Senior Course Selection's role in College Admissions

       By the time a student reaches their senior year of high school, they should have acquired most of the data that will be decisive in their college admissions. They’ll apply to college in the fall, so the GPA colleges will see will likely be the one they have at the end of their junior year. Hopefully, they’ve been taking standardized tests and should be nearing their peak score there. And, they should be well down the road of building a resume that includes their extracurricular activities. So, among the significant cards they have left to play as they head into their senior year is the strength or rigor of their 12th grade curriculum.

In many cases, a senior might have met the majority of graduation requirements following their junior year. They may be able to enjoy their senior year with a relatively easy schedule. However, this is often not a smart move for a college-bound student.  The appearance of a rigorous senior curriculum can be crucial to a student’s chance of admissions. Colleges want to see a senior who is continuing to challenge themselves and pursue a robust education. They are looking for students who want to reach higher and higher each year and are dedicated to their studies. Taking a bare-minimum schedule does not accomplish this.

College bound seniors should take courses that continue to move their education forward and make a positive impression on the colleges they hope to attend. I think there is a bit of a sliding scale here too. Students who are already well-positioned for the colleges they want to attend might have a little more leeway in their senior course selection. Students who really want to attend a reach school, maybe don’t. So, let’s say you really want to attend a given state university. You do some research and find that last year, that school’s middle range of SAT scores from students who were accepted was 1180-1300 and weighted GPAs ranged from 3.7-4.2. Your SAT score is 1390 and your GPA is 4.4. You should already have a pretty good chance of getting in and thus might be able to take some liberties with your senior schedule. If your friend also really wants to go to that school but has an 1150 SAT and 3.4 GPA, they don’t have that same luxury. 

Thus, maybe you and your friend have debated taking Spanish 4. You both are in Spanish 3 and are doing okay, but feel like you are reaching your ceiling in the subject area and are losing interest. You’re trying to decide between Spanish 4 and a health class you’ve heard is pretty easy. You might be able to take the health class and have a little “break” in your senior schedule. Not your friend though. They are playing the admissions game at this college from behind and might not be able to afford to take such a chance. I would advise them to take Spanish 4 in this scenario in an effort to “max out” their senior curriculum. To say it succinctly, the lower your chance of getting into the schools you want to attend, the more impressive your senior courses need to be. Well, to a point at least. You’ve still got to “live” that schedule and you want to be somewhat successful in it. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.