Selecting High School Courses

[MUSIC] >> Welcome back to Inside the Yale Admissions Office. My name is Mark, and I'm a Yale Admissions Officer. >> And I'm Hannah. I'm also a Yale Admissions Officer. >> This is a very exciting day for the podcast. It's our 50th episode, Hannah. >> Yes indeed, happy 50th. >> All right. >> We started this podcast over five years ago with some lofty ideas about increasing transparency and reducing anxiety in the college admissions process. And we've been having so much fun that we're still going. >> Yeah, we keep getting great ideas for episodes via our email account. And there are also some times where we think of topics and kind of think, wait a minute, how have we not talked about that over the course of 50 episodes in five years? >> Yeah, today is definitely one of those. We're going to talk about selecting high school courses. And I don't know why we haven't talked about this yet. >> I don't know, it hasn't dawned on us. And it's surprising in large part because admissions officers get all kinds of questions about this all the time. It is guaranteed that at the end of any information session that we give or during any college fair, we will get questions from students who are asking what courses should I take in high school? >> Yeah, and often those kinds of questions that we get are very specific to that student. So should I enroll in class A or class B? >> Yeah, sometimes the question is a little bit broader, but again, it's usually specific to the student's circumstance. So if it's not class A or class B, the broader version of it will sound like this. They'll say, okay, so my school offers AP courses and it offers IB courses. Oh, and also I could do dual enrollment. Which of these should I pick? Is there a preference for one over the other? Which one is best, right? >> Yeah, so spoiler alert, usually we don't answer these questions very definitively. We're not going to give you a super clear cut answer because often a lot of things depend on sort of context. >> And I know that that can be super frustrating and you might be thinking, oh, admissions officers are the worst. >> We are, we are the worst. >> We're always giving you these sort of non-answers that hinge on the phrase, well, it depends. The world would be so much better if we just told you what to do, right? And we don't do that most of the time. >> Right, it's not that simple. So that's why we are going to give you a 45 minute podcast episode walking you through our thought process here. >> Exactly, right. And I think, Hannah, before we go any further on this topic, it's probably a good idea to call out something that intersects with this topic a lot. Student mental health. >> Yes. >> And especially feelings of anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed that relate to a student's course schedule in high school. >> Yeah, we are very, very aware that the college admissions process can take a toll on students. And this is another episode we hope to cover in the future, some strategies for protecting your mental health as you go through this process. And we know a lot of the time this starts early on in high school and can be focused around courses and grades and sort of the pressure around doing the right thing. >> Yes, I know many students get lots of well intentioned, but sometimes conflicting advice from people in their life. So folks like teachers and counselors and peers about the kinds of classes that they should be taking. This can make you feel really overwhelmed. And like you can't do anything about it because you have to keep up with a certain standard to get into college, right? The way that this often plays out is a student who's in ninth grade and saying, oh, I have to do this class and I have to do this class because if I don't, I won't get to this kind of course in junior and senior year and then I won't be admitted to a top college. And so I've got to keep running on this wheel right now and make all these choices and make my life kind of miserable very early in my high school career. >> Right, and if you find yourself feeling that way, our best advice is to just take a step back, take a deep breath, put things in perspective. You aren't going to be performing at your best as a student or as a member of your community as a person, as a friend, if you are overwhelmed and feeling mentally unwell. So address that part first before doing anything else. >> Yes, absolutely essential. Before you start thinking down the line about how any particular choice may affect your college admissions, understand that if you are not well, you are not going to be progressing through high school and thriving in that environment and that more than anything else. Like a course selection choice will negatively affect your just long term prospects. You know, it can be easy to imagine in that stage a scenario in which a college like Yale, you know, would have admitted you, but just one thing got the way. Like you didn't take one class or you didn't get that one A, you can start to really focus on like one individual little thing. One of the big themes we're going to emphasize in today's episode that it's not that simple and we take a much broader approach to understanding your high school coursework and your academic preparation. >> Yeah, one single choice isn't going to be the reason that you do or don't get into a college. That's a great fit for you. So today let's zoom out and start talking about why we think the courses on your high school transcript matter to us. We'll also talk about how admissions officers actually review the transcript when we're reading your application. >> Yes, and