<p>I am looking to apply at some ivy league schools and some top ranked state schools. I am going into the 11th grade.</p>
<p>Schedule 1:
1st Spanish 3
2nd ap bio
3rd apush
4th ap English*
5th ap psychology*
6th ap bio
7th function/ trig*</p>
<p>Schedule 2
1st Spanish 3
2nd ap bio
3rd English or fun/ trig
4th creative writing 2*
5th apush*
6th ap bio
7th fun/trig or English*</p>
<p>I REALLY loved creative writing one. I have a great relationship with her and I know she would write me a great recomedation. Creative writing is an easy A class too. If I take creative writing I could be put in charge as editor of the literary magazine and I would be able to join quill and scroll honor society. So staying with creative writing I would have some nice extracurriculars on my application that I know I would have fun doing. The only real con with taking creative writing is that I would have to drop Ap English and take regular instead.</p>
<p>Most selective colleges want students to have 4 years of math – that’s true even if you are a humanities person. Specifically, they are looking for a four year math sequence that ends in Calculus. So, you need to take math in 11th grade.</p>
<p>You could drop the AP Psychology from Schedule 1 and replace it with Creative Writing, as colleges generally prefer the hard sciences (Bio, Chem, Physics) and you’re already taking AP Bio.</p>
Isn’t that a requirement of your state, it is for ours?</p>
<p>I will say most students take Algebra by eighth grade so they are taking Trig/Alg II by sophomore year and Pre-Calc in junior year and AP Calc senior year. Yale wants students who take the most rigorous courses offered so I would not be looking to take any “easy A” classes.</p>
<p>id say go for the creative writing one. it sounds like you want to do that one more. dont take a class just for the AP name, take it if you want to take it. while its good to challenge yourself, its not good to be miserable in a class just for your transcript</p>
<p>All colleges, including Yale, require freshman/sophomores to take some sort of freshman English or writing course – that’s true even if you score a 5 on AP English. So, taking AP English will NOT give you a leg up for college, nor will taking AP English necessarily enhance your overall application. </p>
<p>On the other hand, taking a creative writing course could result in a powerful essay which you might be able to repurpose for your personal statement or Yale supplement – that’s at least what my son, a current Yale sophomore, did.</p>
<p>So, my advice: Take the course you really want to take: Creative Writing.</p>
<p>While there are pro’s and con’s to both scenario’s I encourage you to read the following link in entirety before making your final decision. I would disagree with the consensus as taking the AP class DOES show you are taking the most rigorous classes and Yale does say that academic strength is the first consideration in evaluating any candidate. Taking creative writing MAY enhance your application essay but taking AP classes WILL show course rigor.</p>
<p>^^ That said, it’s not like the student who has taken the most AP’s get’s accepted. I posted this on another thread, but I think it bears repeating: </p>
<p>Two years ago, 76 students from my son’s high school applied to Yale SCEA. Yale admitted 6 of those students – and they hand-picked those they wanted. Yale did not take the top 6, or the 6 with the most rigorous course schedule or the most AP’s. They took who they thought were the most interesting students who could benefit from a Yale education. My son, who was ranked about 20th in his class, was (luckily) chosen over students who had better GPA’s, more AP’s, more rigorous schedule etc. The same thing happened to my daughter 4 years ago when she applied to college. </p>
<p>The take-away lesson: You should never make course selections based upon how you think it will appear to a college admissions director; sometimes you just need to go with your gut.</p>
<p>gibby, without being privy to your son’s complete application or the others who were rejected I can’t comment on the reason for his acceptance and it is a bit of a crap shoot. I would be leery of anyone indicating taking a class because it’s an “easy A” in applying to ANY top college. There are always exception to the rule but I believe the odds will usually favor the student with a more difficult schedule assuming all other aspects being equal. Again, we can agree to disagree. ;)</p>
<p>Also, I would bet the others that were rejected had deficiencies in their application and it wasn’t because they DID take a more rigorous schedule.</p>
<p>“I would be leery of anyone indicating taking a class because it’s an “easy A” in applying to ANY top college.”</p>
<p>I agree with you there. But, the OP stated s/he really loved creative writing. Doing what you love often makes for an easier time of it, which sometimes results in a higher grade, no matter what the difficulty of the course. My advice is more along the line of “do what you love.”</p>
<p>Mcknight, you should take the class that you want to take because you love it. If you like creative writing more than AP English, then do it. My daughter loves Creative Writing. She took CW - nonfiction in Soph yr and CW - fiction in Sr year. The CW - NF in So year was the class that she spent the most time working on (way more time than AP Chem which comes easily) and it is the class which she got the lowest grade in from Fr to Jr year (B+) but she LOVES it. (Actually, the B+ was because she didn’t follow specific directions…she was showcased in various performances and teacher loves her, but D stubbornly refused to follow certain directions). So much so that she took CW - fiction in Sr year, for another semester of a time-intensive class (with little time needed to be spent on AP Calc BC, AP physics, AP Eng Lit, etc). She does it because she loves it, and it shows. And as Gibby stated, one of her CW - NF essays was used as the basis for her Common App essay, which was specificially quoted by the Yale admissions director and remarked on how much the Adcom loved her essay. Lastly, D took AP Eng, reg Eng, and CW in her Sr year, even though the UC system would not give her credit for reg Eng (as if she did not take a class at all). She did it anyway because she loves English. And if taking CW opens more doors for you in the CW area, and you love it, it shows depth on interest and passion. I say go for CW. BTW, D is freshman at Yale.</p>
<p>In my school you are required to take 3 years of math. Although most people take Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and Trig or Pre-Calc (CP or Honors). Also I wouldn’t discourage taking an easy A in a class that interests you. I took Public Speaking which fits that definition BUT the class taught me the life skill of getting over stage fright. So if you’d like creative writing then take it. Also you are a junior so you would be taking AP Lit. From my understanding, if you take AP LA next year as a senior then that can get you credit for English in college.</p>
<p>I’m not taking creative writing because it’s an easy A. That’s just a plus. I actually love to write. I guess that’s why it’s an easy a for me. I knew some people who ha C’s and F’s because it wasn’t their thing.</p>
<p>Mcknight, your schedule was kind of hard to understand/read. Now I am understanding it better. Your choices are 4 AP classes vs 2 AP classes + Creative writing out of a total schedule of 6 classes? I guess that is a rather big drop in AP classes. You should talk to your GC to find out :
how many AP classes at your school are considered a “very rigorous” load,
With your 2 AP classes schedule + APs planned in Sr year compared with 4 APs + Sr APs, which category will the GC check off for you in terms of the level of rigor of your schedule (it’s a box on the GC’s letter of rec). </p>
<p>Is there any possible way to fit in CW, but keep your APs to 3 classes?
Would you consider taking CW in Sr yr?</p>
<p>Schedule
1st Spanish 3
2nd AP Biology (Dual period)
3rd APUSH
4th AP English
5th AP Psychology OR Creative Writing
6th Trig</p>
<p>This is what I see when I look at your post above. If I’m not correct then correct me, because I see that your only choice (difference in schedules) is Psych or Creativing Writing… Please make yoursefl more clear</p>
<p>And always checkout my forum with the link posted above ^</p>