<p>I've read here on CC that colleges like to see all 3 sciences on a student's transcript.
My (currently sophomore) daughter plans to take AP Bio, and AP Chem, but would have to double up on science her senior year to fit in a physics class. She would also have taken 9th grade Bio and Hon Chem this year. She will take AP Calc BC her junior year.
Any idea how colleges would view CTY's fast-paced Physics, if she took that in the summer instead? It is algebra based.</p>
<p>My son is exploring this same option for the reasons you stated (need to double up on sciences or not take all AP science courses offered).</p>
<p>I do not know how colleges will view it. To get around this issue son asked his school if the school would give him credit for the CTY Physics. For his school they would. It will show on his transcript, however it will show as “non-graded” and be clearly noted it is not in his GPA. This is a concern to me - I want to be sure colleges do not think he took it as an “easy” out of his regular school classes.</p>
<p>An alternate suggested to us was for him to take the SAT II which I understand is alg. based.</p>
<p>Son’s high school Physics is algerbra based.</p>
<p>to both parents:
The CTY Physics programs are only 8 weeks long, and do not cover the depth and breadth of an AP level science class. If your student wants to take additional AP level classes on their own time, in order to avoid HS scheduling conflicts, then I suggest they take online accredited courses offered by Stanford University’s EPGY program. EPGY was originally designed for the type of students that CTY attracts, but their HS classes are far more rigorous and advanced than is possible to offer in a summer program designed primarily for gifted elementary and middle school students.</p>
<p>My S took the CTY fast paced HS physics course (following two enrichment type courses in electrical engineering and probability & game theory.) However, his intent in doing this was so he could take AP Physics C at his HS as a junior, since he was (and is) thinking of physics as a college major. (He’s now taking AP Chemistry as a senior.)</p>
<p>Since he’d taken AP Calc BC as a sophomore, the combined path was a good choice, for him. Although he could have gotten HS credit for the CTY course, he chose not to since, for some odd reason, this non-graded class had a downward effect on his GPA! </p>
<p>He HAS taken allowed HS credit for the CTY online courses in linear algebra and multivariable calculus, even though these also have a downward effect on GPA, since weighted credit for these courses is not offered (which seems odd since they are well beyond an AP level class.) We are hoping the rigor aspect that this shows on his transcript will more than negate the non-weighted grades for the course. Fortunately for him, he pulled down A’s.</p>
<p>The Fast-Paced High School Science classes at CTY are the equivalent of high school honors classes in those subjects, and are intended to prepare students for AP. The Physics class is not calculus based as would the AP Physics C course. S had already begun studying calculus when he took the CTY Physics class and found it a very good preparation for AP-Physics. Ditto with the Chemistry class. He did those in the 3 weeks summer program.
The instructors give a preliminary test and an end of course test based on the National Association of Science Teachers’ test.</p>
<p>The fast paced science courses at our school are about the equivalent of an honors level course. They provide a good base. My son got a P on his transcript and also took the NYS Regents exam in August so that grade also appeared on his transcript. I think it’s easier to do labs (and more fun) to do them as part of CTY than through a distance learning program like EPGY. Colleges would look on it as having taken a high school physics course. This is also the sort of thing that can be addressed in a GC letter if you feel the need. i.e. the GC can explain that scheduling conflicts/prerequisites made it difficult to fit the courses in during the school year and that they can’t assign a grade to a summer course.</p>
<p>Just as an aside for future reference regarding the on line classes (or at least the linear algebra and MV calculus ones, as far as our public HS is concerned) … the student CAN get grades for the on line classes, which can be included on the HS transcript. (unfortunately, not a weighted grade like an AP class allows.)</p>
<p>Should you choose to go this route, CTY does an excellent job of providing materials to make the case at your HS. I was able to download everything I needed right off the web site: name of textbook, syllabus, grading standards, etc. The GC said this needed to be vetted by the math dept chair and asst principal. Because they all knew this would have an impact on S’s scheduling for the rest of his classes, they moved pretty quickly on it and approved it for credit without any additional questions from us. In order to actually receive the credit/grade on the HS transcript, I submitted the CTY grade report for each test to the GC. Said report is a page long, listing the 8 or so concepts covered by the test, a score for each section and then the test total grade, plus what portion of the class it represents.</p>
<p>Menloparkmom, are you talking about the CTY summer programs, which are 3 weeks long, or the CTY distance learning courses? S took a math course, and it was entirely self-paced, not 8 weeks. If you finished the material before the paid “term” was up you could proceed on to the next course. Maybe the science courses are different.</p>
<p>BTW, many of CTY’s distance learning courses were EPGY+live tutor. But that may have changed, of course.</p>
<p>I’m also interested in this thread for D2. How suicidal is it to take AP Chemistry and AP Physics in junior year provided that she would have taken Hon Chemistry and Physics course(CTY) in the summer? Does AP Calc BC need to be taken before AP Physics in order for a student to do well in this class?</p>
<p>Scheduling might be a problem because, in our HS at least, AP science classes are double periods owing to labs. Ordinarily, students who take AP Physics C are required to take AP-Calc concurrently if they have not taken it previously.</p>
<p>If it’s AP Physics C (which is more calc based), it’s best to either take AP Calc the year before the class, or concurrently. It’s less critical if it’s AP Physics B.</p>
<p>My S took HS AP Calc BC his sophomore year, CTY fast paced physics the intervening summer, HS AP Physics C and CTY self paced online Linear Algebra his junior year, and now AP Chemistry and CTY self paced online Multivariable Calculus to wrap things up his senior year. Oh, last summer he spent two months on a summer internship with an earth sciences professor, doing work related to paleoclimatology (he analyzed temperature patterns of fossil corals.)</p>
<p>I checked the high school catalogue and the math requirement for AP Physics is Algebra 2, it’s not AP Physics C, it’s AP Physics B which is a college level introductory physics course(straight out of the catalogue). Aparently, Honors Pre-Calculus is the hardest course at this high school based on the level of difficulty published in the catalogue.
