Hi, I am having a difficult time deciding which AP science class I should take senior year of high school. I want to major in Speech Language Pathology in college, if that makes a difference.
The science classes offered are: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, or ECE Physics (a college class taught at a HS). I also want to take Anatomy and Physiology since I feel like that will help me down the road. So far my schedule looks something like this…
Junior Year:
1 - Honors Spanish IV
2 - Honors Physics
3 - Honors English III
4 - Jazz Band
5 - Concert Band (??)
6 - AP US History
7 - Honors Calculus or Pre-Calculus
8 - Study Hall (??)
Senior Year
1 - AP Spanish
2 - Honors Calculus or AP Stats
3 - 2 Honors English Electives
4 - Jazz Band
5 - Concert Band (??)
6 - Anatomy and Physiology
7 - AP Psychology
8 - Study Hall (??)
My concern is that if an AP science is double blocked some days, I don’t know what I should do… Please help with these questions! Thanks!
Matt
I guess it depends on the selectivity of the schools you are applying to. If you are thinking of applying to the Top 20-20 schools, your schedule may not have enough rigor, specially in your senior year. Having Jazz Band, Concert Band, Study Hall and AP Psych would be considered the lightest of classes that one can take (yes, including AP Psych).
In general, assuming that you will get a good grade for either subject, Honors Calculus (or even better AP Calc) gives a much more favorable impression than AP Stats. I personally think having Jazz Band AND Concert Band is too much Band. But that is a personal decision. AP Psych is okay if that is really your interest, but AP Biology or AP Chem will be perceived as much more rigorious and also will be helpful in your chosen field of study.
Even if you are not applying to a Top 20 school, it is still better, in general, if you take harder classes, assuming that you will not get a C or a D! If you think you will have too hard a time keeping up, then its not worth it. Basically, try to take the hardest classes that you can still be reasonably successful at.
@ohiopop Thank you! I was planning on dropping Concert Band one of those years (if not both). Would having a study hall in senior and junior year be viewed as not rigorous enough (assume I replace concert band with another class)? If I do drop concert band junior year, what would a good replacement class be? List any APs, my school does not have all of them (like Italian, German, Spanish Lit. etc.) but we do have most of them that you think will increase my chances. At the moment I have not looked into many colleges but have a few in mind, but don’t want to tell you in case that changes the necessary rigor.
Sorry for the length, but I appreciated your post A LOT!
I strongly disagree that 2 band courses is too many. It is not seen as taking a lighter course load, but rather as showing dedication and commitment. It also takes a great deal of time and planning. Colleges recognize this. It will positively influence your admissions, regardless of major.
I was in both jazz band and symphonic band my junior and senior year (concert band all four years), also taking AP Music Theory senior year (7 music classes over 4 years). That is part of what made me stand out to colleges. I am the only one in recent memory at my school to have done this. I got several comments on it when I did admissions interviews. It is very rare for high schoolers to be in multiple curricular ensembles and they applauded me for doing so. Especially since to do so at my school (STEM magnet school consistently ranked in the top 10 schools in the country), meant I had to take 4 courses in the summers since we had extra graduation requirements and almost no elective slots.
I’m a math and CS major about to start my sophomore year. I should also mention that I got full tuition scholarships to both of my top two schools.
As far as science, take whatever science interests you most. It does not need to be AP. You’d be fine with just anatomy if that’s what you want to take. I honestly don’t think you need to boost your rigor, unless you are aiming for schools with extremely low acceptance rates (<25%).
Also, rigor is viewed in terms of your school and your guidance counselor is the one that determines that. Show your counselor your current schedule plan and ask them if they would mark most rigorous on your app. That’s all that matters and all colleges care about.
You are welcome! To answer your question better, it is less important for us to know the specific names of schools,
but it would help for us know if the schools you are targeting are in the top 20 (e.g. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, U Chicago, Northwestern, MIT, Georgetown, etc); the next level of schools (Tufts, BC, USC, Michigan, Virginia, Tulane, etc); or the next level schools (BU, George Washington, etc) (folks, don’t get hung up on my classification if your favorite school is not listed on the “top level”; that’s not the point of this comment). It would also be helpful to know your unweighted GPA and your strong subjects (?languages, math, sciences, humanities). When we have those general info, we can guide you better as to what subjects you should be considering in your senior year.
Some general comments to help you:
The more competitive the school you want to apply to, the more important it is for your guidance counselor to check the "most competitive curriculum" box in your application. If you are applying to a Top 20 school and your GC does not check this box, it is almost a death sentence, unless you have "a hook" or some unusual circumstance/talent/etc. It might be a good idea to speak to your GC and show him/her your curriculum and ask the level of rigor. From there, you can make your adjustments.
As for study hall, you might get away with one in your senior year; but it does not look good to have a study hall in your junior year (again, this matters more for the most competitive schools, but it might also matter for the generally competitive schools).
It is best to take the most difficult courses in either the subjects that you excel at and/or the subjects that are related to your field. In your case, this would be the sciences. But if you are really strong in humanities, or languages, it will still look favorable if you have AP classess in Spanish, and you have another language at a lower level as your elective. It will definitely look better than say a second band subject or study hall.
