High School Course Selections

One of the first—and most important—exercises in the college planning process involves course selections for the coming year of high school. Your high school academic record determines whether you make it onto the “competitive playing fields” at the schools to which you apply. Moreover, the strength of your record positions you among other candidates who are vying for consideration.

The level of selectivity experienced at a given college provides an important contextual framework for this discussion. For example, the harder it is to get into a college, the more magnified are the decisions you make in all aspects of your life, especially those that relate to your academic development. Colleges that are less selective tend to be more forgiving of choices/outcomes that might not reflect as positively on your application. Keeping in mind, then, that the choices you make will be regarded differently according to the pressure a given institution feels to make fine distinctions between great candidates, the following are tips for making course selections that will serve you well going forward.

• When in doubt, err on the side of rigor. The degree to which you expose yourself to rigor or challenge in the high school classroom speaks volumes with regard to the likelihood that you can perform well in college level courses. As a result, admission officers are watching to see how you use the curriculum available to you to “step up” each year. Each year of high school should reflect advancement through progressively rigorous coursework in each discipline.
• Know your capacity to do the work. In contemplating rigor, it is easy to get drawn into the presumptive logic that taking the highest level course will be most impressive to colleges. While there is some truth in that assessment, you need to be able to function at a high level in the course. Barely passing an inordinately “hard” course produces the double whammy of a low grade in that course and the ripple effect of lower grades in other courses as you spend a disproportionate amount of time making it through the hard course. The bottom line: While it is important to stretch yourself, don’t over-reach in taking courses for the purpose of impressing admission officers.
• Breadth matters. In other words, keep your bases covered. In each year of high school, you should take courses in the five core discipline areas: math, science, social science, foreign language and communication arts (a.k.a. English). Do this regardless of your career interests. Why? Admission officers, especially at selective colleges, want to see that you have developed skills of critical thinking and analysis across disciplines. Having such an experience gives them greater confidence that you will be able to handle distribution requirements and cross-disciplinary courses you are likely to encounter in college.
• Substitute value for value. It is not uncommon for students entering the Junior or Senior year to rationalize course selections, e.g. “I don’t like Spanish…” “I want to double up in sciences…” “I’ve already satisfied my math requirement for graduation.” Generally speaking, dropping a course in one discipline for a course in another is acceptable if you are substituting value for value. For example, dropping an Honors or AP French in order to take AP Biochemistry is acceptable. On the other hand, dropping it for a survey course in Economics or Psychology would be a bad move within the context of competition at selective institutions.

If you think you want to take courses that relate to your possible major in college, keep in mind that the first order of business is competing for admission. While in high school, focus on breadth and depth of curricular development. If your schedule allows you to take courses related to your career interest in addition to the core group of five (referenced above), go for it. Otherwise, wait until college to start your major.

• Don’t settle for “good enough.” It is common for students to chart their progress through high school by working only to the level of their graduation requirements or to the course “requirements” posted by colleges. The problem is that selective colleges want to see what you will do when you have seemingly satisfied your “requirements”—when you don’t think you have to do anything. Be careful, then, not to settle for the minimum or that which is good enough. If you want to increase your range of options as a college applicant, push past that which is good enough to that which will make you a better candidate.

A common question from students regarding course selections sounds like this: “Is it better for me to take an easier course where I know I can get an “A” or should I take a harder course where I’ll probably get a lower grade?” While it is tempting to assert that one should take the hard course and get the “A,” I would like to offer a slightly different, three-part response that should apply to any course selection.

1. Choose courses that make sense to you—not to your friends or your parents. The courses you choose in each discipline should provide a new level of challenge and opportunity for growth.
2. Do as well as you can in these courses—good enough is never enough.
3. Select colleges that will value you for what you have to offer. These will be schools that see your trajectory and want to be part of your continued growth.
   

Finally, it might not be possible, for a variety of reasons, to schedule all of the courses that make sense to you. When that happens—when there are irregularities in your academic program—you have a story to tell in your application. And that is a topic for another day!

 

Source:  Best Fit College  Author: Peter Van Buskirk

Is Your Child’s High School Performance Jeopardizing College Opportunities?

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Many high school kids go through a phase of revolt where they don’t perform up to their potential and think it amusing to appear as if though they don’t understand and don’t care whether they do or not.

They may fake ignorance of subjects they know very well. This is called the “Cute Idiot” syndrome, and unfortunately it is common; thank goodness in most cases it is also usually only temporary.

This nonsense usually originates from a student who is doing poorly academically and may not have any guidance from home to do any better. The sad thing is that students who are doing well in school often look up to the student and think of them as cool. They emulate the same wiseacre ways to seek the acceptance of the bad kid or to hopefully become more popular themselves.

Some of the signs to watch for if your child suddenly goes “brain dead” and wants to follow in the shoes of the person who is going nowhere are:

1. Always Late for School Activities – You should teach your child to be on time for any event they are expected to attend, and that definitely includes school. This should start in the kindergarten/elementary years and become routine. Being late can progress to cutting classes, too.

