sat as well. In fact, I believe architecture students have the highest average stats out of the entire University.</p>
<p>The only exception is Calpoly Pomona-I don’t believe they even accept a portfolio for admission consideration.</p>
<p>So my personal opinion is that you should drop some of those APs and use that time to prep a portfolio, read up on some architects to ready yourself for an interview, go back and work on your portfolio some more, and then finally work even more on your portfolio.</p>