then we'll try to tie that together to say what that means for you and the choices that you'll face when you're selecting your courses. >> And then finally, Hannah and I will go through some of the most common types of questions that we receive on this topic and give you the answers that you would get from us if you asked them in person. >> Yes, and hopefully by that point you'll understand why we answer the questions the way that we do and they won't feel like we're just dodging the question. >> Maybe. We'll see. >> We'll see. >> It's okay. If you're in the call, you might still say, you two are still folded and that's not an answer. >> That's fair. >> We're going to try our best. So, Hannah, before we get into what admissions officers are specifically looking for when reviewing high school transcripts, let's talk about why your high school course selection matters to admissions officers. I think that for many students, their instinct is going to be to say, "Oh, okay, that's easy." Like, I know the answer to that question. Course selection matters because admissions officers want to see how academically accomplished I am and it would follow from that that, well, if I get a 4.0 while I'm taking 12 AP courses, that's more impressive than getting a 4.0 while taking no AP classes, right? >> Right. Yeah. This sounds a lot like the way of thinking that we have been trying to push back against since our very first episode. We recognize that it's tempting to think of college admissions like a gymnastics routine that's scored for difficulty and execution and if you attempt something more difficult and pull it off, you get more points. But that's not really how we think about the application, even the elements like the transcripts that might lend themselves to that sort of thinking. >> Instead, the two big things that are most important to us are your academic preparation and your academic resourcefulness. >> Yeah. And those are different and important ways from just accomplishments. >> Exactly. Let's take each one of them one at a time. First, academic preparation means that you are set up for success in the kinds of courses you're going to take at Yale. And the at Yale part is really important here. The Yale admissions offices review is going to be specific to our undergraduate curriculum. Other colleges that have different requirements for students when they enroll there will probably review your transcript a little differently. >> Right. So at Yale, students don't apply to a particular major. For example, everyone shows up undeclared and as soon as majors only about a third or a half of their total coursework while they're here. >> Also at Yale, everyone has to take at least two courses that are writing intensive, at least two that deal with quantitative reasoning, at least two in the social sciences and the arts and humanities and the natural sciences, and everybody has to enroll in courses in a language other than English. So part one of our evaluation of your transcript centers around the question of, are you prepared to do well in those kinds of courses at Yale? >> Yeah, this is why we're looking for rigorous college preparatory courses across a wide range of subjects. You're applying to a place where if you enroll, you're going to have to take courses in a wide range of subjects. >> Yes, now here's an important point to go along with this. We know that there are lots of ways to demonstrate academic preparation in these areas. Remember, we don't outsource our jobs as admissions officers to any kind of third-party organization like the College Board. That's the group that runs the AP program, by the way, or A-levels or anything else like that. One of the most interesting and rewarding parts of our job is seeing very strong and well-prepared students from a really wide range of secondary schools all across the world. And we'll talk in a minute about why context matters so much in that review. But for now, it's important to say that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to showing that you're academically prepared to do well in Yale courses. >> Yeah, and that could also be true of students within the same high school, right? Your school may have several different pathways to demonstrate that you're academically well-prepared for Yale. There might not be one specific right answer for you. >> Yes, and I think that that will surprise some folks. I tend to find that students often imagine, well, there's just one capital M most rigorous program in my school, and I have to sign up for exactly that. As an example of this, let's dive into one of the most fraught topics in this area, your math curriculum. And particularly the math courses that you are enrolled in in your junior and senior year. I mentioned on an earlier episode that I am both the son and husband of teachers. >> Yes. >> My mom was a longtime math teacher, and I'm very familiar with the intense politics around math placement questions. >> Yes. This topic gets a lot of students pretty worked up, and also it gets their parents very worked up. And it's often the first focus of college application anxiety, because this starts in ninth grade or even earlier. >> People approach this as a very high stakes decision. We want to give you the lay of the land for how you really should be approaching this. So let's start with the basics. You should take math courses for all four years of high school. >> Yes. >> That's a pretty easy definitive answer in an episode where there might not be a whole lot of easy definitive answers. Take four years of math in high school. >> We can also say that even though you won't be applying to Yale as a