Counselors don’t think you’re incapable, they just care.
Many students find that speaking with a counselor feels like a free trial of an exclusive therapy package. For others, not so much. Some ambitious students feel that counselors are limiting their course selection.
Liberty students are academically driven and very ambitious. However, some students find that when it comes to registering for classes, sometimes, counselors may not share those ambitious views. To speak plainly, students hear discouragement from counselors from taking “too many AP classes”.
There isn’t a global standard of “too many AP classes.” For Student A, it might be one, while for Student B, it might be eight; we need to end the idea of “too many AP classes.”
Next, ask yourself: how many times have you gone to your counselor, and simply complained? We’ve all gone to our counselors, whining about a crazy homework load and a fast-talking teacher, but no one ever gives their counselor a recommendation of Buchli’s latest Honors Physics lecture (rant) or Darnell’s American paradox theory. Counselors usually only hear the negative, so we can’t blame them for trying to protect us from what they usually hear about.
Furthermore, counselors can generally get a good grasp of your passions and motivations. Perhaps, they even actually have invested time and effort into helping you grow and genuinely don’t want you to be too stressed with a heavy course load.
Conversely, one could easily argue that sometimes, counselors need to let go of their doubts and let students challenge themselves. This way, if the student does feel pressured, they will learn their lesson, understand their abilities, and not make the same mistake next time. Ultimately, this theory should result in a school of students that have discovered themselves and fully comprehended their capacities in four years, accomplishing what hermits in the Himalayas have attempting to do for centuries. If students fail a class because they’re overwhelmed, then they’ll know what their capacities and won’t overload their schedule next year. Unless, of course, AP and Honors classes vary in their difficulties and can be more or less enjoyable depending on the student’s interests and skills.
Whichever side of the coin you land on, it comes down to this: talk to your counselor. Don’t rattle off some classes and search for signs disapproval. Have a conversation about your future plans and attempt to build a connection with them. If anything, you’ll help them understand you or you’ll understand yourself – perhaps both. Only then will you know how many AP classes you actually want to take. Let’s just remember: counselors aren’t trying to stop you from getting into Harvard – they care.