2. Losing or Forgetting Homework – This is one of those traits that aggravates teachers to no end. It soon becomes evident to educators that the student who does this doesn’t care about class studies, and the teacher will lose interest in wasting time with such a goldbricker.

3. Creating a Scene in Class – The number one trait of a bad student is interrupting the teaching process by attempting to make a circus out of class. Trips to the principal’s office probably won’t do much good, except to provide some peace for the instructor. The parent usually gets some lame excuse of how their child was mistreated.

4. Postponing Assignments until the Last Minute – This is a problem with many students if their parents don’t stay after them. It is a poor habit that may have nothing to do with the “Cute Idiot” syndrome. Still, you can be assured that the person influencing the mutiny is doing the same thing.

These are only four of the ways that a student can jeopardize college opportunities and decent grades because of listening to the wrong drummer. Unfortunately, things can get much worse and lead to many more problems both in school and at home. It is important for parents to get a handle on this behavior early, before extreme damage is done.

Imagine trying to get reference letters for college and scholarship applications from teachers and school officials who have labeled your child’s behavior as unacceptable for college. Once the damage is done, it is hard, if even possible, to undo.

3 Tips for High School Juniors

The Junior year of high school is often considered the “Golden Age” of the high school career, when students are comfortable in their school and not under last-year stress before college. It’s also the optimal time to think hard about your college plans, and their implication for future careers. While you don’t have to make any decisions immediately, preparing yourself with information and a well-structured set of goals is the first and critical step. Here are three quick tips for high school Juniors to put you on the right path:

 

1. Take time to think about what you like to do; dream and imagine ideal careers. With so many different types of jobs and careers, and more emerging every day, it can be overwhelming to try to visualize yourself in a job 3-5 years down the road. Even if you are fairly sure of a career choice, take the time in high school to explore similar (or even vastly different) careers. Explore all your options. Examine your likes and dislikes and take a few career-assessment tests. Answer the question, if you could have any job right now, what would it be — and why? Don’t let any barriers hold you back from finding the perfect career. Your education should be designed to suit your goals, not the other way around.

 

2. Challenge yourself in high school, but don’t overwhelm yourself. High school is free education, a fact that you’ll appreciate when you are being faced with spending tens of thousands of dollars for college! When you can, take the tough and challenging schedule of classes; you’ll learn more — and it will look good to the college admissions staff. Obviously, you need to stay focused on getting good grades, but don’t overload your schedule — or yourself — so that it makes you sick or burnt out. Be sure to include at least one fun course in your schedule.

 

3. Discuss careers and colleges with as many adults and other graduates as possible. The best way to find out about different careers is to ask people — family, neighbors, friends, teachers, counselors — to tell you about their career and college experiences. If you have not already, begin to build a network of adults who know you and are willing to assist you in your educational and career endeavors. And for careers that truly interest you, consider asking each person if you can shadow him/her at work. You could also consider conducting informational interviews at the same time as the shadowing, or as a less intrusive method of learning more about jobs and careers.

3 Key Things Colleges Look for In Applicants

Author:  Rhonda Manns, A2Z College Planning

What are college admissions officers looking for as they review your application? The admissions process varies and can be subjective to some degree, but here are 3 important things that could help you stand out and score acceptance letters from your favorite schools.

 

Strong Grades and an Upward Trend
Grades are one of the most important components that colleges will be looking at. You should have a Grade Point Average (GPA) that reflects your hard work. Also, admissions officers value grades that represent strong effort and show an upward trend over the years. However, slightly lower grades in a rigorous program are preferred to all A’s in less challenging coursework. Class rank will show where you rank in relation to your classmates—the higher the BETTER! A higher rank reflects that you have worked harder than others in your class.

 

A Challenging High School Curriculum
A transcript that reflects that a student takes on challenges can put them a step ahead. Academically successful students should include several honors and Advanced Placement classes. You should also try to take a variety of challenging classes in several academic areas; if you love science, you need to show some diversity in your class selection. Do not take only science classes, include some courses in other academic areas such as, math, foreign language, English, business, or computers. Also, every college provides information on the basic number of courses that you must take in each discipline in high school; try to exceed the minimum required by the college. If they require two years of foreign language, try to take at least three.

 

Extracurricular Activities
Something to keep in mind is that your activities should demonstrate your interests. Passionate involvement in a few activities — and a demonstration of leadership and initiative in those activities — can only help a student. Depth, not breadth, of experience is most important. You should participate as a leader or make a significant contribution to those activities in which you are involved. Try to have activities that show that you care about the world outside of the classroom because your participation will be an indication as to what type of contribution you will be able to make to the college community. A long list does not impress admissions committees, so it is better to have a few activities to which you dedicate a significant amount of time.

 

After reading over this list, decide which areas you need to work on to improve your candidate status. Make your admission in to one of your top-choice schools a reality!