particular major, if you are looking to go into a STEM field and you haven't taken a calculus course in high school, you're going to have a little bit of a steeper hill to climb once you get to Yale and start your math sequence. Not impossible at all, but if that's you. If you're a student who is communicating in your application that you plan to major in STEM, and you will have not have completed calculus in high school, the committee is going to take a closer look at the math courses you have taken to look for evidence of your preparation. And we're going to talk as a group about what your pathway might look like. Part of that pathway might be a fabulous free summer bridge program that Yale created a little over 10 years ago, specifically for incoming students who have weaker math preparation that's designed to get them ready for Yale math courses. So this is not a simple yes/no, but we can say that trying to take calculus in high school is a pretty good idea if you want to pursue a STEM field at Yale or really any college where you'll enroll. >> If you're pretty sure you're not going to go into a STEM field, you can be well prepared for the kinds of quantitative reasoning classes that you would be expected to take at Yale, even if calculus doesn't appear on your transcript. >> Yes, so let's call this out. It is definitely a myth that you need calculus to be admitted to Yale, and it's also a myth that you need to be an AP calculus BC in 10th or 11th grade either. I will mention one of the smartest and most impressive people that I knew at Yale was a Rhodes Scholar. He is now a tenured professor of statistics, right? So for him, a class like AP statistics in high school would have been a much better preparation for the very intense quantitative work that he did at Yale. I doubt he ever used calculus when he was in college because he was doing fabulous things with statistics and data science. So we do not elevate one over the other in our review process. >> There are plenty of reasons why a student might not enroll in calculus in high school or not be enrolled in the most advanced calculus course offered at their school. There are reasons why you might not double up on math courses the way other students in your school are doing. None of these things are deal breakers if they're the right choice for you. >> Okay, so let's zoom out a little bit again. All of this means that we can see applicants from the same high school with very different math courses who are nonetheless still academically well prepared for Yale. Is statistics maybe more interesting to you than calculus? Well, if you don't expect that you'll need calculus for your specific academic goals in college, maybe go for something else. If your high school doesn't offer calculus or maybe you weren't eligible to take calculus because of some tracking decision that happened in middle school, don't worry about it. You aren't doomed in our process at all. >> Right. Now, what we're not saying is go ahead and draw math completely and replace it with, you know, a home at class or something like that. That's probably not a great idea and that I think is a nice bridge to the next thing we want to talk about, which is this idea of academic resourcefulness. >> If you attend an information session, led by an admissions officer from any selective college, you'll hear them dull loud advice that students should take the most rigorous courses available in their specific context. And it's easy to hear that and laps back into the gymnastics routine paradigm and think, okay, more is more. Most rigorous means most challenging, most difficult, most exhausting, most intense, right? >> But when we're talking about the most rigorous courses, we're again thinking about the Yale academic environment specifically and how well you are set up for that. So we're thinking about the fact that Yale courses are demanding. Professors are going to expect a lot of reading, problem sets, class participation, writing, covering a lot of material in a short semester. And we're also talking about the fact that Yale has an incredible array of academic choices and every student is going to put together a college schedule that is very specific to their own interests. >> And we're thinking about that array of courses when we look at the choices you've made in high school. The type of student who does well in that Yale environment is the student who's very broadly curious and is academically hungry for opportunities. Yale offers more than 2,000 courses every year in more than 80 departments, more than 50 languages, dozens of interdisciplinary courses and program certificates, independent research opportunities, study abroad programs, etc. We need to enroll a student body that's going to be excited by all of that and is eager to dive in. Given that we don't have a core curriculum, no one's going to force you to take any particular courses, right? >> Right. So a great way to demonstrate that you will really thrive in this kind of environment in college is to show that you're thriving in your high school academic environment and taking advantage of as many academic opportunities as you can. >> Okay. So hopefully that explains why we care about a broadly challenging, broadly rigorous course schedule. This is a good place then to share a note about specialization. Some applicants seem to think that their courses should represent some clear passion or back to the topic of a spike, right? And so some students will double down in courses in one area and they try to pitch their whole application around that one theme. >> This is something that has come up a lot in the podcast and we've