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4 years ago
Admissions Advice

More high school credits better?

Right now I have 190 credits, but when I finish this year, my junior year, I will have 290. Should I continue working like this and finish high school with 350- 400 credits and does this look good?

Basically, will 350 credits look better to a college than say 290? Will having 370 credits and a 1200 SAT score look really good or will it look like all the Classes I took were really easy and I just took them for the heck of it?

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@NurseLetty4 years ago [edited]

Most American HS students don't have your type of credit system so it very difficult to answer this question. At many public and private schools, you can take up to 5 to 8 classes total per grading period. So some kids end up with 20 classes, others up to 32 classes during their HS career. And the graduation requirement varies. So how much is 1 class worth at your school? And what do you need to graduate with? How many honors/AP classes did you take? 1200 SAT doesn't mean much either.

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3
4 years ago

The only way to make sense of your question is to assume that your high school gives 10 credits for each 1 year-long class correct? So if you need 4 English, 4 History, 4 Science and 4 Math and 4 Foreign Language that's like 200 credits for the core requirement and I'm assuming you need like another 30 credits made up PE, Electives, Health to graduate, something like that correct?

So if you have 190 credits that means you took like 9 classes in 9th and 10 classes in 10th and now you are taking 10 more classes? How does your school allow you to take 10 classes concurrently when most kids take 5-8 max.

If you are basically stating that you are loading on classes because you can, but your stats are like 74% percentile (1200 SAT), I don't think that looks very good. It would be better to strive toward a 1450+ SAT 33+ACT, take fewer harder classes like 7-9 AP Classes and get some 4s and 5s on the tests, and take about 3-4 honors classes. You didn't mention grades but I'm assuming you have a 4.0 unweighted or something close to that.

Remember most college admissions officers want to see that a.) you challenged yourself with the most rigorous coursework you could handle and still do well, and b.) that you sought additional sources of academics and intellectual pursuits outside of the classroom either through your own research, self-study, internships or ECs.

Good luck on your HS work!

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Your chancing factors
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
1.0
4.0
SAT: 720 math
200
800
| 800 verbal
200
800

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