My school has a thing where you can come in early or leave late but it’s just for seniors. Will it look bad if I participate in this? All my friends are staying the full day but they are also insane nerds and plan to pile up 6 aps next year. I’m not sure what I should do.
Both of my kids had a full high school schedule. Their senior year, they actually had a study hall 2 days a week. The school had a rotating schedule, so when the study hall period was first, they came in late. When it was last, they left early.
They are both college grads and got accepted to the colleges of choice.
Bad for what?
“Bad”? That depends what colleges you are targeting. More selective schools will expect high rigor, which typically means a full senior schedule. If that’s not your goal, the reduced day may work well for you.
What colleges are you considering?
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What courses WILL you be taking? That could help define your rigor.
You don’t have to take every single AP course your high school offers to be a successful college applicant, in my opinion.
I don’t even know. My mom wants me to apply to Northwestern, Barnard, Emory, etc. I told her ivies were a hard no.
I mean I personally don’t care and would love to do something like NJ stars but my mom doesn’t consider it real college. I’m probably going to be applying to a lot of T50 schools, even if my stats don’t match up.
Your friends might be nerds, but if they are planning to apply the most selective schools, they will have stronger applications if they have a rigorous course load. If you plan to apply to the most selective colleges, and if you can handle the stress, you need to take the most rigorous courses possible. That might mean you have to be a nerd. Maybe that’s not who you are, and maybe that isn’t what you want. That’s fine.
The most selective colleges want to see the highest rigor. Unless you are hooked in a significant way, it is very difficult to be a strong applicant without that rigor. The main issue is that colleges will compare you, like it or not, to other students at your school. If everyone is taking six APs in senior year and you aren’t, it will be noticed.
Should you take six APs if you don’t want to? No. Don’t take anything just because you think it will help you get into college. Live your life for you, and not for the purpose of trying to get into a college that rejects 95% of applicants.
In my experience, those shorter-day options are often geared toward students who have tangible commitments filling the open time, like jobs or internships. There’s a huge difference between taking 4-5 rigorous classes and doing a meaningful, high-commitment internship, vs taking 4-5 not-so-rigorous classes and going home to play video games. Colleges look at the whole picture.
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I want to take a love and literature class but I’m not sure if I can due to parental permission. Im signed up for medical intervention and infectious disease, ap bio, investing, ap lit, Calc bc, honors anatomy; and I might drop gym for sports again and that can be easily replaced with smth like ceramics 2 (my friend is taking it)
I took med term already and I don’t like the teacher for medical intervention so I’m tryna get out of that; but idek: I don’t feel like taking anything really. I speak French and I don’t want to take French again. They let my brother take AP German as a sophomore but didn’t let me take AP French until next year because it’s “unfair” to the other students ig
It’s not even the norm they’re just crazy. Most people take their 4-6 classes and leave. Ngl I don’t really care, I’m just worried about college decisions cycle for how my mom would react if I don’t go to her dream school.
Ngl if I got a sizable amount from a state school I’m happy: college is college.
I was going to take college classes initially but the whole fiasco with my professor is high key discouraging me. I’m probs going to shoot for classes Ik will be an easy a from my friend that’s getting her associates while in hs
Definitely no need to take medical terminology/intervention/etc. if you aren’t loving it. If you want to do something in that healthcare-vocational sphere, IMHO you’d be better off taking a CNA or EMT certification class and getting some real-world experience with that credential.
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I’m not sure what your mom’s dream school is, but she won’t be going to college. Maybe she has no idea what the acceptance rate is these days.
Can I suggest you create a post in college search and selection? College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums
You can put your stats there, along with colleges you’re interested in, what you’re looking for in a college, where you might want to be, possible majors and your financial constraints. People can respond with suggestions based on your information.
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She thinks NYU is a safety for be but idek. I’ll make a post abt it though, thanks. Is it like the reverse chance me I’ve been seeing? Is it too early for me to
No, it’s a reach. The acceptance rate is 13%. That means 87% are denied. In addition, a significant percentage of students will be accepted ED1 and ED2, so the acceptance rate RD is actually much lower.
I’m not trying to be a downer. Taking the easiest schedule is absolutely fine, bu perhaps not for NYU. Again, I encourage you to post in college search and selection.
Oh no I’m well aware. I just gave up trying to explain why I need to apply to state schools not just ivies. I’ll try and look at previous posts and make a post based off of those
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I also suggest you have a conversation now about how college will be paid for. NYU, for example, is known for not providing great financial aid. It is not too early for you to think about this, especially if your mom is putting pressure on you. You want a solid list of schools to apply to in the fall. Now is a good time to start.
She said she’ll pay for it in full for me.
Okay. Just make sure she is aware that currently annual costs are $90k a year. We have all seen many parents and students here who are unaware of how expensive college can be now.
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Yep. The fact that she thinks NYU is a safety suggests that she isn’t quite caught up with the trajectory of competitiveness; and not fully realizing how costs have escalated can go along with that.
When I was in high school, schools like NYU and Northeastern were easy to get into, and affordable for middle-class families. It’s a different world now.
Also, “willing to pay” is one thing, but if you’d be just as happy with a public U (and there are many very good ones!), why throw $90Kx4 at a private U that you aren’t even excited about?
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