It seems a lot of students tend to not want a study hall on their schedule. Does the college not want you to have some free time? I mean I’ve had friends who had multiple study halls and still got into great decent schools. Some to IVY schools
Keep in mind: this site is not the real world, and it’s not a college admissions office.
Many of the kids here tend to be driven to the point where it’s not healthy.
Not necessarily bad. My daughter’s high school had something called “seminar” that was the eighth block in a block in a four a day alternating block schedule. It was essentially a study hall for all. It didn’t appear on the transcript. Do study halls show up on transcripts?
Interesting - at the our high school they are mandatory for freshman/sophomore and do appear on the transcript. Wonder if the school profile makes that clear? Kind of a bummer if it then impacts admissions…
Because every minute in study hall is a minute not spent taking Advanced AP Nuclear Biochemical Physics.
And I guarantee you some striver who just read this is looking up to see if “Advanced AP Nuclear Biochemical Physics” is an actual class.
Study halls were definitely discouraged at my daughter’s school. The only time kids took them is if they were doing an independent study class in a subject not offered at school. That said, the school was on a traditional schedule with a max of 7 classes/day. It would have been difficult to get in all the graduation requirements with a study hall because there was a mandatory theology class for every semester. Our local public school had shorter class times but 9 class slots/day so almost everyone had at least one study hall.
Never. Colleges will view schedules in context. No college has ever said that taking a study hall will automatically results in an application being rejected.
@momofsenior1 ok that makes sense. We went to an 8 period schedule and 9th/10th were required to take study hall.
Study halls are encouraged in our HS. Students use the time to meet with teachers, to work on group projects etc. It is important to take a rigorous schedule, our HS seems to leave room for a study hall a few times a week for most students.
I insisted my kids have a study hall during their busiest EC quarters. Don’t think it hurt them. Higher grades are important.
We have a 6 period schedule and very few people take study hall. Officially the only way to do it is vp permission and you are supposed to go to the library.
My daughter ended up with one this year because she wanted a very specific teacher for a class and that was during zero period. So she has a study hall later in the day.
I would think that as long as a student is taking a reasonably rigorous academic schedule (at least 5 core academic subjects - math, science, English, foreign language, social studies) than a study hall would not be frowned upon from a college admissions point of view.
My senior year, I was given permission to skip first period with the understanding that I would practice piano at home. And I did! I really appreciated that flexibility.
Our seniors are allowed privileges that if they do not have a class 1st period they can come in late and if they do not have a class 8th period they are allowed to leave early. Parents simply need to sign a form approving these privileges. Most seniors take advantage of at least one of those when scheduling their senior year classes. However the courses my daughter wanted to take created a schedule that was booked 1st and 8th period so she did not get to leverage these privileges. Although she did leverage the additional privilege of being able to leave school during lunch period.
Study hall is encouraged at my kids school. They have chosen not to take them. Their feeling is that it’s a toss of the dice whether it’s really useful for them or not. A study hall early in the day is a waste of time for them. Additionally, they can’t squeeze all the courses they are interested in taking over 4 years of high school as it is (on top of required courses). One of my kids also feels that it’s too hard to concentrate during the study halls she does have (the ones opposite gym/lab days or when she has had a study hall in the past instead of a lunch) because hers have never been in a controlled classroom and instead in a cafeteria or commons area that is louder and busier.
Our Study Hall is built into our schedule - Every student takes the class every year. We have 4 blocks per semester. It is only a 1/2 hour though. The tutorial time is for students to seek help from teachers with their coursework or complete homework. Freshman also have Juniors & Seniors who serve as peer mentors in their tutorials. The mentors help them adjust to high school.
At my DS private Jesuit HS, they have 8 class that rotate on a 10 day cycle with 4 or 6 classes per day. Everyone is required to take at least 1 study hall. When my DS went in to talk to his GC about his Junior schedule (required), his GC TOLD him that he would be taking 2 study halls. ThisThis school has no issues sending kids to top 20 schools. Sometimes it is better not to give the person a loaded gun.