<p>Right now I am being pressured (don’t ask by who; let’s just say my dillemma comes from the fact that I can’t refuse to follow this piece of advice; if I disobey and don’t get accepted into college XYZ, he/she will use it to blame me) to drop my writing class and take AP Lit instead.</p>
<p>Senior Schedule:
AP Art
AP Psychology
AP Environmental Science
AP Calculus
Expository Writing
Gov/ Econ (school does not offer AP )</p>
<p>He/she wants me to change my schedule and take AP Lit, not exp writing, because it will look “better” on my transcript and he/she wants me to get a rec from AP Lit. (rec from English 11 Honors is not an option because I originally did not want to ask that teacher, and I did not submit a rec app by his/her deadline)</p>
<p>Schools generally say that they want to see you challenge yourself by taking the most rigorous curriculum your school offers. Seems to me that the AP Lit class would be considered more rigorous than expository writing. You have to weigh, though, the relative selectivity of the schools you will be applying to. The more selective the school, probably more likely you should take the AP class.</p>
<p>Expository writing is a brand new course offered at my school designed by the uc Berkley English department. I originally choose it because I wanted to have more time for art competitions but
I am reconsidering now. Ugh I have completely lost sight of what is or isn’t important. Help…</p>
<p>Relax. Take a deep breath. If your overall application is strong for the schools you are applying to, one class won’t make or break you. The AP course will just look slightly stronger. Let me ask you this. Do you, or your parents, or whoever is putting pressure on you, have an idea of the particular schools you will be applying to? What does your overall application look like? Test scores? GPA? ECs? If you can paint a bit of the bigger picture, it might help advise you on how taking or not taking the course might impact you. But really, relax!</p>
<p>Could you drop AP Psych and exchange for AP Lit? That way you could still take the expository writing class. The AP Lit will be valued more highly than the AP Psych. If you REALLY, REALLY don’t want to take AP Lit, don’t do it. When you take a course that you are unhappy about, you can set yourself up for failure. </p>
<p>I recommend AP Lit. A lot of seniors at my school decided on whether to take lit after lang, and some did. Although, a lot of kids that took lang ended up just taking English IV. I think Lit would look more rigorous, but you could always swap it with AP Psych and self study!</p>
<p>Unrelated Note: I’ve seen some posts where people say their UW gpa is about 3.6 but their W gpa is almost 4.5. How is that possible? because I thought you can only factor in max 8 semesters of AP into your gpa, even if you have taken a lot more.</p>
<p>^ All high schools weight differently, which is why colleges really look at how your grades are in the context of your school’s curriculum. My daughter’s school did not weight at all.</p>
<p>Weighted GPA is meaningless unless you know the weighting system used. The 8 semester limit of weighted course probably means that you are in California and are using the UC/CSU weighting scheme, or your high school follows it.</p>
<p>“Expository writing is a brand new course offered at my school designed by the uc Berkley English department”
will there be a link to the UC Berkeley dept in any shape or form? If so, getting a recommendation from that person would be more beneficial than taking AP Lit.
The course sounds like a unique course with strong connections to a recognized university which can only be good for your transcript.
If the course is indeed unique AND you have a specific reason for taking Expository Writing and your counselor can explain it (as well as yourself), this could actually distinguish you from the thousands of applicants who have also taken AP Lit.
However if it’s just the way your school calls a basic, non honors English 12 class it won’t look good unless you can justify that choice. Even for Brown, a typical schedule with 4 APs senior year is sufficient, what will matter is how you distinguish yourself. One extra Ap class won’t make the difference. Original art, research experience, etc… will so if “Expository writing” is not a code name for “basic English 12” you’re right to focus on art, provided you’re good at it.
BTW, if your school has a strong econ/Gov class, you could self study in addition to that class and still take the AP exam. Self study is impressive and shows colleges that you have the intellectual autonomy and persistence necessary to be successful in college.</p>
)</p>