<p>Hi everyone! I'm trying to figure out what classes I'll be taking next year, and I was wondering...
Does 4 years of Latin over 3 years of Latin really matter?</p>
<p>I have a list of classes I want to take, but to fit AP Physics, AP Lit, AP Stats, and AP Psych all into my senior year, I would have to drop Latin and only do 3 years of a language.
(Keep in mind, I also will be taking band, P.E, and photography).</p>
<p>I really do not see any other solution, as I really want to take AP Psych and AP Physics just seems like the more preferred choice over honors physics (I know my teacher this year will force me to take it).</p>
<p>Take the classes you want to take. Sometimes there’s a way to make it work, but usually you have to make choices. My daughter thought she was going to have to drop Chamber Singers this year to take AP Bio, but there were other kids affected and it’s a small singing group, so the school actually changed the schedule to accommodate them all. I think this is a pretty uncommon situation, though, so if you can’t work it out and the schedules are set in stone, take the classes you’re most interested in.</p>
<p>Check the requirements for the colleges you may be applying to, but I think most don’t require 4 years of a language. They’d rather see you passionate about something than jumping through hoops to look good on a resume.</p>
<p>Thanks 
The issue is more the fact that I can only take 8 credits, or 8 whole year classes. The 4 AP’s, band, P.E, and photography make 7, so I COULD take Latin, but I really feel I’ll need that study hall or early dismissal for all my EC (band, tennis team, volenteer service, job)</p>
<p>I think colleges will be okay with 3 years of Latin. They might look less kindly on early dismissal just for extracurriculars… I’m a senior with early dismissal, but my school only allows us to do it if we’re dual enrolling somewhere (taking an online class, going to community college, etc). Maybe you could find online Latin? That would give you a bit more flexibility, at least.</p>
<p>If you have an idea of the colleges you are considering, take a look to see if that 4th year of language would exempt you from having to meet a foreign language requirement once enrolled (unless studying a language in college is something you wanted to do, of course). Avoiding that requirement might be a good move. To be honest, intro psych classes are a dime-a-dozen and it doesn’t really matter whether you take one now or once in college; but if taking that 4th year of Latin gets you out of a year of required language classes in college that is the choice I’d make. Of course you might luck out and find your colleges will take 3 years of HS as satisfying the language requirement ;)</p>
<p>I’m planning on taking classes at the community college during junior year and senior year. I also might take an online class through Johns Hopkins CTY.
Do you think I’ll be fine if I dont take latin then?</p>
<p>I’d say so. Unless you’re going into linguistics or something AND you’re taking as many courses as you can, you should be fine. :)</p>
<p>I’m most likely going to major in mathematics and minor in education, soo I think I’ll be fine!</p>
<p>Check the colleges you are interested in to see what their foreign language graduation requirements are, and whether high school Latin 4 will help you with them (e.g. by placing into a higher college Latin course so that you can take fewer of them).</p>
<p>Introductory psychology is a common one semester course in college, so it is not essential to take it in high school. Is AP physics the B or C version? Also, what math will you complete in high school? As an intended math major, precalculus should be the minimum, with calculus preferred if available.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus, I am very ahead in math, ever since middle school. I’m currently in pre-calc (I’m a sophomore) so I will be completing AP Calc and AP Stats before I graduate.
For Physics, my school only has one course, AP Physics, and it bugs me that they don’t publish in the course guide whether it’s B or C. It’s an everyday course (we are on a block schedule) so could it possibly be both?</p>
<p>ucbalumnus, I am very ahead in math, ever since middle school. I’m currently in pre-calc (I’m a sophomore) so I will be completing AP Calc and AP Stats before I graduate.
For Physics, my school only has one course, AP Physics, and it bugs me that they don’t publish in the course guide whether it’s B or C. It’s an everyday course (we are on a block schedule), so could it possibly be both together?</p>
<p>Does AP physics list calculus as a prerequisite? From that, you should be able to tell if it is a B or C course.</p>
<p>The B version is non-calculus, and covers a broad range of introductory physics topics; it is best thought of as a more comprehensive honors high school physics course. It is supposed to emulate college physics for biology majors and pre-meds, although medical schools usually do not accept AP credit.</p>
<p>The C version is calculus-based, and divided into mechanics and E&M (electricity and magnetism). The mechanics part is better accepted by colleges than the E&M part, because college physics for physics and engineering majors often uses multivariable calculus in E&M.</p>
<p>Here is an example set of math courses that someone majoring in math to become a high school math teacher will take: [url=<a href=“http://math.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate/major/teaching]Course”>Course Requirements: Major with a Teaching Concentration | Department of Mathematics at University of California Berkeley]Course</a> Requirements: Major with a Teaching Concentration | Department of Mathematics at University of California Berkeley<a href=“note,%20see%20the%20other%20links%20on%20the%20page%20to%20compare%20with%20regular%20pure%20and%20applied%20math%20course%20lists”>/url</a></p>
<p>The school program of studies says that the only prerequisite is pre-calc…
does that mean its B?</p>
<p>AP physics should be the B version if calculus is not required as a prerequisite (or sometimes as a corequisite).</p>
<p>Completing Calc AB and Stats is considered fairly normal in many areas of the country (and actually doable even if you start at alg 1 in 9th grade). Having pre-calc in 10th grade I’m wondering when you plan to move on to a math major in college, is there a reason why you are not moving on to Calc BC in high school? If it’s not offered at your hs and you are going to be dual enrolled would this be something to move on to at the cc?</p>
<p>FWIW, AP Physics C at our school shows AP calc as a co-req, not as a pre-req, so it can work that way as well sometimes. Certainly the students that were earning A’s in the honors pre-calc were the one’s that did the best in AP Physics C. If you were squeaking by with a low B in regular pre-calc moving onto AP Calc you generally were not well prepared for AP Physics.</p>
<p>It depends on where you are planning to apply. I know someone who was an adcom at an elite Northeastern LAC for years, and he assured me that the four-year language recommendations that you will find in the Common Data Sets for many of the elite LAC’s are serious and it can cost you if you don’t meet that standard. It would not be fatal to an application, but it would be a negative.</p>
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<p>The number of AB test takers per year is about 8% of the total number of high school graduates per year. For BC, it is about 3%, and for statistics, it is about 5%. So completing AP calculus and/or statistics is not normal overall.</p>
<p>Even if the comparison is restricted to just the approximately one third of graduates going on to four year colleges, that would be about 23% of the class for AB, about 8% for BC, and about 14% for statistics.</p>
<p>blueiguana, I plan on taking AP Stats and AP Calc. AP Calc I believe is both the courses combined into an everyday course, similar to our AP Chem and AP Physics.</p>