academic schedule?

Welcome- you have come to the right place for answers. First, congratulations on your academics. You are aiming high and have your priorities right. I have noticed through the years that junior year is almost harder than senior year. Good grades and challenging classes will help open doors to playing baseball in college. My son had a similar schedule to yours junior year and by the time he graduated had several AP classes and 2 college classes on his transcript. He was given 12 college credits by the university he attended. This enabled him to graduate in 4 years and some semesters he only took 12 units (as compared to 15). So any of those extra AP/ college classes will really pay off in the future.

Another big bonus of challenging classes/AP is the possibility of an academic scholarship. Depending on your college choice some do offer generous academic scholarships. These can be combined with athletic aid to really help decrease your total college costs. Many times you'll get more academic money than baseball money.

If you haven't already done this you need to figure out a reasonable list of colleges based on your baseball skills and academics. There are tons of great threads on this site about the recruiting timeline. Good luck to you and keep working hard on your academics and your baseball.

Excellent advise from CaBB.
I would like to add another very important point regarding the dual enrollment course. It may only count if you attend an "in State" school. In other words, don't take dual credit in Government, if you plan on going to out of State College. Math classes may be the same, if you wind up at a private college. Have your guidance Counselor check on any dual credit course acceptance at several specific colleges, just to be on the safe side. Don't just accept counselors word...ask him/her for specific criteria from the schools.
We neglected this when son was applying & visiting. He missed out on 6 hrs, because Tulane was "private" & out of State. A math class & government, disallowed.

You have a good plan! Keep it up & best wishes!

You will be asked your unweighted gpa since there isn't a standard. But the higher end academic schools will also ask what level courses you're taking.

quote:

Originally posted by big head fred:
Are the colleges/recruiters going to take that into perspective? I know it is going to be a lot of work but what if I wind up with a lot of B's and my regular gpa goes down? Which gpa has more value? Thanks!

Hello Big Head - like your name!

Keep doing what you are doing and you will have many options for college and baseball. That weighted GPA will come into play in many cases, and in some cases the unweighted will be used. But the admissions folks at selective colleges will want to see that challenging curriculum.

Also, don't asssume you wil be getting just Bs. Students tend to really step it up in junior year, and you may surprise yourself by earning more B+ / A grades than you have in the past!


Senior year curriculum also will matter. At this point the coaches at the academic schools are asking for senior year course selection from my son.

Hi BHF--
It sort of depends on what level of academic school you are aiming for. At the very top, the coaches will tell you to take the AP classes AND get A's! Don't forget about working on those test scores too! Many academic scholarships are tied to standardized test scores!

As others have said, it is best to take the hardest classes AND succeed in them. If you're not sure, it is often a good choice to take the more difficult course. You just have to assess (and really, your son needs to be able to do this) whether you're setting your son up for failure in a particular. If you're really not sure, it may be useful for him to speak to his current teachers and try to get a feel for what they think. Son can also gather information from other students, but be aware that other students tend to overstate their workload just for conversation's sake!

In the end, be certain that son has worked his hardest but be sure not to make any overzealous choices either. Everyone is different, so it is tough to make a blanket recommendation. Some kids will excel no matter where you put them, some the opposite, and some (most) are in between.