The question of whether it's better to get high grades or take challenging courses often comes up as high school students choose their classes and plan for college. For students who want to go to one of the country's top colleges or top universities, the answer is often one they don't want to hear: They need to get 'A' grades in the most challenging classes. The top schools are so competitive that anything less is likely to lead to a rejection letter. Places like Stanford, Yale and Amherst aren't going to be impressed by a bunch of 'B's, nor are they likely to admit a student who has a transcript filled with gym, shop and remedial classes. Any student with his or her eye on the most selective colleges needs to put in the effort to earn 'A's in those accelerated and AP classes.
For the majority of colleges, however, a few 'B's aren't going to sabotage an application, and in general I'd recommend a challenging course over the easy 'A.' The reason is simple--the challenging courses will better prepare students for college, and decent scores on AP exams can save students money by placing them out of college courses.
For more information, check out this article's discussion of grades and challenging courses.
Comments
Great post! We agree that difficult classes are the way to impress. Check out this clip of Aristotle Circle’s expert Rod Bugarin explaining how admissions officer’s think:
http://www.aristotlecircle.com/blog/how-important-it-take-difficult-courses-high-school-get-good-college
Hi Allen!
As a guidance counsleor I thoroughly enjoy your articles and pass many of them onto my kids and parents. I must mention however, that many times there is a reference to admissions to the “top” schools. And much attention than is necessary is given to them. I think that if you spent more space for the typical, average high school student who isn’t attending the .01% of the nation’s leading schools that you’re hard work would be more appreciated and used. Most kids, obviously, are attending Ohio State, Drexel University, Florida State, not Harvard, Northwetsern and Penn. Please put MOST of you effort into the 99.9% of the population and what their needs are. Thank you!