Course Selection

High school course selection starts in the winter of eighth grade. We make a four-year plan, with the understanding that it can, and should, be adjusted. 

There is no question that colleges prioritize the rigor of a student’s coursework, but placing a student in a class that is too challenging defeats the purpose because the student’s confidence falters along with their grades. One student (who later earned an 800 on the math SAT) decided she was bad at math after getting a B in her school’s Seminar math track. When she “dropped down” to Honors, she got straight As, a 5 on the Calculus AP, and a revival of her confidence. 

We seek to balance academic rigor with a student’s well-being and mental health, but we also have a long view to start building the story for the application. We point them towards decisions that build a story, such as, “I dropped Spanish which is not in my wheelhouse in order to take another drawing class which supports my goal of being an architect.”