Over the course of these past few weeks, it has almost been impossible to avoid the phrase “course selection” around every corner you turn. The exciting prospect of being granted freedom to choose classes to your liking paired with the uncertainty of the future has certainly created an atmosphere of frenzied excitement and anxiety. Almost everywhere you go, you are bound to see groups of sophomores clustered, discussing and weighing the pros and cons of classes. To take or not to take a course, that is the ultimate question. It’s obvious the amount of time and consideration that goes into crafting the perfect plan for the next two years, and different students have taken different approaches to selecting courses. Of course, the school and college counselors have made sure to iterate their suggestions on course intake, engaging sophomores in not one, not two, but three advisory talks pertaining to this topic. Despite the school’s efforts to assure students that there are trustworthy adults with whom to discuss their future choices, it’s difficult to avoid the skepticism towards the advice of college counselors.

SAS students are offered many outlets and mentors to whom they can turn to seek wisdom about selecting their courses. Many voices offering advice can mean fewer chances of fallacy in a student’s final course choices and confidence in their final picks. Still, it can also lead to a dilemma over whether advice received truly pertains to you, or who’s voice to value the highest–especially when those voices are contradictory ones. I went ahead and spoke to a few students with differing opinions and approaches to this process.

One common theme that surfaced in student’s narratives on their selection process is the skepticism that arose surrounding the suggestions of college counselors. The common pattern seen in student’s experiences is that college counselors put too much emphasis on protecting your GPA and don’t understand enough about you to truly offer the best advice on what courses to take. As one anonymous student put it, “I feel like they’re [basing their suggestions on] a generalized idea of what a student should do… [they] don’t know about you specifically.”

This lack of specific knowledge counselors have on some courses also showed through when another student, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that their college counselor mistakenly assumed a school elective they’re currently enrolled in is very time consuming and cautioned them on overloading on higher level courses, when in reality, it only occupies a minuscule amount of their time. As they put it, “I think that because college counselors do not teach or take the classes themselves, they may not always know the specifics as to how the course is structured, as well as the exact workload and rigor pertaining to students”. They think it’s important to consult the teachers or fellow students who’ve taken the course in the past, which is not an unpopular sentiment.

When asked about who’s voice they valued the most in course selection, a good portion reported that they trust upperclassmen the most. Many said their strategy was pinpointing upperclassmen with capabilities and specific skills similar to their own and getting opinions from people who had actually taken the course before (who, in many people’s eyes, are a more reliable source than college counselors who haven’t taken the specific courses in the past). 

There’s also the added benefit of the fact that students are simply more comfortable asking upperclassmen more specific questions. Things such as “how long does one spend on homework?” or “how’s the teacher who teaches this course?” are all questions that a student would be uncomfortable asking a college counselor, as they may be deemed to be trivial or shallow but, nevertheless, important to know before selecting.

Ultimately, the most common answer given when asked who students trusted the most in the selection process was a mix of “myself” and “teachers.” In the words of Anna Li 24’, “I listened to teachers when it wasn’t a course [that] I was passionate about. But if I really enjoyed a subject, and [also] was confident in my abilities, I would override”. “Finding a field you wanna excel in is also important,” says Annabel Cui 24’. 

So, it seems that the main driving force between student’s course choices is a passion for a certain subject and confidence in your own abilities. “Nobody knows you as well as yourself” Cui noted. Teachers, counselors, and older students may play roles in swaying a student’s final decisions, but no external voice can outweigh a student’s determination in pursuing what they believe are their best interests.