talked on a few episodes about why this isn't a great strategy when applying to Yale. You know, the danger here is that you don't demonstrate your academic preparation or resourcefulness in other areas and then you leave us wondering what are you going to do outside your major or what if you realize your mind might change at age 20 and you decide you want to do something different, are you going to be prepared for that kind of switch? >> Right. So your transcript should not be hyper-specialized in one area. However, we also see the other extreme. There are some applicants who seem to think that there's just no room for their passions or even their interests, especially if those passions or interests are in areas that aren't academic like, say, the arts. >> Right. >> And so we'll see students who will drop orchestra or visual arts in order to take another AP course kind of just because it's an AP. >> Right. You definitely don't need to do this and we don't expect you to do this or want you to do this, you know, unless the non-academic course is truly coming at the expense of enrolling in a core academic course at all. So if it would mean you're not taking the full five core academic courses. >> Right. So what we're hoping is that you are the type of student who's excited by all the courses that you are in and that you're eager to go as far as you can in high school and as many of those areas as possible because A, you've done well in your courses so far and B, you're hungry for more depth and more opportunities for growth in college. That then brings us to our next topic, how admissions officers review the transcripts themselves. >> Yes. One thing that often surprises people is that we don't use any kind of like academic rating when we're reviewing applications. One reason for this is that there's just not a ton of variance in kind of the strength of transcripts in our applicant pool overwhelmingly. We're reviewing transcripts from students who are earning good grades and taking good courses. >> It also surprises folks that we don't re-weight GPAs or try to process your transcript into some sort of algorithm that counts up core courses. Lots of schools do this. Many are actually required by state laws that make them do this. We don't largely because we think that the range of school transcripts is just too varied, too complex, too kind of interesting, to reduce it down to any kind of simpler number or coefficient. We would rather just look at the transcript as one complete document as part of our larger holistic review. >> It's never the case that a student is going to stand out in our application process just by virtue of their transcripts. We'll look at a strong transcript and see that you're academically well prepared, see that you've been academically resourceful, and then we say great. Now what sets this student apart from the tens of thousands of other applicants who are also well prepared and resourceful? >> It might sound like, man, this isn't all that important. But actually, if you were to ask an admissions officer what the single most important piece of an application would be, we would probably say consistently the transcript. And the reason for that is because a week high school transcript is just the single, clearest deal breaker in our process, right? So this makes the transcript one of those necessary but not sufficient criteria that I like to talk about. You have to have a strong transcript. But having a strong transcript is not going to be the thing that gets you into you. >> Right. And that doesn't mean that we're just going to glance over your transcript and quickly move on. We do really look at your transcript to get a sense of the kinds of choices you've made when you have had choices to make. >> And there are plenty of times in high school where there aren't tons of choices. We're going to understand that as well. We take a close look at what's offered in your high school. And ideally your school produces something that's called a school profile that will tell us about the courses that are offered in each subject. If your school doesn't do this, hopefully your counselor will give us some information about how the rigor of your courses compares with others when they complete something called the secondary school report form, and they write a letter recommendation for you. >> If you're a regular listener to the podcast, you know that one of our favorite words is context. This is absolutely critical for our evaluation of many parts of your application, including your transcript. We know there is an enormous range of courses that are available at different high schools and sometimes an enormous range of what's available to different students within the same high school. >> Because of that, the single most important thing to remember about our review of your transcript is that we can't expect you to have taken a course that's not offered in your high school. A lot of the questions that we receive Hannah revolve around this kind of thing. My school doesn't offer this. And as soon as we hear that, we kind of know, okay, that your school doesn't offer that, how could we expect you to take it? I think the next important thing is that we know that there are many different good reasons why a student might not be enrolled in a particular course in their high school. That's why you're not going to find a spelling out specific curricular requirements when you're looking what are the requirements to apply to Yale. You won't find anything that says you must take four years of a foreign language or you should have physics, chemistry and biology. There will just be too many exceptions