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A Letter From the Dean of Academics
A Letter From the Dean of Academics

Dear Ursuline Families:

I hope you had a most joyous holiday season! January signals the beginning of the course selection season for students. In the coming weeks, your daughter will learn about new courses, the criteria and the process to apply for honors/AP classes, summer school, and course requests.

Ursuline offers many wonderful courses, and one of the things that I love most about the school is that every student can pursue a path that is right for her, and along that route we provide support to your daughters in many ways.

In December, I visited all the Freshman Seminar classes to discuss the definition of an honors/AP class at Ursuline. I also shared the criteria and process to apply for an honors/AP class. In early January, I will visit Sophomore and Junior class meetings to do the same thing.

  • The honors/AP applications open for students on Tuesday, January 16; all applications must be submitted by Tuesday, February 6. No late applications are accepted. View the definition for honors/AP classes and the application criteria. Please note the time/day for those academic disciplines that require a placement assessment and/or writing sample as part of the honors application process. With almost 900 students at Ursuline, we adhere strictly to these dates and do not provide any additional make-up times.

I shared with students that if applying to an honors/AP class is important, please make it a priority to manage schedules and show up for the placement assessment at the scheduled times. If your daughter has any questions about the honors criteria and/or process, she should talk to her teacher and/or the department chair.

During this month in Advisory, students have the opportunity to discuss the course progression in each department in addition to our new course offerings. All students also have the opportunity to attend a course fair on Friday, January 19, during Activity Period to ask department chairs and our Director of Summer School any questions about new courses, course progression, course selection, and summer school offerings.

Students will also hear from their teachers during class time about course progression and new courses within each academic department. The 2024-2025 Compendium is now available to students on their class Teams and to you on the Ursuline website; I encourage you and your daughter to peruse, especially before advisory conferences in February.

In February, counselors will attend class meetings to show students how to complete course requests during their designated day/time at the end of February/beginning of March. Ursuline does not take a first come-first served approach to course requests. Once we receive all course requests, we consider the full set of student needs and then set up course offerings built around those needs, placing students in their first-choice classes as much as possible. There will be times when not every first choice is possible; thus, students need to thoughtfully request a second choice for each of their classes (wherever necessary) so that in the event a first-choice request is not possible, a student will be equally passionate about her second choice.

Throughout the entire course selection process, students will receive deadline reminders on their class Teams, during morning announcements on UA LIVE, and from their teachers during classes, and from their advisors. We want all students to have the information they need to make wise choices for their course requests. The importance of complete and accurate course requests cannot be over-emphasized. Quality course requests will decrease the number of schedule modifications once the school year starts and ensure a smooth, strong beginning of the school year for every Ursuline student.

A question I often hear is, “How many honors/AP classes should a student take?” My response is always the same, “it depends.” Interest in the subject and a passion to dig deep are paramount; of equal importance is the consideration of where your daughter wants to focus her energies. Honors/AP classes are challenging, may require a different/new way to engage with the content, and demand more time. And they should! I talk to students about carefully considering the number of honors/AP classes to take in a school year in the context of everything else they do – athletics, extra-curriculars, spending time with family and friends, etc. While Ursuline weights grades in honors/AP classes, it is important to note that colleges and universities determine for themselves how much added value an honors/AP course should carry during the admissions process. Students should talk to their college counselor with questions about specific colleges.

In her book Under Pressure, Lisa Damour discusses the dramatic changes in the college admissions landscape over the last two decades. Even with multiple honors/AP classes, extracurricular activities, beautiful teacher recommendations, and high-test scores, a student may not get into a selective school. These days, the reality of the college process for highly selective schools is that it may require a “superhuman” effort. If you and your daughter hold these schools as a goal, I recommend understanding what will be required and how very hard your daughter will have to work in high school. She will need to make choices.

Damour also shares a few steps to reduce the strain of the competitive college admissions process:

  1. Families and daughters should make sure they share the same expectations.
  2. Families should strongly encourage their daughters to consider multiple schools; avoid letting your daughter set her heart on one or two selective schools only.
  3. Think about what commitments and responsibilities your daughter has outside of school when she is trying to get into a college that accepts only a tiny fraction of its applicants. Is there a chore she can give up during the school year and resume during summer/break times? Can a family dinner be given up during crunch time?
  4. Have family conversations about the difference between growth and resilience versus a schedule that may be detrimental to health. The former might look like getting some lower grades for the first several assignments in a challenging class, but an opportunity exists to understand that true challenge is where your daughter may grow the most. The latter may result in a very specific transcript, but it may also impact the health and well-being of your daughter.

For additional perspective on determining how many honors/AP classes a student should take and the college admissions landscape, I’d like to share three articles:

One of the many reasons I love Ursuline is the team of support available to your daughter. She may reach out to her advisor, teachers, counselor, and college counselor with any questions about the course selection process. Students and families will receive notification in mid-July when student schedules for the 2024-2025 school year are available on BackPack.

Best wishes for a wonderful 2024!

Elizabeth Smith
Dean of Academics