No matter what path students take, their next steps are determined by their choices now. With countless options like CiHS, honors, AP, and Running Start, many students don’t know where to start.
Counselors have already been planning for students to request their classes for next year, having given presentations to juniors. While there are many factors for students when choosing next year’s courses, there are many changes year-to-year that are the main thing students are curious about.
One of the most overwhelming things for freshmen is deciding whether to request College in High School, honors, or AP. Natasha Landram, the head counselor at OHS, said, “Sometimes [counselors] see kids overcommit to classes, and it’s a lot… even though they have the option to take a variety of challenging classes, it’s not always necessary.”
While sophomore Kate Penner doesn’t regret her choice of taking honors and recommends freshmen think about taking them, “[her workload] had changed drastically. [She] had homework almost every night and it’s harder to get an A.” said Evelyn Harvey, AP and honors student sophomore. For freshmen “it’s knowing yourself, knowing what you can handle… [and] choosing classes that you think suit what you do best.”
One of the biggest changes for sophomore to junior year is the option of Running Start, which is a program where students can take classes for college credit at SPSCC. Running Start is a Washington-based program, so every public four-year university will accept those credits, but outside of Washington, it’s at the university’s discretion. Additionally, many students will have to pay fees that can often amount to $900 a year.
CiHS and AP classes are offered at OHS for students to earn college credits. CiHS classes are free and on campus. AP classes are free, but the AP test has a fee attached to it. “AP is a nationally recognized curriculum, so sometimes that is seen as more rigorous than Running Start,” Landram stated.
Amy Blacklock, a senior at OHS, decided to take AP classes instead of Running Start because she said, “I wouldn’t have the motivation to do [schoolwork with Running Start] so I decided to come to school every day.”
OHS junior Elodie Atha recommends that sophomores, “pick a good balance of classes that are easy and ones that will challenge [them]… if [they’re] going to a four-year college, this is [their] last year to get [their] GPA up and take classes that will impress [them].”
Juniors are already requesting courses for next year after the counselors gave presentations in their classes. Juniors will meet with counselors individually between now and the end of April to go over their plans for next year and post-high school. Landram said, “[Seniors] can start using [their] senior year as a platform to [their] post-high school plan.”
While many considerations go into choosing which classes to take, Blacklock said, “[Students should] choose the classes that [they] want to take, not the classes that [they] think [they] should.”
