[seohee]

I'm currently in 11th grade and I'm in the process of making my 12th grade schedule...but I'm torn whether to take 5 academic classes (as is standard) as opposed to 6. When colleges look at your applications, how much weight do they put on your 12th grade course load?

And also, I'm taking only 4 academic classes right now because something went wrong with my 5th one (online Chinese course). I was too advanced for the program and my professor didn't even reply to e-mails My counselor told me that I could make it up by taking a World History course in the summer at a 4 year university, and she told me not to worry about taking anymore Chinese. The thing is, I've moved around about 5 times just this year, first from Seattle to the east coast and then several times over here on the east. Obviously, my old school offered Chinese while the school I currently attend doesn't...so the counselor told me not to even worry about Chinese (I already took two years at my old school) since I already got an 800 on the Korean SAT II to show that I'm proficient in a second language. Ehh...I feel kind of iffy about that, but would taking Chinese at like a learning academy make this gap up in any way (even if I can't get credit for it)?

x_X I got totally screwed over this year...

[oOh-her]

i'm guessing you live in the states?

in ontario, universities want 6 grade12 courses at the university or mixed level as the prereq for any program (plus your diploma of course).

i think your school or at least your guidance counsellers are supposed to tell you what you need to do prior to course selections. if they don't, do some research on your own about the colleges you intend to go to and the program. they'll list what you need to take.

[kuku]

First I gotta give props since you know both Korean and Chinese fluently it seems.

If it were me, I would have taken a language offered by every darn school: Spanish.
lol

A lot of seniors take 5 classes. And of those, I have seen many take TA, and an easy elective... they only took English and gov/econ.
Easy year.

[mnmadi]

It depends on your normal coursework. If you're a competitive student who normally takes several APs/Honors a year, then you should continue to do so; having one free period or TA is perfectly fine for senior year though. Senior year doesn't really matter that much but colleges like to see consistency.

If I were you, I'd take World History to fill in the gap. But if not, I'd recommend you write colleges a note explaining your situation and why you only have 4 classes instead of the standard 5. Maybe you should take the SAT II Chinese to prove that you're fluent enough in the language to not have to take a higher-level language class...?

[HienSTAR]

My school is different. We have (three or) four classes one semester and another (three or) four the second semester. For me, it only really matters what you take in the first semester because when you send in your transcripts, those are the classes the colleges/universities will see. Of course the other classes will count, but if you're already accepted, the only way they'll not accept you is if you TOTALLY screwed up. Lol.

[Lebanese_Blonde]

well i have 7 academic classes in all, so it varies for everyone. i think taking your school standard is your best bet so that you don't get overloaded and you can participate in lots of activities.
and yeah 12th grade grades DO matter >_<

[Elysia]

They take into some consideration your 12th grade schedule, because of the infamous thing called "senior slide", when 2nd semester seniors tend to slack off in all their courses because they've already gotten into their choice colleges.

But if you're enrolled in several AP courses / honor classes, it's more difficult to slack off and thusfor colleges ALSO will see your full year grades (I think... maybe it's a rumor?) so if you fail all your classes 2nd semester but were passing with straight A's... they'd be suspicous ^^;

And yeah, my school is different from yours - we have eight "blocks" per year, four blocks per semester, and academic courses are one full block, AP classes are 1.5 blocks, and so forth.

If you're planning to apply to one of the more selective colleges, I'd go with 6 academics Because the counselors are asked to rate the difficulty of your courseload, and if you do more than the standard, it'll show colleges that you're hardworking and motivated!