Better to take electives like required art in 9th grade or later on?

[Anonymous]

My rising 9th grader is picking classes.
From a college perspective, is it better to take electives like art (ceramic, photography) in 9th grade
or later on?
This school requires 2 semesters of art over the course of high school.
There are no APs available.

[Anonymous]

I don't think colleges would care. If the student is planning to do a lot of APs in 11th-12th, it is nice to have a lighter class to balance out that work load. But taking it early could spark an interest that they then pursue all 4 years with is definitely a positive.

[Anonymous]

My kid got the required classes like art, tech, health out of the way early and still found a lighter class or two to take senior year but I don’t know that’s the only way.

If there’s a chance having to take required classes later would screw up your schedule for taking the academic classes you want that would be a reason to take them early but I don’t know if that’s a real problem or not.

[Anonymous]

My child is going into 9th grade and I suggested she wait until at least second semester to take any elective classes.

This way she keeps a study hall first semester and can get used to high school classes.

[Anonymous]

My kid took one easy required elective each year to balance his load. He took a very rigorous load in 9th, 10th and 11th, so that he would go in with a strong GPA (UW GPA 4, WGPA 4.7) and most rigorous curriculum when he applies to college after 11th grade.

He did not take electives like Health during summer because he built up on ECs, internships and more classes during the summer. He basically used the easy electives as a breather during the regular school day.

We were given this piece of advice by our public school counselor who sat and charted a course for us for the entire HS journey. And it was a really great roadmap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid took one easy required elective each year to balance his load. He took a very rigorous load in 9th, 10th and 11th, so that he would go in with a strong GPA (UW GPA 4, WGPA 4.7) and most rigorous curriculum when he applies to college after 11th grade.

He did not take electives like Health during summer because he built up on ECs, internships and more classes during the summer. He basically used the easy electives as a breather during the regular school day.

We were given this piece of advice by our public school counselor who sat and charted a course for us for the entire HS journey. And it was a really great roadmap.

I wanted to add -
A balance of APs were made possible with this strategy. At least one AP was covered from each of the core subject areas (English, FL, Math, Science and Social Science) and a few in the major they were interested in in college by end of 11th grade. None of the APs were self-study.
1 AP - 9th, 3 - 10th, 4 - 11th and 4 - 12th

[Anonymous]

Mine each did PE and art in 9th, tech in 10th, and health over the summer. Frees up space for APs they are interested in when they are older/a little more mature (Micro/Macro Economics, Psychology, and many Social Stidies/History ones)

[Anonymous]

Whatever you do, do not "save" a required course for senior year, to make an "easy" schedule. You limit your student's opportunity to take a partial schedule if they want to go to MC, work, go to a CTE program, take an internship, or just fall prey to senioritis. (Nothing more painful than having to be on top of a second semester senior failing photography because they can't get it together to turn in a picture. )

[Anonymous]

I think the answer depends on your student and whether they want or need a study hall. If they don't, I think it's better to get required classes out of the way so there's room in the schedule and time to explore classes of interest. My current freshman took the required art and tech classes this year instead of a study hall. She'll take the remaining required tech and a PE/Driver's Ed classes next year, but will have room in her schedule for three classes of interest Jr and Sr year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid took one easy required elective each year to balance his load. He took a very rigorous load in 9th, 10th and 11th, so that he would go in with a strong GPA (UW GPA 4, WGPA 4.7) and most rigorous curriculum when he applies to college after 11th grade.

He did not take electives like Health during summer because he built up on ECs, internships and more classes during the summer. He basically used the easy electives as a breather during the regular school day.

We were given this piece of advice by our public school counselor who sat and charted a course for us for the entire HS journey. And it was a really great roadmap.

I wanted to add -
A balance of APs were made possible with this strategy. At least one AP was covered from each of the core subject areas (English, FL, Math, Science and Social Science) and a few in the major they were interested in in college by end of 11th grade. None of the APs were self-study.
1 AP - 9th, 3 - 10th, 4 - 11th and 4 - 12th

So this is how a kid ends up w 12 APs by graduation. Just wow. Do the kids need this many APs?

[Anonymous]

Not these many APs... way excessive. 8 to 9 APs is fine with the rest being honors.

[Anonymous]

Adcoms can tell when a student is gaming the course schedule to get another AP or honors course. And they’re mostly looking at unweighted GPAs. (The exceptions where wgpa is more important are things like auto admit to state flagship for top n students in each school.)

[Anonymous]

my kids took all their electives early on, as did most others. No one wants to be the senior taking art with all the freshmen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my kids took all their electives early on, as did most others. No one wants to be the senior taking art with all the freshmen.

Or, in DH’s case, P.E.

If your child is into art, take it freshman year so he/she has the opportunity to take more/advanced classes later on. I took art classes every semester while in high school, ending with AP art senior year.

[Anonymous]

What AP is available for 9th graders? What district is this?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid took one easy required elective each year to balance his load. He took a very rigorous load in 9th, 10th and 11th, so that he would go in with a strong GPA (UW GPA 4, WGPA 4.7) and most rigorous curriculum when he applies to college after 11th grade.

He did not take electives like Health during summer because he built up on ECs, internships and more classes during the summer. He basically used the easy electives as a breather during the regular school day.

We were given this piece of advice by our public school counselor who sat and charted a course for us for the entire HS journey. And it was a really great roadmap.

I wanted to add -
A balance of APs were made possible with this strategy. At least one AP was covered from each of the core subject areas (English, FL, Math, Science and Social Science) and a few in the major they were interested in in college by end of 11th grade. None of the APs were self-study.
1 AP - 9th, 3 - 10th, 4 - 11th and 4 - 12th