Class Planning Tips – College Bound Mentor Podcast #22

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Welcome to the College Bound Mentor podcast! Each episode, hear trends, case studies, and interviews with students who have gone through it all.

This is Episode #22 and you’ll hear everything you need to know when selecting classes for freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year of high school. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots – follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re enjoying the show!

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  • Transcript

College Bound Mentor Podcast Episode #22: Class Planning Tips

How do you make the right class selections ahead of each year of high school? And how much will they actually impact your college application? In this episode, Lisa, Abby, and Stefanie talk everything you need to know when selecting classes for freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year of high school. Hear which year should be the most challenging, how to find that balance between APs & electives, how long to continue taking a foreign language class, what to do if you don’t know what you want to major in in college, and whether senioritis is worth it. This episode covers everything from class planning to applying to college. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:

  • Why is course selection important?
  • What classes should you take freshman year?
  • When can you stop taking a foreign language class?
  • What classes should you take if you don’t know what you want to major in?
  • Do your grades matter during senior year?
  • What electives should you take?
  • How does your college major impact course selection?
  • What are some myths & truths about class planning?

Subscribe to College Bound Mentor on your favorite podcast platform and learn more at CollegeBoundMentor.com.

Check out the episode and show notes below for much more detail.

Show Notes

What is the College Bound Mentor podcast?

Lisa, Abby, and Stefanie know college. They also know students. With over 30 years combined experience mentoring young people, they’ll show you why understanding yourself is the key to finding the right college. Each episode, hear trends, case studies, and interviews with students who have gone through it all – giving you valuable insight to survive the college application process and beyond. Hosted by Lisa Bleich, Abby Power, and Stefanie Forman, Partners of College Bound Mentor.

Transcript

Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.

Lisa Bleich 0:00
See not everything is just about getting an A there is definitely value to learning how to learn.

Hey, CBMers, welcome back to College Bound Mentor, where we help you survive the college application process and beyond. We’re your co-hosts, Lisa, Abby, and Stefanie. On today’s episodes, we are going to discuss how to make sure you are making the right class selections and being thoughtful about your decisions and how they can impact your college application. We know this is especially timely, as we are currently meeting with our students, about the classes they are picking for this coming year. So overall, Seth, why do you think it’s so important to be thoughtful about your course selections? You know, what are some of the things that colleges are looking for? I

Stefanie Forman 0:50
think some of the things that colleges are looking for is one that you are continuing to challenge yourself. You are being looked at within the context of your individual High School. So you’re taking advantage of the courses offers they want to see that there is a narrative that it all makes sense, so that if you say that you’re gonna that you are want to study a certain subject, whether it’s pre med, whether it’s business, whether it’s English, that you are taking courses that line up with that. So if you have this passion in English, and your school offers AP Lang or AP Lit, that you’re taking those courses, or maybe you’re doubling up on English electives, or, like a creative writing class,

Lisa Bleich 1:35
I think that’s right. I mean, okay, why don’t we just break it down? So let’s think about like, when you start freshman year your classes. Are you going from middle school to high school? So what do you have to think about freshman year when you’re planning your classes? What’s something to what are some of the ahas that get people often freshmen

Abby Power 1:50
don’t have that much of a choice. And one thing that I see maybe too many freshmen do is take on rigor too quickly before they’ve settled in to school. So in the Midwest, especially at a lot of schools, you can take AP Human Geography in ninth grade, and you can take AP pre calc in ninth grade, and it’s a lot. So you know, you just have to make sure that that you’re ready for it. But generally speaking, and when you’re a freshman, it’s pretty prescriptive, I think, right, you’ve got your lab science, your math, your English year. I