and we don't want well-prepared students to disqualify themselves just because their circumstances or what may or may not have been available to them, prevented them from having that specific profile. >> Okay, so with all that context, let's boil down what we like to see when we review your transcript. Number one, we like to see that you are consistently enrolled in at least five core academic subjects each year. This would be things like English and literature, foreign language, math, science and social studies or history. And we'd include things like computer science and engineering and other reading and writing intensive courses that maybe aren't English or literature in that group as well. >> We also want to see that you continuously kind of step up to the plate and challenge yourself in as many of these areas as possible as you progress through high school. So you're increasing the rigor in these areas whenever you can. >> And if you really like something, we hope that you make room for it in your schedule while balancing those first two points. And it's okay if that thing isn't one of those core academic subjects, maybe it's banned or robotics or a cool film elective. >> We want to see that your schedule is consistently strong into and through your senior year. So all four years of high school matter here. >> Let's also note what we aren't looking for. We aren't looking to see that you've taken the maximum number of AP courses that it's physically possible to take within your high school. >> Right, you do not need to do that. We're also not looking to see that you've taken more of the most rigorous courses than anyone else in your school or the school made an exception to its policy where they, you know, cap AP classes because you're so extraordinary. That's not necessary. >> We aren't looking to see or expecting that you've gone outside of your high school to take extra classes in the summer or at a local community college or anything like that. And we also aren't looking to see that you've sent you your high school courses around your singular passion that you've known about since you were 10 years old. You know, Hannah, it might be the case in some context that any of those last things we were talking about might be impressive for one reason or another, but they're not what we expect. And none of those things is going to be the thing that makes you stand out in our process. >> Right. We also recognize that different high schools may have some unique course offerings or, you know, look a little bit different from other schools and that's great. That's fine. You know, you might be enrolled in a religious school and up to half of your courses deal with religious texts and traditions. >> Maybe you're in a school that's specialized around health professions or engineering or the arts and many of your courses will be in those areas. >> Yes. For my international students out there, maybe your school participates in the IB diploma program or the Cambridge A levels or you're in any number of other national curriculums abroad that is focused on leaving exams that are specific to your country's higher education system. That's fine. >> None of these types of schools are better or worse than any other. We know that some applicants are enrolled in their particular high school because of their interests and their choices, but actually most of you, you probably didn't get much say in the high school that you attend. >> Right. It's our job to understand the context of your school and then we take an asset based approach to considering how students from different schools can succeed at you. >> So with all that, rest assured, you won't need to explain or certainly not apologize for your high school's particular course offerings. And more importantly, you don't need to lose any sleep over worrying that admissions officers just won't get how your school works. >> Right. >> It's what we do. >> Yes, let us lose sleep over thinking about how high your school works. >> So Hannah, we've been talking for more than 20 minutes about this now, but let's try to boil all of our advice down to some simple take home nuggets. >> Okay. >> And then let's try to answer some of the most frequently asked questions that we receive. >> Okay, so I think the first piece of advice is that consistently challenging yourself in the most rigorous coursework available in your high school is the single most important thing you can do to prepare yourself to apply to first elective college. Not only will it meet the most important criteria for a review process, but it's going to set you up for success in your courses wherever you eventually enroll. >> Piece of advice number two, there probably isn't just one way to take the most rigorous coursework available in your high school. We think that you will find opportunities for your particular academic and non-academic interests during the school day. And even though strong applicants yield demonstrate strength in a wide range of subjects, you can play to your strengths without abandoning other areas. You can find the balance that works for you. >> Another thing to remember is that the stakes around any one particular course or choice or subject just aren't that high. It's not worth staging a protest with your school counselor or trying to get the school board to pass a referendum just because you couldn't enroll in your ideal schedule. Most high school students and most successful Yale applicants have at least one part of their high school course schedule that isn't what they would have wanted if there were no barriers. And that's okay. It's hard for high school registrars to fit