Do you know any fellow students who take classes online because they’re “easier”?

Well, they’re not the only ones.

As many interviewees told us their stories of online classes, the students of South Forsyth High School have coined the term “GPA Junkies,” a term for students who notoriously take many AP and online classes in hopes of largely increasing their G.P.A.

For the new 2025 school year, Forsyth County schools decided to limit the additional classes students can take outside of the school. Their reasons included students’ mental health and a desire to not create a “toxic” learning environment.

While it won’t affect upperclassmen, all students of the Class of 2028 and after will be limited to taking a maximum of one additional online class per year, including during summers. 

The new self-pay class policy has certainly affected many of South Forsyth High School’s students. A large proportion of FCS students have taken it upon themselves to take online classes along with their current course load.

This trend was deeply concerning to teachers and educational administrators throughout the county. 

Korri Irracondo, South Forsyth High School’s College and Career Counselor, was interviewed on her opinion of the new online class policy.

“I honestly think that this new policy is really beneficial and good for our students,” Irracondo said. “I know that some of our students are taking way too many classes, [more] than they actually need, and the sad truth is that these students are hammering themselves for something that is not actually going to help them.

As the College and Career Counselor, Irracondo also noted that many “GPA Junkies” might not get the outcome they sought when those college decisions finally drop.

“So many kids for some reason falsely perceive that colleges aren’t going to notice that students are piling unnecessary classes into their schedules,” she said. “I think we need to take into consideration that colleges aren’t dumb; they know what these kids are doing.”

As Irracondo stated, many students have falsely perceived that having more online AP classes will give them a competitive advantage for college admissions; however, that may not be the case.

“I have talked to so many colleges about this issue,” she said. “I think that we need to take into consideration that colleges don’t just want to see that you’re being challenged academically. They want to see your passions, your clubs, your sports, and how you are as a person. You can’t express yourself or show yourself as a candidate if all they see is a checked list of many AP’s. Many students I know are taking these classes to boost their GPA and show colleges how much better they are with their class rank. However, colleges are smart organizations; they can understand when you are doing something like this.”

Although online self-pay classes may increase a student’s GPA, college counselors such as Irracondo conclude that these activities aren’t necessarily worth it. Every student gets a limited 24-hour window every day, and cramming too many classes into your schedule isn’t a good usage of time from both an academic and mental health perspective.

“Although I heard some backlash from students on this policy, I think there might be a misconception,” Irracondo said. “Colleges compare you to the amount of classes and their rigor compared to your fellow classmates. Its important to realize that having fewer class slots doesn’t mean that it hurts you in any way.”

College admission is a large factor- driving students to take additional online courses, but self-pay online classes aren’t a cheat code to getting into a prestigious college. In fact, the whole purpose of online self-pay classes is to help students of a lower income or students who want to take classes not offered at their schools. 

“It saddens me to see all of these students abuse the online self-pay class opportunity,” said Irracondo. “This was to help students who couldn’t afford the full four years of college, or students who really wanted to take a class of their hobby or interest. Now students have been using them to increase their GPA and strengthen the academic competition of our school to extreme levels.”

Just like staff at South Forsyth High School, students reveal how they are happy about the new self-pay class policy. 

Eli Schnell and Arian Sharma, freshmen at South Forsyth High School, were interviewed on this subject. 

“I think the class policy is pretty good because it stops people from ruining their lives trying to get a bunch of APs, and it makes it more fair,” Schnell said. “I’m taking an online class right now, but I still think that it’s pretty reasonable as it puts less pressure on us to perform to an extreme extent.”

Sharma was dissuaded from such a performance when he heard about the new policy’s creation.

“I was actually thinking of taking a bunch [of online classes], but now because of the new policy, I’m not so sure,” Sharma said. “Either way, I’m still kind of happy [about the policy] because it limits other people in my grade from doing this too.”

The freedom that comes from not being expected to perform to an unrealistic standard is now what he’s focused on.

“At least we can actually enjoy our summer and do other stuff after school now,” Sharma said.