Lisa Bleich 2:27
mean, I think some of the things that you have to be mindful of is if you think that you want to be on a particular track, or you think you might want to take, like all the classes available for computer science as an example, or if you think that you want to end up in BC, AP, calculus, BC, then you just have to make sure that you’re on the classes that will lead up to what you ultimately want to end up in. And I think that’s sometimes where kids aren’t really clear about that. They didn’t know, oh, I had to take that to get into this. So just kind of look ahead and think about like, what do I want to end up in senior year? And what are the prerequisites that I need to have so that I can make it there? And I think it really depends, like, everything on the high school, because some high schools you can’t really take any, like a lot of the New Jersey schools, you can’t really take any AP classes freshman year, and you maybe can only take a couple honors, some let you take honors or accelerated in every subject. So freshman year is kind of a year to get your feet wet, figure out what the challenges the transition, see what classes you like and you don’t like, and then just to kind of get used to high school. What about sophomore year? What are some of the things? Because that’s usually the year where it starts to get a little bit more challenging. And I feel like a lot of times kids are not sure if they can manage as much as they they’ve bitten off. So what do you what are some tips for sophomore year? Well,

Abby Power 3:44
I think you were exactly right about freshman year. I mean, I think it’s a good idea to sit with your counselor and map out through senior year. Obviously, things can change, and it doesn’t have to be perfect, but if you’ve done that, then once you’re looking at sophomore year, you have a clearer path. But I think most kids are starting to take a piece sophomore year.

Lisa Bleich 4:04
Yeah, maybe not a lot depends on the school couple, yeah. And that’s also where a lot of times kids have to figure out how to re, change or re address how they study, because that’s where things can get a little bit harder and to think about if they’re working as hard as they can. Another thing about freshman year that a lot of people fall into is that they a lot of times of times, counselors will say, we’ll take a free period freshman year. And I actually don’t recommend that. I think it’s better to just take an elective that’s going to be a required elective freshman year. Get it out of the way so that when you get into your later years, that’s when you actually need the free period, because the classes are typically harder. Do you agree with that?

Abby Power 4:39
On average, yeah. I mean, for a given kid who really needs that time to do their homework, let’s say they have got really rigorous sports after school or something. But yes, in general, I 100% agree with that. Yeah.

Lisa Bleich 4:52
Steph, what do you think, Virginia, what are some of the things that you are the pitfalls for junior year,

Stefanie Forman 4:57
just like you said, You both said, like some. Sophomore year, things start to crystallize a little bit more, and you’re starting to get a taste of these more accelerated classes and to see if you can handle it. And junior year, if you can push yourself. This is where you push yourself, because this year is super important, because we see that progression from freshman year, sophomore year to junior year show your interest. So this is a chance to take more AP courses, because more usually offered or honors courses. That’s really important. This is where the narrative comes together. Your interests are all starting to weave together. So what are

Lisa Bleich 5:32
the questions that you get asked most often about Junior classes?

Stefanie Forman 5:36
Is this too much? Is can I handle for AP courses and be part of the tech crew of the play and be on the soccer team and do this community service outside of school. Is that going to push me over the edge, and at the same time, is this what colleges are looking for? Like, how do you stand out academically? But also, again, find this balance. So I think it’s really hard. I know that we really want to make sure that our students stay sane and are happy and that their passions don’t die. But again, they’re getting this message message from from colleges, or they think they’re getting these messages from colleges and society and fodder, like no like there are AP courses I qualify for these AP courses, or these honors courses, or IB, whatever the school offers, and I have to take them, so I think it’s really helping them find that balance. And how do you

Lisa Bleich 6:29
find that balance? Abby, what do you what do you give recommendations to kids to do that?

Abby Power 6:33
My rule of thumb is you’re struggling in a class when you’re at sort of a very low B level, like a b minus, like bordering on a c plus. And my issue with that is not just the grade, it’s really more that at that point you need to put too much energy into that class, and it’s taking away from your other classes. Maybe it’s taking away from the classes that you really love and would be thriving in. So, you know, I feel like if you are picking between an AP class and a regular class, and you’re confident that you can get, you know, sort of middle B plot and above that feels right. And the most highly selective schools, to be fair, really want to see you pushing yourself in every single area the top, you know, call it almost 10, but maybe five to 10 schools want to see you taking as much rigor as possible, but most schools just want to see you challenge yourself in the areas that you’re interested in and accomplished in, whether it’s stem, whether it’s English, whether it’s social, you know all the humanities language. You know most schools don’t expect you to take every single AP class that’s available to you. And then one other thing that has just recently come up that I want to just point out is in your high school profile, generally speaking, your school is going to explain to the colleges what the philosophy is about taking rigor. Some high schools don’t let kids take a piece in ninth and 10th grade. Some do in Minneapolis, there are two, you know, competing private schools. And at one, you can take as many APS as you want. You don’t have to be recommended for it. You just sign up. So kids come out of that school all the time with 1214, APS. At the other private school, you can’t take them freshman, sophomore year. You have to be recommended. You have to interview. You know, it’s very competitive. Most kids coming out of there only have three or four APs. So the colleges are going to understand the context in which you are operating. So you don’t have to freak out because kids from the neighboring school graduate with with more APs, if you’re more typical for your school. I just wanted to throw that in there. Yeah, that’s

