This month, sophomores and juniors began writing out their schedules, an arduous task which ends in visits to guidance counselors.

Filling out preferred and required courses is somewhat a hassle. Students who wanted to take certain honors or AP courses the next year had to receive signatures from teachers in that particular department, and also gain approval from those instructors as well. For example, sophomores who had taken the Honors Chemistry class and were interested in taking AP Physics next year needed a signature from their chemistry teacher but also were required a 90 percent test average in order to meet specific requirements to take the course. Students who were unable to meet those requirements were temporarily denied the option to take the course, but have the opportunity to either raise their test average before schedules are due or to make an appeal to the school.

There are many unique courses that are offered at Ward Melville, such as Comics and the Graphic Novel, Introduction to Horticulture, and U.S.-Middle East Relations, which many students are unaware of.

Though these courses are interesting, many students are reluctant to take them because of the potential to lower GPAs. Selecting Regents-level courses may inadvertently lower cumulative GPAs of  students whose schedules are comprised mainly of AP and Honors level courses.

Students also struggle to ensure that they are on track to have enough credits in each of the required areas to graduate. 22 credits are required for students to graduate Ward Melville. Furthermore, certain requirements within each department also must be met, such as 1 credit of art and/or music, 2 Physical Education credits, and 1.5 credits in electives.

Students who haven’t decided on their courses don’t have to worry; deadlines for schedules are around February and March, giving students at most two months to make final decisions. In the meantime, they should make some guidance appointments to make sure they don’t have a disappointing schedule in August.