Recently, I led a student workshop at G.I.R.L. Quest, hosted by our local Girl Scouts chapter. The workshop was on finding the best college fit, but when I opened the floor for questions at the beginning of our session, the common question was some version of “How do I know what classes I should be taking and when?”
It’s that time of year when students choose their courses for the next year, so we’ve been answering that question a lot lately. We think course planning is important - so important that we dedicated our very first episode of The Inside Scoop podcast to the subject. Lindsey talked to two admissions officers at UNC-Chapel Hill about navigating a high school course load.
Picking up on the idea of balance mentioned in the podcast, I want to address another set of questions we’re hearing pretty frequently these days: Do I have to take the hardest options available at my school? Will it look bad if I don’t take AP/IB/Honors classes? Is it better to get a lower grade in an AP/IB/Honors class than an A in an easier class?
Every student is different, but here are some instances where I would probably advise taking a less rigorous course.
STUDENT #1:
This student is taking several advanced classes, and doing well in most of them, but is struggling in precalculus. He’s working hard on his own, has worked with his teacher for extra help, and is meeting with a tutor, but he doesn’t feel his grades aren’t reflecting the effort he’s putting in. He is up late studying almost every night and feels increasingly anxious before his math tests.
He finishes the course with a low B. He has the option to take AP Calculus the following year but worries about the amount of work it will take to keep his grades up.
Advice for Student #1:
He’s managed to keep the rest of his grades up while balancing a difficult class, and he finished that class with a B. Clearly, he is a hard worker! But I have concerns about him progressing into the difficult math class.
He is already staying up later than usual to stay on top of his assignments, and he is experiencing test anxiety. AP Calculus will be even more of a challenge, and I’m concerned that stretching himself even thinner will start to have negative effects like less involvement in out of class activities, more anxiety, or an impact on his other grades. Since he’s doing well in his other rigorous courses, he should continue with those and investigate what other math options he has for the following year.
STUDENT #2:
This student has increased their course rigor from freshman to sophomore year and is taking many high-level courses. She’s doing well in all of her classes - even in the subjects that aren’t her favorite - and wants to push herself even further in her junior and senior years by taking as many AP courses as possible. But when we sit down to start working on her student resume, we see a very different trend.
She was very involved in extracurricular activities during her freshman year, but now, she isn’t involved in anything outside of school. When asked about it, she says she misses the activities she used to participate in, but there’s simply no time for anything but homework and studying.
Advice for Student #2:
It’s true that grades matter in the college admission process, but colleges are also looking for passion and curiosity outside of the classroom. The Common Application has an Activity List that asks students to account for the hours per week and weeks per year they spend on each activity.
We’ll talk about activities and extracurriculars in a future post, but for now, I want to focus on the fact that this student has given up activities and hobbies that she’s enjoyed to take harder courses. Her life isn’t very balanced right now, and I worry about burn out if she keeps it up.
I’d recommend that this student reassess her high school course plan. Are there certain courses that relate to her potential major or career choice? If she’s interested in the sciences, for example, she might focus on challenging herself to max out her school’s science offerings while easing up in other areas like electives. If she’s taking high-level courses for her electives for the extra GPA points, there might be other options that she’ll enjoy more that may not be as challenging and will free up some time outside of the classroom.
STUDENT #3 (and their friend):
This student took 3 AP courses in their sophomore year and got A’s in all of them. They decided to increase to 4 AP courses in their junior year, following the recommended trajectory of increasing rigor over time. However, the extra workload was more than they expected, and they finished with 2 B’s and 2 C’s. They aren’t sure what to take for their senior year.
Meanwhile, their best friend also increased from 3 to 4 AP courses. She finished with all A’s and B’s in her AP courses, but her grades slipped in two of her electives. She’s shocked because they were “easy A’s” for her in the past. But she admitted that she put them last, saying that they assigned “busy work” that she sometimes turned in late when she had more work in her “important classes.”
Advice for these friends:
Both of these students are seeing their other grades suffer when they increase their course rigor. The first example comes straight from the podcast episode. Jared Rosenberg suggests that colleges like UNC focus on grades rather than the overall GPA. Weighted C’s are still C’s.
Since the student did well in their first 3 AP classes, it’s important to talk about what changed. Was balancing an extra AP course too much for their plate? Did they increase involvement in an extracurricular that takes up more of their time than before? There could be a lot of contributing factors for the grade slip, but it also might be that 3 AP classes are just enough challenge for them right now while 4 pushes them too far. This student may want to consider taking 3 AP courses in their senior year and focusing on Honors level courses to keep challenging them.
Should their friend continue to take at least 4 AP classes in her senior year? Maybe. Her other grades did slip, but it sounds like this may be a matter of poor time management and prioritization. She’ll need to develop a plan - and may need some help with external accountability - to complete her assignments on time in all her classes.
STUDENT #4:
This student’s school does not allow them to take AP courses in their freshman year. He then took 5 AP classes in his sophomore year. He worked hard all year and finished mostly B’s in his AP classes (he got all A’s in his freshman year). Along the way, he quit going to meetings for two school clubs he was in, but he still plays a sport outside of school and is involved in his church youth group. He feels like he should keep increasing the difficulty of classes, but he admits that he doesn’t like school as much as he used to. Does he really have to keep up this pace for the next two years?
Advice for Student #4:
If you’ll notice, Student #4 has many of the same “symptoms” as our other example students. He also went from zero to 60 with his course load, jumping in the deep end when it comes to challenging courses. Students who attend schools with a lot of AP offerings can feel pressure to take them all - especially if that’s the culture at the school. But let’s take a step back.
This student put in a lot of effort and balanced his classes with sports and church. Because freshman year is often a time for exploring interests, it’s not uncommon for a few extracurriculars to fall off the resume as the student narrows their focus.
What I want to hear from this student is how he felt about his sophomore year. Did he feel like he was able to do his best work in each of his classes? Did he feel like he had enough time to devote to his classes and his out of class interests? Does he think his final grades are a reflection of his abilities? The answers to questions like these might make the decision easier to make.
We want our students to push themselves, but there is such a thing as pushing yourself too far in one area. Sometimes, it can be better for your student not to take the most rigorous path possible when it comes to course planning.
Balance is important, and students should be looking to balance a rigorous curriculum, grades, and life outside of school. As long as students are still challenging themselves and they feel good about their grades and their quality of life, they’re in good shape.