<p>My D asked me to get advice about planning her senior year classes and I did not know where it would fit in so I hope this is OK... She has a meeting with the guidance counselor tomorrow and is not sure if she should take AP English or regular English with a special in Shakespear. soes anyon have an opinion about which will look better for MT admissions? She has other AP classes and has good score on the verbal PSAT.
Thanks for any help!
Harriet</p>
<p>i would take it, because all the aps usually help. but it depends on where she wants to go, if she wants straight conservatory...then it should not matter much, but if she would rather do a more liberal arts based program, like nyu umich...then she should probably take it, as the harder class will look better AND prepare her better for the english courses that are required in college. find out what she wants in a college, and then let us know. we can list a bunch of schools that fit that criteria for you. hope this helps</p>
<p>chris</p>
<p>thanks chris, actually I think I am confused - she takes AP English this year maybe next year the choice is between regular English and SUPA (Syracuse University HS program). She does want to apply to NYU, Mich etc... but also Conservatories, which I suspect she will probably be more drawn to once she visits them. I am going to pick her up from rehearsal now so when I get back I'll clarify what the choices are.
Thanks again
Harriet</p>
<p>If your child can handle the extra work load of AP classes, along with college auditions and application, I think it is good to take the APs. They help with grade point and they are well received by college admissions offices when they review applications for admission and scholarship opportunities.</p>
<p>OK my D is taking AP English this year but there is an AP English Lit. class offered next year. The reason she was questioning the choices is because of the Shakespear offered with the regular Senior English.
Harriet</p>
<p>well...id say that if she wants to be an actress...then shakespeare analysis is a good thing to understand. even if she doesnt want to work at that level at her senior year because of auditions (trust me, i felt the same way at times), i still think that the shakespeare analysis will benefit her in the long run. I know that by being in the ap lit course right now (we read twelfth night, w;t, and we are now reading hamlet) i understand more about plays...so i think this all comes back to help me be a better actor. just my opinion, and good luck to your daughter. but definatley encourage her to challenge herself, because challenges make people work harder. and for auditions, its gonna be hard work in the process. hope this helps, and any questions feel free to ask her or pm me</p>
<p>chris</p>
<p>evasmom</p>
<p>The Shakespeare class sounds like a wonderful option for someone interested in theater. Does your high school have an honors english option or is it just AP or regular english. Because that if there is an honors version of that class, that may be something to consider as well. </p>
<p>My daughter will be a senior next year too and decided on only 2 AP's next for next year. AP English and AP Music Theory. They don't have many AP options at her high school or many core class options. Since it's Performing Arts, it seems many of the choices are in the electives. She doesn't have many classes left to take so she wants to enjoy many of the great elective classes they have and this is her list as it stands now: Ballet, Honors Theater and Advanced Theater Lab, and either Adv Classical Piano or Classical Guitar. Then she would take Honors Calculus, Honors Spanish the AP English and AP Music Theory. I wonder if colleges will find that many electives as slacking off, but she has met all her requirements in her other academic courses. Opinions?</p>
<p>I have the exact situation as your daughter, kaysmom- I attend a PA HS and theres just no academics offered to me... I've nearly exhausted thier courseload. I'm taking AP English, Government, and possible H French, and then I'm going to most likely do a few other APs through Johns Hopkin's distance education program. I love my PA school to death... its just frustrating that there's not much left to take!
-Mikksmom's D</p>
<p>You're right it can be frustrating. But in all honesty, I think my d wants to just enjoy all of those electives next year. They have such amazing teachers and there are so many great options of things she has wanted to take and just didn't have the time for. She could go over to a college program as well, but I think she has just waited to be a part of these other classes. She had wanted to take the Ballet class this year and then couldn't due to an SAT prep class they were required to take. The Theater counts as honors credit so she really wants that and the guitar or piano she has also been eager to fit in somewhere. Her counselor may advise against it as well. But I know many of the kids get out early because they are just done with their credits so they don't take anything else.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the input. I am on may way to meet D and guidance counselor this am. Right now her choices seem to be; AP English Lit, AP French, SUPA (Syr. Univ.) Economics, Dance Ensemble, Chorale, NO MATH, Possibly Spanish or AP Music Theory. I'll let you know what the Guidance Counselor thinks.