Lisa Bleich 8:42
a really good point, because every school has a different way that you get into the AP classes for the IB, or whatever it is that you’re trying to do. The other thing that, in terms of, like, the questions I get asked a lot is, I think I like stem but I’m not really going for engineering. Do I need to take physics junior year? Do I need to take physics at all? And I really want to take AP Bio my junior because I’m more interested in that area. And I always tell kids that if you’re interested, you for the most like schools, they do want to see bio, Chem and physics, biology, chemistry and physics, the three big sciences. But it doesn’t matter if you take it senior year or if you take it junior year, you can certainly take AP Bio your junior year, if you feel like that’s a class that you’re going to do better in and that you are going to enjoy more as long as you take physics your senior year. The the main reason why someone would want to take physics their junior years is if they’re really interested in engineering, because they’re going to the engineering students are going to want to have had AP Physics, and then probably AP Physics, C or em. So that gives you two years to take physics. So it really again depends on the on the where you’re ultimately going. The other question we always get is, Can I drop my foreign language? I don’t really want to take it again for my fourth year, or my I don’t want to take AP. And what do you guys think about that?

Abby Power 9:56
I actually, you know, just kind of covered this with a client. Uh, who has taken two years of a language and really wants to be done and is interested potentially in Michigan. So we went over to Michigan’s website to see what they’re requiring, and they actually, sometime in the last year or two, changed what they have to say. They require two years of a language, and they recommend four years. I was just telling Lisa and Stephanie that a client of mine only had three years and got into Michigan. So it’s not a hard, fast rule, but it’s kind of case by case, and in high school, I think we all agree that the colleges want to see you get to level four of a language sort of said differently. I think many colleges want to see three high school years of a language, consecutive of a single language. But there are kind of all kinds of exceptions. We were talking about this earlier. Some kids hit AP of their language and sophomore year, and then they’re done, but they’ve hit. They’ve hit that some kids, you know, have language waivers because of learning ish differences. So there’s all kinds of different ways to navigate it and reasons to navigate it, but generally speaking, I think we’re comfortable saying three years to level four or three years in high school,

Lisa Bleich 11:13
right? Because a lot of times, depending on where you start your foreign language, in different states, you can have a pretty substantial foreign language in middle school. So that counts, typically, for one of those four years, there’s also people that are bilingual, so they might be speaking a foreign language that might be there, a language other than English, maybe the language that they speak at home, so they’re fluent in another language. So they really want to the most select schools that want to see that level of language is because they want you to be able to jump into a foreign language class at the university level and be able to be proficient. So that’s one of the ways to think about that for the foreign language. The other thing is, if you’re applying to a super select school and you don’t have AP Language, then you somewhat put yourself at a disadvantage, because a lot of the other students that are applying and competing with you will have had an AP Language even things like for I always tell like pre med students being able to speak Spanish or having another language to be able to communicate with your patients in the future is super important. And for medical school, it’s super important to have another language, particularly Spanish. So language does come into play in a lot of different ways that you may not necessarily think about when you’re bemoaning having to take another language.

Stefanie Forman 12:24
I’ve had some students who are applying to the most select schools, and a lot of times the highest level of language. They don’t have multiple course. They don’t offer multiple courses. So there have been times where in the common app there’s this additional information section where you can explain some things that you might not explain elsewhere. So I have had students who they had to pick AP Bio over AP, Spanish or another, like the highest level of language. So there was a place on the application to explain, like, I really wanted to take this higher level of language, it didn’t work out, and it didn’t impact their admissions decision.

