Dear UA Families,
I hope your Christmas holidays were filled with the blessings of faith, family, and love.
January marks the start of a new year and, of course, course selection season for students. In the upcoming weeks, your daughter will hear about courses, learn about the criteria and process for applying to honors/AP classes, and get information on course requests and UA summer school offerings.
Ursuline offers students a variety of amazing courses, and one of the things I appreciate most about our school is that every student can find a path that suits her. Along the way, we provide support to your daughters in many ways. Below is an overview of the most pertinent course and course selection information for you and your daughter.
Honors/AP Classes
In December, two of our counselors visited all Freshman Seminar classes to review the definition of and expectations for an honors/AP class at Ursuline. They also shared the criteria and process for applying for honors/AP classes. Our counselors will visit Sophomore and Junior class meetings in early January to review the same information.
- The honors/AP applications open for students on Tuesday, January 14.
- All applications must be submitted by Tuesday, February 4, by 4:15 p.m.
- No late applications are accepted.
- To view the definition for honors/AP classes and the application criteria: UA 2025-2026 Honors/AP Application Criteria by Department.
I strongly encourage you and your daughter to pay extra special attention to 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. If applying to an honors/AP class is important to your daughter, please make it a priority for her to manage her schedule and show up for the placement assessment at the scheduled time(s). If your daughter has questions about the honors criteria and/or process, she should talk to her teacher and/or the department chair.
Course Progression and Course Offerings
In Advisory this month, students will discuss course progression in each department in addition to new course offerings.
- All students may also attend our Course Fair on Friday, January 24, during Activity Period, where students can ask department chairs questions about course progression, course selection, and summer school offerings.
- During class, students will also hear from teachers about course progression and new courses within each academic department.
- The 2025-2026 Course 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 the Course Compendium, especially before advisory conferences in February. Information about Summer School courses is also available on the Ursuline website: Ursuline Academy Summer School.
Course Requests
In February, counselors will attend class meetings to show students how to complete course requests, which students will complete 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 carefully request a second choice for each of their classes (wherever necessary) so that if a first-choice request is not possible, a student will be equally contented with her second choice.
Students will receive plenty of deadline reminders on their class Teams, during morning announcements on UA LIVE, from their teachers, and advisors during classes. We want all students to have the necessary information to make sensible 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.
Supporting Our Students
Students often ask, “How many honors/AP classes should I take?” My response is always the same, “It depends.”
- Interest in the subject and a keen desire to engage in profound analysis and undertake in-depth explorations are paramount.
- Equally important is the question, “Where do you want to focus your energies?” Honors/AP classes are challenging, may require a different/new way to engage with the content and demand more time. And they should!
- Students should thoroughly consider the number of honors/AP classes to take in a school year in the context of everything else they do – athletics, extra-curriculars, service, and spending time with family and friends.
- Ursuline weights grades in honors/AP classes, and 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. Ask your daughter to talk to her 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, superb teacher recommendations, and high-test scores, a student may not get into the selective school she would like to attend. 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 strongly recommend understanding what will be required and the amount of effort and time your daughter will have to put in during high school, requiring your daughter to make strategic choices.
Damour also shares a few tips to reduce the strain of the competitive college admissions process:
- Be sure you and your daughter share the same expectations.
- Encourage your daughters to consider multiple schools; avoid letting your daughter set her heart on one or two selective schools only.
- Think about your daughter’s commitments and responsibilities 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?
- 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 specialized transcript, but it may also impact the health and well-being of your daughter.
In the spirit of the new year, here is an article with some resolutions for college applicants written from college admissions officers: Admission Leaders Share Resolutions For College Applicants
At Ursuline, students have a lot of support. If your daughter has questions about the course selection process, she can contact her advisor, teachers, counselor, and/or college counselor. Students and families will receive notification in mid-July when student schedules for the 2025-2026 school year are available on BackPack.
Wishing you a blessed New Year filled with faith, hope, and love.
With Gratitude,
Elizabeth Smith