everything in, teachers are human, space and time are limited. We get it. Our whole process is built around accommodating this reality. And if you think any part of your course selection needs explaining, there is a space in the application designed just for that. Tell us about it in the challenges and circumstances section or the additional information section. >> Final piece of advice here. Don't treat your course selection as a numbers game. Having one more AP than other students who are applying from your high school is not going to set your application apart. And whichever way your high school decides to calculate GPAs and how it weights courses and maybe what determines who's valedictorian, that should not be the driving force in picking your classes. >> All right. Let's dive into some FAQs and some answers so mark. Is it better to get an A in a standard level class or to get a B in a more rigorous version of that class? >> That is the question. >> The question, I think since my first day on the job that I've gotten over and over again. >> Yes. >> And you might not like the answer to the question, the answer for Yale is going to be, well, we want to see that you are getting an A in the most rigorous class, right? >> Yeah. >> And that's simply a reality of the strength of the applicant pool that we have here. What I like to say, though, is that you should be stepping up to the plate. We should be seeing that you are challenging yourself and doing as well as you can, not stepping away from a challenge. Listen to everything that we just talked about, but start with the premise of challenging myself first, and because that's going to be more important to us, big picture, than a particular letter grade in one semester or one year in that one class. Okay, Hannah. >> Yes. >> Should I take AP Chemistry or should I take AP Physics? I want to be an insert major here, major at Yale. >> Again, I'm not going to be able to give you a clear cut. You absolutely need to take this class or this class. Both AP Chemistry and AP Physics are rigorous, challenging, great courses to take when you're in high school. One might fit better with your schedule. One might fit better with your interests. Go with that one. You can always take a look at what the baseline requirements are for any major at Yale and see, okay, which of these might set me up for success. But remember, we're not admitting you to a specific major at Yale. We want to see that you are going to be able to succeed and thrive in any major you eventually choose. Next question. I have a conflict in my schedule next year. I want to take both course A and course B, but I can only choose one. Which one should I pick? >> You're asking the wrong guy. That's my answer. Which one do you want to take more? Is there one that's more appealing to you? Let this decision be driven by your interests, your academic aspirations, not by what an admissions officer says. If there is one that is clearly going to be more of a rigorous college preparatory academic course than the other, all of the things being equal, that's probably the one to pick. If those things are the same, though, the one that's going to interest and engage you the most is what I would recommend. Not only because I think it will make you a better college applicant, but also because I think you'll just enjoy yourself more in the course. Hannah, I love being in the marching band, but the course that I have to take to be in marching band conflicts with another academic course I want to take. What should I do? >> Follow your heart. That's what I say in the situation. As long as your schedule includes five core academic courses above and beyond that, you don't need to pile on more and more academic courses at the expense of doing things that you love like marching band. If you can make it work with your schedule and still feel like you're challenging yourself in your other coursework, absolutely go ahead and do that. Don't sacrifice something you love and interest just to take the most rigorous schedule possible. Okay, Mark, this is a tough one. My school offers AP and IB and dual enrollment courses, which one is the best? >> First of all, lucky you. You go to a very well-resourced high school that offers lots of different college preparatory courses. We do not go in with any sense that one of these is better than another, but each of these programs may appeal to you for different reasons. You may like the fact that with AP, you get lots of flexibility and you can mix and match courses across a lot of different areas. You might like the fact that with the international baccalaureate program, if you're doing the diploma, you'll take an epistemology class called Theory of Knowledge and you'll work on an extended essay. That's a pretty unique thing that most high school students don't do. You might also be really excited about dual enrollment courses that are maybe different than what you could normally get in a high school setting and if you're thinking about enrolling in college at a public university in your state, those dual enrollment courses might allow you to transfer those credits later on. There can be good reasons why you would want any one of these courses that go well beyond just preparing yourself to be a competitive applicant in our pool. Rest assured that we know about all of them and you can pursue the plan that makes the most sense for you. Hannah, I just completed my third year of Spanish, but I'm really interested in learning Chinese too. Can I switch languages in junior or senior year? I know that you want to see that I've taken at least four years of the same language, right? Not