Abby Power 13:04
No, totally. One of my sons couldn’t take AP Spanish his senior year because it conflicted with AP economics, which is what he wanted to major in. He was way more interested in it. So it was what it was. There was no getting around it.

Lisa Bleich 13:17
Yeah, exactly No. No. That’s totally true. And I, and I, two of my kids, didn’t take a piece AP Language, but it didn’t, it didn’t hurt them. They took a lot of other classes that were born in line with their stuff. And one of my daughters took two AP languages, so or three, actually, because she took it two spanishs and Latin. So that was it, but she wasn’t allowed to take two AP Englishes. So it really depends on your interest, and that’s where you kind of get to senior year, where that’s where that’s where you have the most flexibility, because by then you’ve competed all of you completed all of your requirements, more or less. And then it’s a matter of identifying the classes that, as Seth was saying, align with your narrative. So what are the classes that may are that are interesting to you, that would perhaps give you some insight into a particular major that you want to study? What if you don’t know what you want to major in? Because a lot of kids have no idea what they want to major in, what do you recommend in terms of the classes that way? That’s

Abby Power 14:07
a really good question. I think that’s most kids who don’t really know what they want to major in, especially when they’re freshmen and sophomores. Challenge yourself in the areas that you’re interested in, that you’re currently interested in, even if you don’t know what you want to major in. You know, if you’ve been liking your English classes, if you like reading and writing, you know, if you’re interested in the the lab sciences, you know if you’re interested in math, and I think that’s the general rule, is challenge yourself where you’re interested and you want to push yourself and show colleges what you’re capable of. I mean,

Lisa Bleich 14:40
I think that’s absolutely right on. I mean, that’s ultimately in high school. That’s really what it’s about. I mean, when you get to college, you get to do that. I mean, you obviously have to take the requirements that you that you have to take, but then when you get to the your last year of high school, you have a little bit more flexibility to choose classes that really interest you and excite you about what you want to do. A lot of

Stefanie Forman 14:59
my students. And it feels at the time like it’s the end of the world, but they don’t get recommended for a more accelerated class, or they don’t get into an elective and they just face disappointment. And what do you recommend? Because I use different strategies, and I don’t know what works. And so yeah, do you advocate for yourself? Do you pivot? Do you just accept the fact that you know what? Let’s trust the teacher, and maybe I don’t belong in in this class next year.

Abby Power 15:28
I think it’s an easier pill to swallow if you’re a sophomore, right, because then you have junior and senior year to make up for it. I mean, I’ve definitely had that happen a bunch of times, and it’s a case by case. I mean, sometimes the students should be in that class, and you just know it, and then they, you send them to advocate for themselves. I’ve even had parents get involved sometimes, you know, if somebody tells me they want to major in political science or history, and they took, you know, a push and got a B plus, and they want to take AP Euro the next year, and they won’t let them in. That’s not right, you know? So we fight it. Sometimes. There’s not, not much you can do when you try to expand on your interests in other ways. But I think if you believe that you belong in the class, you you fight for the class, right?

Lisa Bleich 16:14
I think it’s a good rule of thumb is to identify, like, like, how much natural talent Do you have any given subject, and how much effort are you putting into the class? And so if you feel like your natural talent is not perhaps quite as high, but the effort is like over the top, and that you’re not recommended for that higher level, then maybe that’s that’s the appropriate level for you to be in, because that next level might have been too hard, but if it’s the opposite, where you’re in a class and you’re just not putting a lot of effort into it, and that’s why your grade isn’t as strong. Isn’t as strong. But if you were in a higher level, it might be more interesting, it might be more challenging. You might work harder, because some kids are like that. If it’s too easy for them, they don’t put enough, they don’t put the effort in. But when it’s a little bit harder, they are more challenged and more interested. So I think it’s a case by case, and then sometimes you just have to be open to classes that you wouldn’t necessarily think that you would like, and then you get into it, and it turns out to be a class that you actually enjoy. And I think that there’s a lot of prescribed ideas about, oh, I should be in this class or that class, but sometimes it could be a teacher that makes it really interesting. It could be the kids that are in it. It could be a subject you didn’t know that you were interested in because you just were never exposed to it before, and then you end up really liking the class. So I think, you know, being open and being able to accept things is also a good lesson to learn as well. Great. Yeah,

