While the CHS Senior Transition to College Program provides seniors from this year onward a large range of opportunities as well as liberty from the standard, rigid high school schedule, its benefits aren’t endless. As students look forward to their future careers, they should not forget some of the benefits of the traditional high school schedule.

High school is an opportunity for students to discover new interests. There are a multitude of classes at CHS, from baking to art history to multi variable calculus. Students who feel like they have not reasonably taken advantage of these classes and have not established focused interests should not opt for the senior schedule.

There could also potentially be financial reasons to not take the senior schedule. For example, many colleges offer credit for certain scores on AP and IB exams. Moreover, there are a handful of Advanced College Project (ACP) and Dual Credit (DC) courses at CHS that offer direct credit to a university. Both of these options allow students to earn college credits at a small fraction of the original price. Since students are most prepared to take these higher level classes as seniors, this is a serious option to put into consideration.

There are many reasons to take the senior schedule as well. The senior schedule opens up a student’s schedule to opportunities outside of school. Valuable engagements include, but are not limited to, internships, jobs, research opportunities and service work or volunteering. However, students in the new scheduling program should effectively plan their free periods ahead of time, preferably before the start of the school year today. Those without a plan are already set up for failure and could establish a precedent for further indolence in their not-so-distant college lives.

The schedules students should take depends on personal context. For some students, the senior schedule may assist in a smooth transition to college life. But for others, it may be too much independence too soon. Students should consider their own situations before making the leap to taking the senior schedule.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Asim Dhungana at [email protected].

Read – Melissa Yap: New senior schedule option offers positive experiences for seniors.