给即将上大学的人的建议:选择高中选修课-网赌论坛有哪些

Advice on which courses to take—and why—from a dean of undergraduate admissions at the 网赌论坛有哪些.

Across the nation, high school students are being asked to select courses for the next school year. Since students generally have room in their schedules for more than the minimum requirements in core disciplines such as English, 数学, 社会网赌论坛有哪些, 和科学, 这给他们留下了选择选修课的机会. Some students opt for additional courses in core disciplines; others take advantage of offerings targeted to a particular interest, 激情, 或者潜在的职业. 不管怎样，他们很可能只能从几十个备选方案中选择几个.

他们在大学里是否选择了与预期专业相关的课程? 或者他们应该选择那些能让他们获得更广泛的艺术或科学知识的课程?

罗伯特·亚历山大, 本科招生主任, 金融援助, 艺术类招生管理, 科学 & 工程网赌论坛有哪些，为试图做出这些艰难决定的学生提供了一些建议.

1. 和你的辅导员或导师谈谈.

当被要求为学生的高中班级选择提供建议时, 我的回答是:首先咨询一下你高中认识你的人, 你的愿望, 和你的利益最大化. For many students that will be a school counselor, and for others, a valued teacher or mentor.

Here’s why: selecting only the courses that would be most impressive to a selective admissions committee would be fairly straightforward—choose the most rigorous ones offered at your school. But very few students are capable of excelling across the board in the most difficult courses in every subject. 除了, some very talented students applying to college may be coming from high schools that offer few advanced classes.

Experts at your school should have a much better perspective on the menu of options available and each student’s aptitude. 从招生办公室的角度来看, 我们可不想让学生搞得太复杂, 被一大堆困难的课程压垮, 最后都得C.

2. 兴趣意味着参与.

学生在选择课程方面应该有很大的发言权. 他们知道哪些科目最让他们兴奋, and which teachers they’ve either connected with in the past or heard great things about from friends and classmates. 快乐的学生, 一个期待探索课程材料的人, 经常有可能获得更高的分数吗, so I encourage students to select more rigorous classes in subject areas that pique their interest.

某些高中可能会提供荣誉, 跳级, or International Baccalaureate courses which offer an enhanced academic experience to students; some schools also offer dual-enrollment courses at nearby colleges. 招生官都知道, 在我们对申请人的审查中考虑, 一些非常有特权的大学生所拥有的各种优势. 我们尽最大努力全面审查每个申请人, 在他们可用的机会范围内, 并解释这些不平等.

The important thing is how students have taken advantage of the chances they DO have to explore their interests and 激情s.

3. 擅长各学科领域的核心学术课程.

Most selective colleges and universities are looking for students who have prepared themselves broadly across academic subject areas. We want to see demonstrated aptitude over all four years of high school in these core academic areas: English, 数学, 科学, 社会网赌论坛有哪些, 外语, 还有艺术.

对工程等专业有浓厚兴趣的学生, 体系结构, or an accelerated premedical program should pay special attention to excelling in rigorous 数学 classes. 如果学生对某一特定职业产生了兴趣, shadowing a professional who works in that field is likely to provide more perspective than most high school courses labeled “体系结构,”“工程,计算机科学,或“医学”.”

If specialized elective courses are available in addition to rigorous classes in the core academic subject areas, 它们很适合探索, but they shouldn’t be taken in lieu of the basic foundational subject areas mentioned above, 这将表明你准备在几乎任何大学课程中取得成功. 这些选修课可以在任何时候选修，它们与核心课程很好地结合在一起, and don’t result in an overloaded schedule with too much seat time or an unmanageable volume of assignments. School guidance counselors should be the best resource for helping weigh which courses—and when to take them. 当有疑问时，坚持核心.

4. 不要只关注与未来专业相关的选修课.

Students with a deep desire to explore a particular field should absolutely seek to learn more about it by taking relevant coursework. 他们也可以通过志愿服务或跟随该行业的专业人士来实现这一目标, 或者找一份暑期工作，让他们了解幕后的情况.

But most selective colleges and universities do not expect entering students to be certain about their intended major or career field. 事实上，如果一个学生不确定自己的大学专业，他们并不孤单. Approximately 80 percent of students in the United States end up changing their major at least once, 根据国家教育统计中心的数据, 部分原因是太多学生感到压力，不得不在不知情的情况下做出早期选择.

在网赌论坛有哪些, 学生可以在申请表上列出自己想要学习的专业，也可以作为“探索性”学生申请. 不管怎样，我们独特的课程有意提供跨学科的广度, 深入钻研特定学科领域的能力, 以及参与现实世界的机会, 在学生正式宣布他们的专业之前有足够的时间. +, our faculty members serve as their mentors – Rochester professors want to teach undergraduates precisely because they love helping them find their 激情s.

5. 不要觉得有必要根据你的职业规划来选择课程.

Often students may choose courses related to a planned major because they believe that major will enhance their career prospects. But a student’s college major is often less important to their future job prospects than many people believe. 这是a的一些结果报告 from the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems:

An astounding 93 percent of employers agree that a candidate’s demonstrated capacity to think critically, 沟通清楚, 解决复杂的问题比他们的本科专业更重要.
Four out of five employers agree that all students should acquire broad knowledge across subjects in the humanities, 艺术, 与科学.

这是一个打破神话的结果来自最近的另一项网赌论坛有哪些: the top factor associated with a six-figure salary was not one’s college major but having taken a large share of classes outside one’s major. 网赌论坛有哪些人员, 五大湖学院名誉校长理查德·德德韦勒, said faculty engagement on a personal level seemed to be the factor in the undergraduate experience that had the greatest impact on life success by the measures he studied.

Most university admission offices consider your high school transcript to be the most important factor in your college application, especially now that standardized tests are becoming increasingly optional at selective schools (the 网赌论坛有哪些 became test optional in 2019). 所以记住，不要把事情弄得更复杂或更有压力. 简单地说, students should challenge themselves with difficult coursework and earn high marks in those courses.