Abby Power 17:29
you don’t always have control over it, and you whatever, wherever you end up, you have to make the best of it, yeah? Because that’s another thing that colleges are looking for. You know how you take advantage of your opportunities and your challenges and overcome your challenges, and it’s so important. So if you are

Lisa Bleich 17:45
applying to a school that does admit by major, and we’ve talked about this in other podcast episodes, what are just like? So let’s just go through the most common ones. So like engineering, what are classes that you definitely have to have to be competitive for an engineering major, physics, probably physics, a AP Physics and AP Physics, C, what else do you think you need to

Stefanie Forman 18:09
have? I mean, we’re looking at top programs, BC Calc, BC

Lisa Bleich 18:12
Calc, right? And actually even multi variable, even, like, a year beyond BC Calc, for the top programs. I mean, typically, that’s what we’re seeing for the most select Programs, not for the not as select, just regularly select Programs, right?

Stefanie Forman 18:24
AP, computer science, if the school offers it,

Lisa Bleich 18:27
right, that could be helpful. And then I guess probably some of the the AP, chem or another. What about for business? What are we seeing that you definitely have to have? Well,

Abby Power 18:38
I actually asked this. I called the admissions offset Wharton because I had a client who was not on track to get to BC Calc. They were on track to get to a calc. AB, so now this was two years ago, and the folks at Wharton told me that 90 to 95% of the kids applying who are competitive have BC calc Interesting? Yeah, that’s surprising, not surprising, right?

Lisa Bleich 19:04
And probably beyond that, you know, even, like multi variable or something like that, and, and probably AP statistics as well, but certainly not AP statistics in lieu of BC Calc, but in addition to, and it’s interesting, because when they’ve done studies and they’ve actually asked business professors, do you need calculus for business? Most of them say, actually, statistics would be more would be more beneficial, but it’s still something that you need to have because it’s a it’s a prerequisite for the business curriculum. So if you’re not in for Wharton, you have to be in BC Calc. But I think for other business, you just have to be in calculus. I think that’s if you aren’t in calculus, it’s going to be very hard to get into a direct admit business program. So that’s something just to keep in mind for the more humanities courses. I feel like there isn’t as much of a hard and fast rule, but probably if you want to, if you say you want to major in English, then you probably need to take AP English as as something that you that you want to be doing. But I think it’s really more for the. Engineering and the businesses where we’re seeing the most of that. What about electives? What electives do you think are important?

Stefanie Forman 20:05
I love electives for students, because it’s it’s their chance to take courses that they’re passionate about. They a lot of times I don’t know they they don’t feel stressed about these courses. It’s almost like, this is my break from everything else, and because of that, I think they approach it really differently. A lot of times, students will ask, like, why can’t I have an elective teacher write my recommendation? Because they’re the professors. They get really close with

Lisa Bleich 20:34
electives. Are kind of arts electives and and those things and journalism and yearbook and all that stuff. But then there’s also academic electives, so that’s also the opportunity to take classes that align with your interests. But I agree with you, Steph, that those arts electives, or even like marketing, like those classes that are just like not So traditionally, academic can really add a nice break to a student’s day, and it could give them another opportunity to shine. I mean, send us, I’ll meet with a student, usually as a creative student, and that’s their favorite class of the day. And that’s usually an indication that maybe you want to think about doing something that’s more creative, more design oriented, or more artistic, because that’s really where you shine. And so if someone’s interested in that. It kind of comes out in those classes, or it could also just be an additive for them, for, like, an art supplement.

Abby Power 21:26
Yeah, I had a client this year who’s going to BU Boston University, and she, I hadn’t seen this much before, but at her high school, they had psychology electives. So they had clinical psychology. They had another one about, I think, was, like, obsessed, obsessive, like, compulsive behaviors. OCD, yeah, yeah. She took three or four of these classes, got super legitimately into psychology, changed her major. You know what we said? She was majoring in, from English to psychology. And, I mean, she just learned so much and loved it. And I’ve seen kids that happen with kids in business, like, seen kids take accounting or marketing or communication, yeah, and just really find their place. So sometimes it’s really productive, you know?

