Colleges love your transcript if it’s abundant in honors and of course, Advance Placement classes. Those dreaded A.Ps mean a large workload and endless hours into the night if you take too many.
A regular tip I’ve been hearing is to take the A.P classes in which you enjoy learning the subject.
So if you hate math, suck at it, and truly believe that addition and subtraction are all we need in life, DON’T TAKE AN A.P MATH CLASS. Same goes if you hate science but you just want those college admissions officers to love you so you take A.P Biology. That class ruins lives.
A good way to make your transcript as beautiful as ever, is to take a myriad of honors courses. They are not as rigorous as Advance Placement but they are also weighted.
What’s weighted?
Weighted classes are on a scale of:
A=5
B=4
C=3
D=1
F=0
A common misconception of AP and honors courses is that if you get a lower grade, it equals the higher grade. An example would be getting a B in a weighted class; it would be equal to getting an A in a non-weighted (regular) class. That is true up to a point. D’s and F’s are not weighted, so sadly you can fail.
Note: Getting a C in a weighted class looks worse than getting a B or A in a regular class. I’ve asked college admissions officers.
There is a long long long list of A.P classes because you have to take the dreaded A.P test in May. It sucks if you have to take more than one in the same day. (I have two in one day for this year) :[
Overall, take the honors and A.P classes in the subjects you enjoy. In my case, it’s English. But this year I’m also taking A.P Environmental Science and A.P Statistics albeit I am not a math person. (But hey, it’s an easy math) ;]
Don’t take the weighted class just because you want to look good, you have a chance of getting a poor grade. Also, check with your counselor! Some honors courses are not designated as HL (honor level) so it is not weighted. At my high school, freshman and sophomore year honors classes aren’t weighted. But don’t let that discourage you, even if it’s not weighted, it still looks good! Because colleges look at the “rigor of secondary school curriculum”, meaning did you challenge yourself? Or did you take it easy to get an easy 4.0.
Yes, it’s obvious.
