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Should High School Students Take Honors & AP Classes? | 3 Reasons Why All College Bound Kids Should Take Challenging Courses

Hey there!

There seems to be a lot of confusion about whether high school students should take AP and Honors classes or not.  

Maybe the better question to ask is if your child is ready for these classes? If they are ready, are some classes easier or harder than others? Are some better for college admissions?

One of the biggest challenges for prospective college students is finding the right academic workload that produces: the best grades the least amount of work  the best chance of getting accepted into the college of your choice.

Oh, and if you learn something in the process, that would be great too!

If you follow the path recommended by the schools, your child will be eligible for college after graduation. But so will everyone else who took the same path. To stand out and be considered for more competitive colleges, your child needs to do more and be better than others. 

Competitive colleges want to see a transcript with a high grade point average and lots of rigor (the college code word for challenging courses). In addition to rigor, many colleges still look at scores from the ACT or SAT (called test-optional schools), activities kids have participated in, some teacher recommendations, and, if your son or daughter wants to attend an art or design school, a portfolio.

If that sounds daunting, it is.

Kids get caught up in the "more and better" game, and before long, they are taking too many challenging classes and trying to do too much in their non-academic activities to stand out.  Some kids can handle it, and some kids can’t. The only downside for the kids that can handle is a little less sleep and some extra stress.

For others, who were not prepared for this heavy workload, there is a chance they will struggle with:

  • poor grades 
  • social withdrawal 
  • academic burnout 
  • anxiety & depression

At this point, many parents throw up their hands in disgust and say it's not worth the effort. 

Don’t let that be you! 

We can find a solution.

For more information about Honors & AP courses, please follow this link.