<p>Hope this hasn’t been addressed before. Am curious about this</p>
<p>When taking into account GPA, schedule, etc, is a 4x4 block schedule considered more competitive and difficult than a regular 6 course per year schedule?</p>
<p>Given that a high school student in 4x4 takes 8 classes per year and graduates with 32 courses, compared to 24 for a regular schedule (at least that is what it is in my area), and that each semester in a 4x4 is a full year of a subject, it would seem that this schedule would be considered more challenging. The pace of the coursework is very fast with 4x4 and about the same pace as a college class.</p>
<p>Or are there no rankings or consideration given to the type of schedule the student has? I had read somewhere that certain high schools were considered more competitive, wondered if the type of schedule had anything to do with it.</p>
<p>The criterion here is the rigor of high school schedule. Some students misunderstand this idea by thinking that the greater the number of courses they take, the more qualified they are. This is not always true. A rigorous schedule comprises rigorous courses; this means that it is better, for instance, to take 4 challenging courses than 6 “easy” courses.</p>
<p>If you consider your 4x4 schedule to be rigorous under these guidelines, it might be worth it. Take your time to figure out what is the best path.</p>
<p>The block schedule is a relatively modern approach in education. It’s possible to mix it with a traditional scheduling approach – so some classes are taught in blocks while others in the traditional “1 hour” slot. The rationale for the hybrid approach is that certain subjects work better with concentrated focus, while others work better with a more deliberate process. And some high school indeed “mix” – longer classes for certain subjects, etc.</p>
<p>So is one approach viewed as better than the other? I doubt that educators would agree, and for this reason I don’t think it would have an effect on the college admission process. In appropriate settings both work.</p>
<p>Since you’re from Northern California you may be aware of the block program innovated at Urban High School. If you were to compare that high school with others equal high schools in the area you would not see a “preference” from selective colleges for students from Urban as compared to those from equal high schools. If there is a preference one way or another it’s not because of the block program.</p>
<p>fogcity-- college admissions can’t take that into account because it’s not available to everyone. students dont have the choice to use that schedule.
i will graduate with around 32 credits also but my are doesnt use that system.
as sandro rodrigues said, it’s about rigor.</p>
<p>No. Not harder and by the way, our school district has 9 periods in a day and most top students forgo lunch so they are taking 9 courses (or 8 with a lab period).</p>
<p>My high school is under a block schedule and personally I don’t find it that rigorous… if anything it just gives more time to cover material and I’m in an all AP schedule. I doubt colleges will look at this since not everyone has it</p>