Choosing a Class Schedule

It is that time of year that I used to get really excited about…but maybe it is causing you a little bit of anxiety. Picking your class schedule for next semester can become a daunting task when you start to worry about what college admissions counselors are going to see later down the road. Hopefully common sense has kicked in and you have decided to take at least a few challenging classes.

If you go to a school that does not offer AP or honors classes, there is no need to panic. There are hundreds of students in your same boat, and admissions counselors know that. Some schools offer lots of advanced classes while some schools offer few to none. This does not mean you are at a disadvantage. Rather, colleges and universities work really hard to learn about each school an applicant is coming from. Whether it is APs or a really strong curriculum the college can usually figure it out.

At the same time, many students speak about hurting their gpa because of the number of honors classes they are taking. They suggest that it would be easy to get an A in a regular level class but that the B they earned in an honors or AP class represents a lot of hard work that they do not want to go unnoticed. Again, colleges and universities have been doing this long enough to figure this one out. A student who has a 4.0 gpa but has not taken any challenging classes most probably would not be considered to be as strong academically as a student with say a 3.5 gpa who has maxed out their curriculum.

So have no fear, when registering for your classes make sure you challenge yourself and you shall be dutifully rewarded come admissions season.