necessarily. What we recommend is four years of foreign language in general, but that doesn't mean four years of the same language. You're welcome to change your mind and start something new. You'll also be able to do this when you get to college. So yeah, if you want to switch up languages in junior or senior year, go for it. All right, I know that I don't want a major in math or science. Is it okay if I drop math and science in senior year? I would not recommend this. Even if your school and your state and where you are in the progression of these courses might allow you to drop these in your senior year, we want to see that you are continually challenging yourself for all four years of high school. This is really about making sure that you would arrive at our college able to dive in right away to science courses and quantitative reasoning courses. If you take the year off, we think that you're going to be in worse shape when you arrive here. So even if you're not planning to go in that area, even if it's a weaker subject for you, relative to others, keep with it, keep math and science and language and history and social studies and all those things into your schedule, get five core academic classes for all four years across that wide range. Hannah, my school offers a really cool elective course, but it doesn't fit neatly into any category. Can I take it? Does it count for you when you're reviewing my transcript? Yeah, of course. That sounds great. If you're excited about a class and you're excited to learn that subject matter, you're probably going to do pretty well in that class. And ultimately, that is what we want to see that you're doing well and excited and pushing yourself in your in your academics in whatever direction that takes you. So yeah, go for it. It counts. All right, our last FAQ here is I've been on an advanced track in this specific subject, but I'm really struggling this year. Should I drop down to a lower level to make sure that I get an A? Good question. We get this a lot. You should not drop down to ensure that you get an A. That shouldn't be the reason why you make a choice like that. However, it might be the right choice for you. At the beginning of our episode, we talked about how we know that this intersects with student mental health. If you feel like this course and this level of rigor in this course is making it hard for me to thrive in the full school day, and I'm not able to devote the same energy that I would want to do to my other courses. And just generally speaking, my mental health is suffering because of this course. It may very well be the right decision to drop down. You should not feel like you are locked in and you don't have the option to do it or you shouldn't feel like, well, the stakes are so high that if I did that, I would just not ever be a candidate for a selective college. If, however, you're not talking about that level of challenge, it's just, ugh, this is hard. And maybe it's not my favorite subject. And it's pushing me in ways that I didn't expect. And hey, my performance on the first few exams was not the level that I'm used to. That shouldn't be the reason to just say, oh, I need to go run away from this course, right? So think about where you are in particular. And if it's just a matter of being exposed to greater challenge or if it's actually causing real disruptions in your life, if you do make the choice to drop down a level of rigor, I would recommend being forthcoming about that in your application and explaining the context and the reasons why for it. This is one of those pieces of context that will be able to incorporate into our review process. Those truly are some of our, you know, most frequently, frequently ask questions when we're out on the road talking to students, talking to parents. So hopefully this is helpful in, you know, putting some of those answers into context for you. And I think a theme that you've picked up on throughout this is that admissions work is not at all random, but it is influenced by a lot of factors that are outside of your control. The courses you take in high school is one of those areas. Yes, but rather than kind of obsessing over every tiny detail that you can control, like, you know, each individual course you take, we're recommending that you take sort of a bigger picture approach. Think to yourself, you know, are you excited about your courses? Do you enjoy the process of working towards mastering that course content? Are you making contributions to your classes that show you're engaged in helping others learn? Are you making the most of the specific high school environment you're in? And are you doing it in a way that lines up with your interests and your aspirations? Do you view your classmates as collaborators and friends rather than as competitors to be defeated? So that kind of person, Hannah, that you just described, that's the kind of person that stands out in our process. That stands out much more than any particular set of courses, a weighted GPA or a ranking or anything like that. So if your courses, your grades, and your teacher recommendations reflect those values, you've done a great job of setting yourself up for success in a selective admissions process. And that's episode 50. We did it. In the books. All right. Thanks to former admissions officer Andrew Brick Johnson, who composes our music. You should check it out at AndrewbrickJohnson.com. If you have comments or an idea for an episode, drop us a line at Yale [email protected]. And finally, remember that the views expressed in this podcast are ours and don't necessarily represent those of Yale University. Thanks for listening.