The following individuals are heavily involved as students select courses at Germantown Academy -  faculty advisor, House Head, classroom teachers, college counselor – with the House Head being the individual to call first. Parents sign off on the final choices, and they are welcome to communicate with the school as they work through the process with their sons and daughters. The goal is for all students to build transcripts that are accurate representations of their talents and interests as well as their willingness to take as challenging a curriculum as those talents allow.

Questions that college counselors most often field relate to Honors or Advanced Placement courses. "Am I better off with an A in a regular course or a B in an advanced course?" Colleges advise taking the challenge, and we agree. The fact is that students hoping for admission to highly selective schools must show they are capable of taking a number of the most difficult courses we offer. At the same time, though, our House Heads work to help each student to put together a curriculum that is best suited for the individual and leaves time for other important aspects of being a student at GA. Informal looks at graduating classes show clear correlations among grades, number of Honors/AP courses, SAT-I scores, and the selectivity level of the college entered. Our Cum Laude members average about 11 Honors courses, while their SAT-I scores average 1350+, and their weighted grades average A+.

Given the increasing selectivity of most of the colleges that attract our students, we are hearing more and more college admissions people advising students to stay with mathematics, science and foreign language through the senior year, unless there is a legitimate reason to deviate from one discipline and concentrate on another. One of the first things an admissions committee will evaluate is the strength and breadth of the senior year curriculum.