Harriet</p>
<p>And Chris I will have D PM you for more info</p>
<p>The counselor was actually helpful. What do you all think about not taking 4th year of science (physics)? Instead D would have time to take the AP English Lit and Shakespeare and SUPA Sociology as electives. Will colleges like NYU, Mich and CMU not academically accept because of only 3 years of science?</p>
<p>I am so glad to see this thread! I know this topic comes up every now and then...especially this time of year when current juniors begin to choose courses for their senior year. We have gotten such mixed reviews on AP classes. My D sat in on a parent/student meeting in which NYU seniors shared their views. One said he loved AP classes because he was able to complete several of his college classes and was able to graduate early. Others said not to bother because they aren't that important to MT colleges, especially the more conservatory type schools, and that the work load is very difficult to manage when your focus should be on auditions. When we met with Laura Strozeski at UMich, she told us that they definitely look for a challenging course load senior year when they look at applications. What to do? I guess I wonder how many AP or Honors courses should a senior take? My D is thrilled to finally have time to take some electives. She loves and is very talented in art, so she will probably take AP Art Studio. She is in Chorale, which is like Honors Choir. She has taken other Honors courses over the years so her coursework has been challenging. Her GPA is 3.9 at this time. She probably won't do a math next year because she had Pre-Calc this year, and this isn't her strength. She has to take an English and Government class, of course. Are 2 AP or Honors classes enough? Should it be 3? It's enough to make your head spin! How do you balance these classes so they are challenging enough yet allow the needed time for song and monologue prep?</p>
<p>Here is what I found out from NYU, Umich and CMU:
NYU looks at the overall challenge of the students senior year, 3 years of science is the minimum, but they are "a very competitve program"
UMich says that 3 years of science is fine in the music or arts programs
and
CMU said they only require 4 years of English and two of a language plus the rest counted as electives for the school of Drama, no basic science or math requirement.</p>
<p>Evasmom,</p>
<p>Be careful with the science requirement. Double-check that it is three years of science and not three years of LAB science. My daughter ran into this issue last year when she applied and auditioned. She had Earth Science freshman year, Biology her sophomore year, and chemistry her junior year and was struggling to make her schedule work to include a science her senior year. We made a couple of calls to the schools she was applying to and found that they did not consider Earth Science a lab science even though our school system does and that they made no exceptions to the 3 years of lab science rule. She had to drop her foreign language her senior year to make room for AP Chem to fullfill the science requirements for her top choice schools.</p>
<p>my science schedule was this (i got into nyu)</p>
<p>bio freshman year
chem sophomore year
ap bio junior year
no science senior year</p>
<p>it could be argued that computer science (aka programming) fills this void, but i am not sure (im taking that instead)...but i think only three years is required, but the more academics you do well in at nyu, the better</p>
<p>chris</p>
<p>My brother is an English teacher in a very competitive Silicon Valley H.S. His least favorite subject is AP English -- he says the kids are there because they feel they have to be there, not because they want to be there. In his opinion, they don't really learn to love literature -- the course is taught to the exam. </p>
<p>I think it's a shame that we can't let high school kids be high schools kids, and I blame the college board! </p>
<p>Disclaimer: My d is taking it this year, despite doubling up last year and completing all English requirements. Why? Because I told her it she needed a few APs on her transcript! Luckily, she has a good teacher and seems to be enjoying it. But, I still wish that we could go back to the days of high schools teaching high school classes, and universities teaching college classes!</p>
<p>I took AP English and it doesn't really help you unless you take the AP test and get a good enough grade on that to not have to take it in college. It does look good on a college resume but other than that, it's just a way to get out of taking Eng. Comp. in college.</p>
<p>evasmom - All of the schools you listed were on my son's original list, and I believe we found that the 4th year of science was not required.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! When did life get so complicated? My instinct is to encourage my D to trust her own judgement and select classes that she wants to learn in, ie. Shakespeare, Sociology, etc... Maybe if a school rejects her just because she did not take physics, it probably isn't the school for her. Of course, it is much better to have that information up front because if my D's heart is set on a particular school that requires that last year of science then it may be worth it to her.
Ultimately, I have always tried to provide information and guidelines for my kids but believe strongly that these are their lives. I guess that is why I find so much I can relate to with the CC community ... there is an overall atmosphere of respect for the students and the choices they are faced with. My thanks again to all of you!</p>
<p>Har</p>
<p>Hi Evasmom,
It sounds as if your D didn't go for the AP English. I just thought I'd share that my D is in AP English 4 right now and so far I've seen her with both Macbeth and Othello books. We have also had to buy Four Tragedies which is also Shakespeare. Most of the books that she needs to read for this class are classical and classic plays, so I think your daughter should probably accomplish her goal if she takes the AP English. Did you check the book list for your D's AP class? I don't think they should be that much different from our school's if they are teaching to a test, though I could be wrong...
PS. My D did not do the science or Math(!) her SR year. Most schools require 4 years, however Algebra I done in 8th grade counts as a year, and she did Geometry, Algebra II, and Pre-Calc in high school. This leaves more time for reading all those AP English books and plays (15 of them!) :)</p>