Your course work at Garrison Forest will support your application to competitive colleges and universities. Advanced Placement level courses are available. Course content, course requirements, and teaching are at a level consistent with high academic objectives.

WISE students take four or five major, core courses at Garrison Forest. The Johns Hopkins science experience counts as an additional major course; it carries full credit at Garrison Forest and is graded. The home high school of each WISE student will determine the credits that it will grant for the WISE semester. Potential applicants should consult with their home high school about credit; Garrison Forest School will assist home high schools in determining credit.

The Core Courses

For students who are juniors during their WISE semester, the four or five core courses at Garrison Forest include:

• English III (prepares students for the AP English examination)
• History, with a choice of:
  • United States History
  • AP United States History
• Mathematics, with a choice of:
  • Pre-Calculus
  • Honors Pre-Calculus
  • Calculus
  • AP Calculus AB
  • AP Calculus BC
  • Multivariable Calculus and Differential Equations (online)
• Physics and Advanced Physics (students who have taken an equivalent Physics course may take AP Biology or AP Chemistry)
• Foreign Language (optional); if elected, students have a choice of:
  • taking their home high school's course as a distance learning/independent study option
  • working with a private tutor
  • taking at GFS if a course is available that fits into the student's schedule; due to the variety of courses and wide range of levels, it often is not possible to fit a language course into the WISE schedule

Students who will be seniors during their WISE semester are required to take four or five major courses, in addition to the WISE experience. These courses will include English IV or AP English IV. Additional courses typically include Mathematics (AP Calculus AB or BC, or Multivariable calculus and Differential Equations), Science (AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, or Anatomy and Physiology), and History or a Foreign Language. Applicants for a semester of their senior year should contact the GFS Dean of Special Programs, Andrea Perry, at (410) 559-3125 or andreaperry@gfs.org to discuss course needs and requirements.

Electives

Enrollment in electives is optional for WISE students. Some electives may be offered at non-traditional times, outside of the regular class day, to facilitate WISE student participation.

The WISE Seminars

In order to support WISE students in their hands-on laboratory and field work research experience at Johns Hopkins, Garrison Forest School faculty members offers special help on topics relevant to research. Based upon the needs that stem from each semester's WISE projects at JHU, WISE students may take short seminars in topics including:

• keeping a WISE journal
• writing a research-laboratory level lab report
• understanding science statistics
• using scientific databases and journals for research
• using specialized software and technology resources for scientific research
• developing skills for effective research teamwork
• developing group study skills and other "master student" skills
• understanding the organization and culture of a research university
• appreciating ethical and integrity issues related to research
• learning about the history of women in science and the challenges women face in STEM fields

Seminar topics are offered as needed. Seminars are short tutorial and discussion sessions rather than on-going courses. They will be scheduled at times appropriate to support the JHU science experience; some take place prior to beginning work at Johns Hopkins. Some seminars may be offered online.

Johns Hopkins mentors provide WISE students with the academic knowledge base necessary to their research and with training in their laboratory and fieldwork procedures and protocols.

Beyond the support the WISE seminars provide WISE students in their JHU work, these sessions give students valuable knowledge and skills they can take to their college classrooms and to campus and summer employment opportunities involving laboratory work and research.