Senior Year Electives

[HSclass26]

Hello! I am a class of 2026 trying to register for classes my senior year. I have one open spot in my schedule and there are three great options I could choose from:

1. a class that I really love and am interested in, but my school only offered it gen-ed (not weighted) and no opportunity for college credit. This class is an arts class, which I have not taken many of in HS, so it will stand out in my transcript, but I’m not sure how it will stand out (positive-exploring interests, negative-“easy”; not rigorous)
2. A class that is not weighted and does not have the opportunity for college credit, but I am pretty interested in it (not as much as option one, though) and it would be loosely related to my intended path of study (hypothetical example-if I was interested in majoring in sociology it would be a psychology class- closely related but not quite on the same track)
3. A class that I have little/no interest in, but it comes with college credit and a weighted GPA score.

I understand that colleges want to see a lot of rigor your senior year but that they also want you to display well-rounded qualities and explore your interests in HS, so I’m wondering which option would be best. Of course, I am leaning towards picking option one because it is the class I am most interested, but people that I have asked for advice about this say it is the worst option out of the three.

For context, I have extremely good grades and extremely good test scores and am in IB DP. I also already have the classes I need to fulfill grad. req. so that is not something I have to take into account either. I am looking to go to a selective (20-40% acceptance) public university out of state (I already have a particular one in mind). Also for context I have limited options when it comes to picking classes bc my HS is Title 1, and unfortunately they have had budget cuts in recent years.

Thanks!

[skieurope]

@HSclass26

people that I have asked for advice about this say it is the worst option out of the three.

Are these people also HS students?!?

Having rigor in your schedule doesn’t mean every single course needs to have a weighting bump. And the impact of one unweighted course on a 4 year transcript is akin to a pimple on an elephant’s butt.

Take the class you want, assuming you’ve covered all the core academic course recommendations from your target universities.

[NiceUnparticularMan]

My two cents is if you are doing the full IBDP, you do not have to worry about having enough rigor!

So in addition to that, just take the elective class you want to take.

Oh, and there are very few college at which your school-weighted GPA is actually relevant for admissions or merit. There is a thread which is collecting them:

Colleges Accepting Weighted GPA [at face value from HS] for Merit/Admission

While many schools recalculate GPAs in whatever ways they want for admission and merit aid purposes, there are examples I’ve seen of schools accepting the highest reported GPA on the transcript for Admission/Merit cutoff purposes. Examples commonly cited here are: Indiana (Kelley): uses highest reported GPA for Kelley Direct Admission Alabama: Uses highest reported GPA on transcript for merit cutoffs Mississippi State: Uses highest reported GPA for merit cutoffs Does anyone have other examples? If a high school did away with weighting wouldn’t they disadvantage their students in these scenarios?

But it isn’t many. So I would personally not worry at all about that issue.

[thumper1]

@NiceUnparticularMan

So in addition to that, just take the elective class you want to take.

And that sounds like the number one option listed.

[NiceUnparticularMan]

Yes! In theory either of the first two choices would be fine, but in practice it sounds like the OP is leaning toward the first, and I would recommend it if so.

[happy1]

Assuming you have completed all requirements, you have earned the right to choose the elective class you prefer with no hesitation.

[ucbalumnus]

Seems like option 1 (or maybe option 2) is preferable in your situation. The main exception I can think of that would make option 3 better is if your high school course work contained what is commonly seen as a deficiency and option 3 remedies that (e.g. your only science so far is biology, and option 3 is chemistry or physics).

[bjd16]

For item #3 above, gpa +1 class with no interest, those are the classes to take junior year to boost GPA for college applications. Senior year GPA isn’t used for the most part, so only load up on AP classes that will count at the target schools. Yes, some schools ask for Dec/Jan grades, but not many. For senior year, make sure you have the basic IB/AP courses completed / on the schedule: Calc, Chem, APUSH, Eng Lang, maybe Spanish, and then just fill in the rest with interesting classes.

[L_NewEngland]

I would recommend as high rigor as you can handle, in 5 major areas (including foreign language - at least through jr year, ideally senior). After that take what you want! Also make sure to take chem/physics and bio. (this is assuming all of that is offered at your school…)

In other words, electives matter a lot less in admissions than the core courses IMO/IME.

[thumper1]

It’s your senior year. Assuming you don’t need these courses to satisfy graduation requirements…take something you will enjoy.

Sample of two (although this class was filled with top students who chose it as an elective senior year)….my kids both took culinary arts. The notebooks they used and created from that class are the only ones they have kept and continue to use. Both never really had time in their schedules for an additional elective (both were in symphonic band for four years ) so we encouraged them to enjoy the culinary arts elective courses. One semester was baking and pastries, the other cooking.