tofugirl101 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Do you think this schedule is weak, especially in terms of highly-selective colleges? Grade 10: History of Old Testament (Review of Bible Chapters, Writing Papers, Tests, ect.) Chemistry AP Language (Online class) AP US History (Online class) Geometry German 1 Do you have any recommendations or thoughts? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 (edited) This is just my own humble opinion. The schedule looks fine for a college-bound student but I wouldn't think it is strong for a highly-selective college applicant. The main things that stand out to me is the first year foreign language course and the geometry course. I imagine a highly-selective college could expect their applicants to be at least in second year foreign language and even further along by 10th grade. Similarly, geometry is on track for completing pre-calculus in 12th grade; many students aiming for highly-selective colleges plan to take calculus in high school. Finally, 6 classes would be considered somewhat light. Public high school students with block schedules can fit in 8 credits per year. :grouphug: Pegasus Edited to add: If your student is really wanting to aim for highly selective colleges, I recommend hanging out on the College Confidential boards for a while. They are very informative. Edited February 2, 2012 by Pegasus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misslissa Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Other things to consider are extra-curriculars, essay writing ability, and interviewing ability. Highly selective colleges will take a lot more into consideration than course selection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperDad Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 This is just my own humble opinion. The schedule looks fine for a college-bound student but I wouldn't think it is strong for a highly-selective college applicant. The main things that stand out to me is the first year foreign language course and the geometry course. I imagine a highly-selective college could expect their applicants to be at least in second year foreign language and even further along by 10th grade. Similarly, geometry is on track for completing pre-calculus in 12th grade; many students aiming for highly-selective colleges plan to take calculus in high school. Finally, 6 classes would be considered somewhat light. Public high school students with block schedules can fit in 8 credits per year. :grouphug: Pegasus Edited to add: If your student is really wanting to aim for highly selective colleges, I recommend hanging out on the College Confidential boards for a while. They are very informative. :iagree: Not to freak you out, but I would expect a student aiming for "highly-selective colleges" to be a bit further along. The only thing that really pops out to me is that there are no electives (unless foreign language is the elective??). This, and extraccurics, are essential. HTH, SuperDad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tofugirl101 Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 Hi, I am actually the student. Yes, I agree the German. However, next year, I am going to taking a community college German 2 class (this year, I met a wonderful tutor. She teaches German classes and invited me next year). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galtgrl Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 It also depends on exactly what you mean by "highly selective". Are you only interested in the Ivies? Are you interested in liberal arts schools or more technical/science type schools? That will change the equation as well. *I* think 2 AP classes is pretty impressive, esp. if you can get high scores on the exams! Fwiw, here's one of our 10th grader's schedule; she's shooting for top-tier, more technical than liberal arts-type schools as of now: Novel Writing & Poetry Geometry (already completed Alg.1 & 2) Spanish 1 Chemistry w/ lab Marine Biology Intro. to Psychology Health Music Theory & Performance 2 Our other 10th grader is a little different, but still interested in top-tier schools; Here's what she's doing: Poetry & Creative composition Advanced Math (combines geometry, trig., some advanced algebra) Spanish 1 Chem. w/ Lab Web Design Health Music Theory & Comp. 2 They are also involved in 4H & several sports. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandigirl Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Hey Tofugirl I remember you from the college confidential boards :001_smile: Anyway what I am currently doing this year is: AP Chemistry AP Language and Composition Algebra 2 Pre Calc Spanish 3 I need to enroll in AP Bio and AP European history but can't right now. SO I am seriously self studying so that I can just take the exam and continue working on the course through summer. I will most likely enroll in these courses soon. Alright I hope this helps and PM me if you have any Q's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 (edited) My dd is in 10th this year. She's planning on going into Nursing. Next year she'll start her dual credit classes at the local CC, and will get a Pre-Nursing AA Degree (hopefully) and graduate from high school in 2014. So, next year she'll be doing more science and pre-req.'s for that, but those that will still help her for high school graduation. Anyway, here's what she's taking this year: AP Physical Science (she did Biology last year) AP English/Lit. AP US History Algebra 1 (yeah, she got a little behind. She's finishing up and will do Algebra 2 when she's done) Starting Geometry next week Bible Spanish 2 PE The AP classes are AP LEVEL, but we haven't looked into the testing yet. I need to talk to the teachers. My boys didn't do AP, so I am not sure how to go about the testing... Anyway, she just recently decided on the Nursing, and now she's very motivated to work toward that goal! If you have an idea of what you want to do/take in college, that could help you know what would be good to work on now to head you toward that goal! Best wishes to you! Edited February 3, 2012 by Brindee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS in MD Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 (edited) This is just my own humble opinion. The schedule looks fine for a college-bound student but I wouldn't think it is strong for a highly-selective college applicant. The main things that stand out to me is the first year foreign language course and the geometry course. I imagine a highly-selective college could expect their applicants to be at least in second year foreign language and even further along by 10th grade. Similarly, geometry is on track for completing pre-calculus in 12th grade; many students aiming for highly-selective colleges plan to take calculus in high school. Finally, 6 classes would be considered somewhat light. Public high school students with block schedules can fit in 8 credits per year. :grouphug: Pegasus Edited to add: If your student is really wanting to aim for highly selective colleges, I recommend hanging out on the College Confidential boards for a while. They are very informative. :iagree: JMHO - Selective colleges are looking for more than academics. Here is a excerpt from a recruit at Harvard who explained their process (from hs2coll yahoo group) - "I thought I would tell you all something about the evaluation process. I have interviewed applicants to Harvard for the last five years or so, and I have attended several seminars for interviewers, where we get to see how the admissions committee works. The following information is presented without comment or criticism by me, take from it what you will. Applicants are given ratings from 1 to 4 in four categories: academics,athletics, other extracurricular activities, and overall character. Character is a rather broad category that can include personality, overcoming adversity, etc. The categories are given equal weight, with academics weighted perhaps a bit more than the other categories. "1" means that the applicant is extraordinary-- gold medal at IMO, nationally recruited athlete, eye-popping service work, actually *is* Yo-Yo Ma, is an accomplished actor. Most well-qualified candidates have "2s" in most (but not all!) categories. Exceptions to the above will be made if a library or dormitory on campus is named after your grandfather. But that is a different conversation." Our dd is in 10th now and she is also trying to keep her opportunities open for admission into a selective college. She is leaning towards a STEM major and taking a mix of APs and cc courses to show progression of challenging course work along with sports, music and leadership/volunteer work. . Good luck! Edited February 3, 2012 by SS in MD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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