Lisa Bleich 22:12
Yeah, I agree. Yeah. I’ve definitely seen that with with students, where That’s where they where they shine for that piece. The other thing I was just thinking about, we didn’t really talk about some high schools, not not all, by any means, but some high schools offer extended research programs that you can do, and those are usually things that you have to start, typically by sophomore year. So if you have any interest in doing independent research, it’s important, and your school offers it, you have to just be sure that you can get on that track, starting as a sophomore, so that you can be in it for all, all three years of high school. And sometimes kids don’t realize it until junior year, and then it’s too late. So if us, if your high school has these special programs, it’s good to as a freshman, just be really aware of what what they are and how you get involved with them, and then how you can manage it with your other classes, so that you have room for it to

Stefanie Forman 23:07
add on to that. Lisa, it’s so important to also be aware. We kind of spoke about this in the beginning, but a lot of high schools, if you get off track freshman year for like, a certain math track or a certain science track. It’s really hard to get back. Meaning, like, if you know, and again, you don’t have to know this. But if you know, freshman year, if you’re one of those engineering kids you were talking about, you want to go to a select engineering school. This is your passion. So right, really? Or the Wharton student for business that you should be taking BC Calc and if you and again, in certain high schools, like our local high school, Lisa, if you get off, yeah, freshman year, you can’t get back on track. It’s really, really hard. So again, even though freshman year might not be as important as sophomore year or junior year, we do want you guys to know that information before going in. And again, this is not every high school, but but a lot of high schools. Yeah, it’s hard, as

Lisa Bleich 24:05
some schools will allow you to do a class over the summer. So for example, if, like, let’s say you were behind in math. We weren’t, you didn’t, you weren’t on track to take geometry freshman year, then you could take it over the summer, and then you can catch yourself up, and then you can jump into that. Or if you were in geometry freshman year, and let’s say you wanted to end up in BC, Calc, or even multi beyond that multi variable, if you just realize, for whatever reason, you didn’t get there, you can do sometimes over the summer. But again, it depends on the high school. It depends on how that works, but I’ve definitely seen some students do that. The other thing though, to keep in mind is like, we’re telling everyone to push, push, push. You do also have to kind of strike that balance, because the classes can be challenging, and you have to, we’ll have to adjust how you study and approach it so you don’t want to overload yourself, because that’s not going to do anybody any good. Agreed? Mm, hmm. And then it’s maybe better. To just apply to schools that you don’t have to take every single class in the honors or AP level, and there are definitely schools that where that’s the case. Any myths or troops about college class selections that you

Stefanie Forman 25:12
hear a lot? I hear a lot of parents and students say something like, oh, well, I wish I got all A’s and non accelerated courses, because then I’d have a better chance of getting into SO and SO college like, I wish I didn’t push myself, and maybe not have gotten a B plus in AP, us, history, etc, and that colleges look highly upon that all those A’s versus maybe some B’s and some accelerated courses. So I hear that a lot. I’ve

Abby Power 25:45
had the flip recently, also where I’ve got this great GPA, 385, and I don’t want to hurt my GPA by taking more rigorous classes. Again, it’s about striking balance. But you also have to recognize that there is a value from the college’s standpoint to the rigor in those harder classes. So I’m not sure if, if that’s a good strategy to try to preserve the GPA by avoiding hard classes,

Lisa Bleich 26:12
right? I also hear that with like, oh, I don’t want to take, you know, XYZ class, because it’s going to bring my GPA down because, like, an elective, but it’s all at the honors level. And I think that’s such a good point, because I can’t tell you how many students have taken a class. It’s usually physics, I’m not going to lie, and it’s a really hard class, right? It’s an audit class that they’re used to, or maybe it’s the first time they take an AP class, and at first they’re miserable. They’re like, Oh my god, I’m failing this class. I never got it. I never got this bad of a grade, but the ones that reassess and go in for extra help and figure out how they learn best, whatever that happens to be, whether it’s making flash cards or teaching somebody it, or reviewing videos online or taking notes by hand, you Know, whatever that happens to be, they almost always are so happy, and it just feels so much satisfaction by taking that really hard class, and even if they didn’t get an A in it, even if they got a B or B plus in it, even sometimes if they’ve got a C plus in it, because they really enjoyed the subject material. They learned how to learn. They learn how to learn on their own. And there’s definitely value to that, and that’s something that you should just be aware of. Not everything is just about getting an A there’s definitely value to learning how to learn.

