In my 18 years as a high
school counselor, I remember many students, and parents also, who thought it
was “ok” to relax a bit the senior year of high school – take it easy, reward
the student with an easy schedule. My advice about this is, “NO – Don’t do it!”
First let me say that I am
a proponent of electives – the arts in particular! These classes definitely
have a place in a student’s schedule! But, it is very important to continue to
prepare for college throughout all four years of high school, including your
senior year. This is the year to continue to add the next math class, an
advanced science class, maybe psychology, if you haven’t taken that yet, and/or
continue with foreign language if you haven’t stopped taking that. Most high
schools with which I’m familiar do require a 4th year of English,
but many don’t require that 4th year of math or science, let alone
foreign language. These classes will help you in ways you probably never
thought. They will prepare you for math and science in college. When you don’t use math (and often science),
you tend to get rusty and forget what you learned. They will keep your mind
sharp for the ACT. i.e. My previous school was an ACT testing site, and I heard
many, many students over the years comment that math was so much more difficult
on the ACT their senior year because they weren’t taking a math course. It’s
the same way with science. Sometimes, just taking a challenging class and
sticking with it is great preparation for college simply because it forces a
student to work hard, study, and stick with a challenge without giving up. Also,
if you are planning to attend an Iowa Regents University (Iowa, ISU, UNI), the
best way to enhance your RAI is to have as many core classes as possible on
your transcript. This can help make up
for an ACT score or GPA or class rank that isn’t stellar, perhaps. Does this
mean a student should shy away from electives – things like FCS, Industrial
Tech, business, music, art? Absolutely not!
Those courses are very important in a well-rounded education. But don’t
substitute all of those electives to avoid taking challenging courses that will
help you be successful in college.
One reason I used to hear
in favor of taking an “easy schedule” was that students (and often parents)
were concerned about the student’s GPA. First of all, the GPA is figured using
all of the grades throughout the high school years, so the senior grades do not
change the GPA drastically in most situations.
Also, colleges would rather see a little bit lower grade in a
challenging course than straight A’s in easy courses that will not prepare the
student for the rigor of college. Also, as I touched on before, simply taking a
challenging course and sticking with it far outweighs the “risks” of a slightly
lower grade going into the GPA. Challenging courses will prepare a student for
college much more than an easy schedule, regardless of the grade earned. My
experiences have shown me that many students and parents have the misconception
that if the student is going to a community college, they don’t need to keep
challenging courses in their schedule. This is definitely not true. The more a
student can prepare as one would prepare for a four-year college, the more
successful they will be no matter what type of post-secondary education they
choose. Many community college programs require math, English, science, so students should be as academically prepared
as possible for any type of college program.
As a parent, former
teacher/counselor, and ICAN Student Success Advisor, I would definitely
recommend continuing to challenge yourself with rigorous, college-prep classes
throughout high school. That senior year is vital as a last chance to get
prepared for what in most cases will be a much more demanding curriculum in
college. I used to have to collect data from our high school graduates about
their post-secondary experiences. I never once, in 18 years, had a student say
“I wish I hadn’t worked so hard in high school,” or “I wish I hadn’t challenged myself so much my senior year.” However, I
had many, many students say “I wish I would have taken more challenging courses
in high school.” This is the truth, and I offer it as advice to you! I truly
believe you will never regret keeping a rigorous, challenging schedule
throughout your high school years, including that final senior season!
Mary Joan - ICAN Hiawatha Center
