Elective choices for High Schoolers?

[rascalmom]

DD came home with her enrollment packet for next school year today. She can take up to 7 hours per semester, but 7th hours really only offers a few remedial classes & sports. She is in pre-AP English & Math, Chemistry & AP Euro this year. That leaves her with 2 electives - this years is was Advanced Women's Choir & Show Choir. She loves Show Choir, but really would like to have some other choices (her teacher requires all of the Show Choir performers to also be in a regular choir). She would like to take Spanish 3, Latin or a computer class, but it's gonna be a tough decision. I don't know what to tell her - to go for the academic or to do what she loves so much. She's a straight A student & definitely planning on college. She's not sure what she wants to major in yet - has had some thoughts about pharmacy & optometry. I'm torn cause I remember how much fun I had in HS with the school musicals, plays, etc., but I want her to be prepared for college. What does a mom do?

 

[minniecarousel]

That's tough. The third year of Spanish would be really great for college. But - I wonder if my older son would have gone to shcool if it hadn't been for the advanced drama classes he took. So I know how important the fine arts are for kids. It's got to be up to her - she will resent it if you insist on a certain path. Use the admission standards for a college that she's interested in to help guide her (like: the third year of foreign language is strongly recommended for our University of California campuses.) Good luck to her.

 

[luvflorida]

What year is she in now? I know having three or more years of the same foreign language is important to a lot of colleges. It's a tough choice because you want her to be academically prepared for college, (and it certainly sounds like she's on the right track), but doing something you really enjoy is also important. Would her high school guidance counselor be of any help?

 

[rascalmom]

She's a sophomore right now. Was able to test out of Sp.I and took Sp.II as a freshman. She really enjoyed it - I wish they offered a few more alternative for 7th hour so that she could pick something else up. That's a good point about needed 3 years of foreign language for college - I'll have her check with her counselor about that.

 

[christineann]

When my son was meeting with admissions reps at colleges, he asked about electives for his senior year. All highly recommended a 4th year of German because it would stand out on his application - it would indicate that he chose to challenge himself.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

At least 3 if not 4 years of a Foreign Language is recommended. Go to

http://www.collegeboard.com/splash

You can type in colleges that she is thinking about and it will list there requirements. Some are 2, 3, & 4. Depends on the college.

 

[minmate]

She should do what SHE loves to do! As much as I personally loved doing the musicals too, I can already tell, one of my dd's will NOT be able to be an on-stage kind of kid -- it is just NOT her bag. It sounds like any of the choices your dd makes would be fine! If she knows she'd be giving up the musical and is fine with that, then I'd encourage the foreign language.

 

[T-CoTink411]

While a second language is needed for a college application, she definitely needs to be able to have some fun in high school... while she still can. It sounds like she is very bright, and working hard enough with so many pre-AP classes that she'll be able to get into several good schools.

I'm a freshman in college and most of my friends are are so burned out from all the AP classes and activities they did in high school that they seem to be sick of working already. While getting into a good college was extremely important to me, I never let it control my life. I was able to take ceramics, photography, and exercise physiology because I chose to... not just to boost my resume (and they ended up being my favorite classes).

I'd suggest possibly taking the spanish now (especially if she knows that she doesn't want to major in it later on) to have 3 years in a row of the language, then take her choir class senior year if at all possible.


good luck!

 

[aprilgail2]

I remember there wasn't enough time in the day for classes I wanted to take since I wanted to get out of high school in just 3 years instead of 4 so I skipped lunch and put an extra class in there where lunch would have been.

 

[bballmom56]

Wow, I'm really surprised that the choral director can require that if you want to be in the show choir, you must be in a regular choir. That ties up two periods a day. If they met after school, that would be different. I might try to speak to someone about getting that requirement waived, so that she can take additional academic classes. I agree that a third and fourth year of a language is very important when applying to colleges. Our HS has nine periods a day, which makes it much easier for students take the basic 5 college prep courses (science, math, english, history, foreign language), plus required phys. ed. Lunch is considered a period, but strong students are permitted to take a class in lieu of lunch. That leaves them 2 periods for electives and we have a wide variety from which to choose.