For APs, it is generally perceived that AP Bio, Chem, Physics, Calculus, and even the languages (English, Spanish, French) and the humanities (APUSH and AP World History) are the most rigorous; and AP Psych, AP Human Goegraphy, AP Economics, AP Stats are the "light ones". So choose the ones where you will have the highest chance of succeeding; and if they happen to also be in the same area as your field of study, even better. But even the light APs are still better than study hall or a second band class, I would think?
@ohiopop Another language at level 1 will not look better than being in a second ensemble. What you choose to do with your electives is up to you and colleges do not care if students decide to take level 1 of a foreign language their senior year. In terms of foreign language, they care about proficiency and one year of another language will not add that. Light APs are also not “better” than a second band class. Colleges do not want students chasing APs for the sake of taking APs. Even more, admissions officers from schools such as MIT have been quoted as saying they wish students took more arts courses. Actually it was the dean of admission at MIT that wrote an article on this. He specifically said he hated that students were taking more APs over taking arts classes and extracurriculars.
There is more value to a course than the label it is assigned and colleges recognize that. A lot of the kids from my high school which are admitted to the top schools are ones that are involved in the arts (or sports) and have made sacrifices scheduling wise in order to take classes in them.
@ohiopop@guineagirl96 wow thank you both so much for really taking time to answer! =)
My number one school would be a public university which is in the top 20 public universities, but I have only looked at a few.
I am also in another music ensemble, which is after school and does not take up a class period but I still get credit. My best class was Spanish (99 average) and history I got a 92 (low for me, rocky start) and English I got a 97. Geometry I got an 87 and Bio a 90. And @guineagirl96 what are your views on study hall?
I second EVERYTHING that guineagirl96 wrote.
Top Colleges want smart kids who also have passions, and have found ways to follow demonstrate and develop those passions during HS.
The MIT admissions officer wrote this about “applying sideways”.
Its the right path to take. http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways
Study halls are best to avoid if you have something else you could take (that you want to take; don’t force yourself to take weightlifting for example just to take a class) but 1 a year shouldn’t hurt, especially senior year. Again, this also depends on what most students are doing at your school. If most students are taking a study hall, then definitely no harm. When it gets to be a problem is when most students at your school are taking 1 or none and you’re taking 2 or more.
@guineagirl96 while I understand where you are coming from, my comments are more targetted for OP’s specific schedule. I agree with you 100% that if the curriculum is already displaying that the most rigorous courses are being taken, one is free to go with her passion on electives. No one will be faulted for selecting a non-AP or non-Honors class or an art class that someone is interested in. But you need to view it in OP’s context. His current curriculum does not have much rigor to it (she is proposing a study hall, 2 band classes, and for her APs, he is considering AP Stats and/or AP Psych). And he’s telling us that his school offers a ton of APs (therefore it is not a matter of not selecting APs because the school does not offer them) and he wants to go to a Top 20 University and hopes to major in a science field!
The reality is that for uber selective universities, the strongest entry factors for consideration are a good GPA and a very challenging curriculum. Ones you have these, then dedication, specialization in a special skill, leadership, etc, etc will be an added boost that will make you stand out from the rest of the pack. But you should at least have the rigor (or some amount of it) first. That is why, I suggested (instead of us debating which will be good for her) that he see his GC and ask him/her what s/he considers rigorous (at least we agree on one recommendation!). If the GC finds a second band subject as extremely rigorous that will show dedication over say an AP science subject that will further his interest in her field, then go for it!
And still think that one band class that you consistently take every year, and especially if you do something with it inside and outside the school is good enough to show dedicatiion in that area, and he can use that extra space currently occupied by the second band class to deepen the other areas in her portfolio or to simply broaden his field of interest. But the GC will be the judge of that, so 'nuff said.
@ohiopop It really depends on how involved they are in band. Taking band all four years shows leadership qualities and commitment. Top colleges already have enough kids applying with a lot of APs. It’s in your best interest to have a rarer talent/quality that they know you’ll bring to their school. Music/art electives show a lot about the student. Don’t count them off as less rigorous.
If you want to go down the easy road, you can take an on level class like aquatics or anatomy, or geology. I took AP chem but it was a hard and rigorous class, and judging by your schedule, I wouldn’t take AP chem. youd have an overload. forensic science is pretty fun too
I re-read your post much more carefully, and I guess I was too harsh. You are targeting a top 20 public university, so it is not likely you are targeting an uber selective school, but rather a selective school. And in your Junior year, you have 3-4 honors classes and one AP. So, I think you can ease up a little and find/follow your interest in your senior your course selection. However, just to be sure, I think there is no debate amongst people who responded to you, that you should check with your GC how s/he views your planned schedule, what box s/he will tick on your college application with regards to how competitive your course load is, and whether that is compatible with your target school(s).
At my school double blocked sciences (AP Chem, Bio and Physics) usually have days when they don’t meet (Context: Normal (non-lab) classes meet 5 times every 7 days. Lab sciences (academic/honors) meet 6 days out of 7. AP Chem (7 credits) meets 7 times every 10 days, so 3 days is study hall (unless you have a 3 credit class) while another AP Chem class (and BC Calc, unrelated) is 10 credits, so it’s essentially double blocked.)
If you take an AP science, you’ll usually get a study hall for the days your class doesn’t meet. If you don’t, you can take out an easier class and put in a study hall.