I was hoping to lessen her senior year load and also to squeeze in one SAT 2 subject test(Physics), instead of waiting for her to take AP Physics in senior year.
Another alternative is for D2 to take Honors Pre-Calculus at the local college the summer before junior year, take AP Calc BC in junior year, AP Physics B senior year. Or take AP Physics the summer before senior year. I’m not sure which path is the best for D2.</p>
<p>My S took AP Chem, AP Physics, and AP Calc BC senior year, plus AP language and English courses. The major problem was that the AP Physics teacher sucked–has since been fired, but not soon enough–and it was the only physics class available.</p>
<p>His major interest is not math and science. It really depends on your kid and the courses. (He got a 5 and two 4s on the science/math exams with minimal, if any, prep, so apparently the courses were not walkovers.)</p>
<p>AP-Physics B is useful if the student wants to go into science (NOT Physics) and pre-med. If the student wants to go into math or physics, AP-Physics C is the more appropriate class.</p>
<p>Be aware that AP-Physics-C covers only Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism. It does not align at all with the SAT-Physics subject test. Check the curriculum of AP-Physics B for alignment with the SAT Physics test if your D wants to take that test.
If she wants to take AP-Physics B, she should not take AP-Physics C later. And if she does take B, she does not need calc. Precalc will do. She should not have to wait until senior year to take AP-Physics B, especially if she takes pre-calc beforehand. After she has completed precalc, by the way, she should take the SAT-Math IIC, when the materials are still fresh in her mind.</p>
<p>But does she really want to spend her summers doing academic work? Some, like mine do. Others may want to do something else. She is quite advanced in relation to her peers already.</p>
<p>Can’t talk about CTY physics, but DS took CTY summer program fast paced chemistry for the fun of it. Local HS refused to acknowledge it so would have had to first take 10th grade honors physics before being allowed to take AP chem. Ditto for CTY computer science courses. (Fortunately, son ended up going to a different HS.) Would suggest anyone hoping to use these courses for credit, get approval from HS beforehand.</p>
<p>Second what Marite said about alignment of AP Physics C to the SAT II test. After finishing the AP Physics C class and then cracking open the SAT II prep book, S discovered this and, smartly, delayed taking his SAT II until he had additional time to look at the prep book.</p>
<p>By the way, the students who take AP Physics C end up taking TWO AP tests for the class, one for mechanics and the other in electricity/magnetism. And unlike the AB subtest that comes with taking the AP Calc BC test, these physics tests count as two separate tests … so be prepared time wise and money wise for two exams.</p>
<p>Fortunately, S took CTY Chemistry (and Physics before that) before going into high school. The whole reason why S went to CTY was to avoid spending a whole year learning the same materials when he could do so in three weeks. The high school did not give him credit for those courses, but did not prevent him from taking AP-Chem. He was extremely well prepared for it.</p>
<p>Do check your school’s policy and consider what you want from CTY. Is it knowledge for its own sake and as preparation for more advanced classes? Is it high school credit? Will the school make your child re-take the course if it does not recognize CTY courses?</p>
<p>
Fortunately, her high school only has AP-Physics B, so she does not need to take AP-Physics C.</p>
<p>
She has been doing academic work all summers since 4th grade(year-round track). However, this summer is the first summer she did not have school and I gave her some extra-math homework to do so she won’t sit idle. She complained that she did not get to hang out with her friends as often as she would have liked.
Thank you for all your posts, this thread made me realized that AP-Physics B is not as hard as I had imagine. Maybe it’s ok for her to take it concurrently with AP-Chemistry.</p>
<p>Not difficult, necessarily, but time-consuming, as many AP teachers administer lots of tests as prep for the exam.</p>
<p>In our school AP Physics B replaced Honors Physics which is no longer offered. It’s taken by the top sophomores who take it concurrently with Algebra 2. Some kids do go on to take Physics C junior or senior year. If she likes science it would not be impossible to take concurrently with AP Chem. But it would still be a lot of labs. In our school it would be hard to take both because they schedule labs for both courses that run every other day (usually alternating with required PE).</p>