Taking the right classes is very important. It determines when or if you graduate if you will succeed with high grades, and if you can earn college credit. Counselors and teachers shove this information in our brains from the second we reach the seventh grade until graduation.
Seniors are the luckiest of the bunch, or so we’re told. They get to take it easy with their classes -as long as they’re on track to graduate-  and maybe even finish school early to enjoy the little free time they have left before their stressful adult lives begin. Or is it that easy? Should seniors be able to take the year off, or should they take advantage of all the AP/ Concurrent Enrollment classes, that their school offers? Considering college is very pricey it may help lower the cost for students and their families.
Typically Junior year is where all the stress lies, students begin preparing for college by taking AP/ Concurrent classes and taking the ACT. Junior Luciano Solari says “Junior year is very stressful, because I feel like there has been a lot more work and the ACT is coming up, and I feel like there is a lot of pressure on us.”  When asked about his plans for senior year he said: “ I want to take challenging classes my senior year because I will be going to college after I graduate and those classes won’t be very easy.”
Junior Danny Prypechenko states “ Junior year is a lot more stressful than my previous years and I feel as if my senior year is going to be a lot more relaxed. I want to take it easy my senior year because I feel as if I pushed myself hard throughout all of high school and I want to just chill. I also think senior year should be fun.”
Senior year is known to be pretty easy as most students are all caught up on credits and only need a small number of electives in order to graduate. But is it okay if seniors just breeze by? Shouldn’t they be pushing themselves even harder considering graduation, and adult life is just around the corner.
Senior Isaac Ramirez says “If you work hard during the beginning of high school you can take it easy senior year before life gets stressful, but I think if you’re going to college you should take harder classes to prepare you.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics around 69.7% of high school graduates enroll in college.  Datafirst.org says 33% of high school take AP courses and of these courses, only 20% passed with a 3 or higher, ( 3 or above grants college credit).  So if students take these classes they may not even get the college credit they are hoping for and may just be wasting their money. But on the other hand, AP tests are around $87 and taking a similar course at a university would cost $597. Therefore, it may be worth your time to push yourself and take an AP course to save you and your parent’s money.
Solari also said “ I think it’s important to take hard classes senior year but you should also be able to take some easy ones. Just because it’s your last year of high school doesn’t mean you should give up you should still challenge yourself.”
Based on what various students have said personally about themselves and senior year it is all up to the student on what they decide to do. If they are considering college or pursuing a career that requires some sort of higher education than they should take more challenging courses. These courses don’t always need to be AP/ Concurrent. The GTI (Granite Technical Institute) also offers many work-related courses that prepare you to go into the work field of your interest. If you’re a  student set to graduate and only need a few electives than why not go the extra mile and take that one AP that can save you a few hundred dollars, on the other hand, if you’ve been taking challenging courses throughout high school you deserve to give yourself a little break. In the end, senior year is about balance and finding what works best for you.