<p>I know class rank is very important, but I also want to take challenging courses. Unfortunately, the top kids at my school don’t care much about learning or taking challenging courses, they just want to get a near perfect GPA. </p>
<p>For example, I was planning on taking AP classes in slots where my competition is planning on taking required courses such as speech and health pass/fail (which means that instead of being counted as level classes they are not counted at all, so they get a boost in GPA). In order to make room for my AP classes, I was going to take these classes (such as speech and health) over the summer. This means it will be a level class in terms of GPA. This will put me at a disadvantage for several reasons. </p>
<p>So… I guess I have 3 or so options</p>
<p>1) Should I take health, speech and computer science (level courses) over the summer and take AP classes in place of them.
2) Take those classes pass/fail during school and learn the AP stuff over the summer/during the school year.
3) Take those classes not pass/fail and learn the AP stuff over summer/during the year.
4) A combination of the above</p>
<p>Those “top” kids who pad their GPA at the expense of a truly challenging academic load are usually easily spotted by the adcoms of the selective schools – and they are noted negatively for that. I almost always recommend challenging yourself (if you like a challenge, that is) regardless of grade outcome. You’re there to learn – not game college admissions. Most likely, you’ll probably be rewarded accordingly. I never paid too much attn to my GPA. I took every hard class because I wanted to learn. I mostly got As but there were a few Bs here and there. I didn’t care and my transcript showed that I maxed out my school’s very rigorous offerings. I ended up being accepted at all my schools, eventually attending an HYPS.</p>
<p>When I speak at recruiting/college fairs, I advise the same to my audiences.</p>
<p>For the student’s who don’t want that extra measure of challenge, that’s OK too. I’m sure many great academic options await them too. However, the most competitive schools are looking for the appllicants who are willing to put forth that extra effort.</p>
<p>What’s better? Both for you as a person who wants to learn and for colleges that are seeking those types – go for the challenging courses.</p>