Stefanie Forman 27:35
And I love when my students, when they tell me about their favorite classes in an initial consult. And they’re like, it was the hardest class I ever took. I gotta be in it, but it was still my favorite class because of, you know, this teacher did x, y and z, so I think that’s such a great point.

Lisa Bleich 27:51
Yeah, that’s true. And we’ve all seen kids who’ve had like, a b plus a couple B pluses and still got into very, very select schools, right? That’s not going to keep you out of a school like the errant b or b, plus it’s more if it’s a consistent pattern or what we what is an issue, and I’m not going to sugar coat it is if you have, like, A’s and B’s your freshman sophomore year, and then you have a lot of C’s your junior year, that is going to be something that the schools are going to take pause on. And so that gets to the question about senior year. So what happens senior year classes? Do colleges look at your senior year grades, and are your classes important?

Abby Power 28:30
So generally speaking, colleges want to see you on a steady or upward trajectory in terms of grades and rigor. So you don’t want to drop down and rigor from your junior year for sure, if you can help it anyway, given your schedule. And in terms of GPA grades, same thing, you know you want them to be consistent with your junior year or your building. You know you’re doing better. And in terms of the colleges seeing your grades. If you’re applying early decision to private schools, many private colleges will see what are called your interim grades, which is your first quarter grades, which is not something that you’re probably used to. So that’s something to keep in mind. When you get to your senior year, you need to hit the ground running. You don’t have time to make up, because a lot of colleges are going to see your your grades in October when you take your midterms. So and then some colleges will see your first semester grades, then they will be under consideration for admissions. It’s a little bit of a case by case basis. There are some schools that we know do not look at senior year grades, but there are plenty that do right?

Lisa Bleich 29:41
So, like, Penn State doesn’t look at them. If you got into the pre business at Kelly, at Indiana, they don’t look at it. The UCS don’t look at it. But the thing that kind of is annoying, I guess, for seniors, because you used to be like, you could apply early, you’d get in, and then your senior grade. Grades definitely counted in the sense that you couldn’t fail. Follow your classes, because that would be a big no no, because they get your final report card and they and they oftentimes will say you’re accepted contingent on you keeping your grades where they are. But now that these life cycle of the admission cycles has just extended, then your senior year grades, actually, for those schools that do look at that first that mid year report, they’re even more important because they they want to see that consistency, particularly for that student I described, who, like, you know, had a lot of C’s their junior year. If your grades are pretty consistent, like all throughout freshman, sophomore, junior year, then your senior grades will not hold as much weight unless they really tank that it’s a problem. But they, they don’t. They’re not looking to see if the story or the narrative continues. So that’s just something to keep in

Abby Power 30:43
mind for some high schools. I mean, I can think of a good handful. You really can’t take many APS until your senior year. So that’s kind of another way to look at it. Is sometimes your senior year is the first time you have grades in your most rigorous classes. So it’s kind of another reason to sort of try to prove yourself your senior year and just keep, keep going with the on the trajectory where you’re heading right so

Lisa Bleich 31:09
senioritis can kick in in March, March, April,

Stefanie Forman 31:13
yeah, maybe a little later, but yeah, and I agree. I think in the past few cycles, I’ve had a lot of students who really hit their stride, maybe towards the end of junior year academically and then going into year. So a lot of these students got maybe deferred from an early action or early decision, and then they did really well, like their best grades happened beginning of senior year, and they kept up that momentum. And I really credit that to one of the reasons why these these students ended up getting into the schools they wanted to so, yeah,

Lisa Bleich 31:49
Alright. Well, thank you, CBMers, for tuning in and thank you, Abby and Stef, for sharing your tips on class selection. To catch more episodes of College Bound Mentor, make sure to Follow or Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and tell a fellow parent or student about the podcast. To learn more, visit CollegeBoundMentor.com Until next time, you got this!

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