<p>Wow, SillySally, you sure have sparked a lot of people's interest!</p>
<p>Among the flurry of responses, one of the most important is that colleges limit AP credits from HS. Selective schools want to see a 4 or 5 on the AP exam before they give placement or credit, so you'll have to weigh the effect of extra APs:
are the scores likely to be high enough (you can get test results of other classes from the HS)</p>
<p>Silly Sally I would say that with so many APs, it is an ambitious plan. But only your kid can evaluate his strength. However, other than education you should choose meaningful summer activities for your kid to enrich his life. If you think that your son is interested in applying to elite colleges. The skills gained through these programs are far more valuable than studying APs in summer. Thhese skills can be used to make his overall life better. And lastly if your kid can take that many APs, let him choose what he wants to do. Good luck either way :)</p>
<p>Computer glitch - continuing my post from above</p>
<p>Things to weigh -
- are his AP scores likely to be high enough for college credit?
- will maintaining a high GPA be possible with so many advanced classes?
- does the school weight AP classes, and is the class rank calculated by weighted or unweighted grades? (an annoying "game," I know)
- have you considered the time and energy HS sports will take? Like HS classes, they require a stepped-up commitment. If it's in a contact sport, your kid's opponents are no longer 120 lbs., they'll be 150-200 lbs. Injuries, not necessarily serious ones, but nagging problems, will develop. Practices will be long and rigorous. His body will still be growing. How, physically, will your child be able to meet these demands? My guys come home from 10.5 hour days and nap like babies. </p>
<p>It sounds like you are just beginning to plan your HS strategy, and I applaud you for taking the time to think things through. Let your child lead the way in his special interests while you look out for the rest of the academics and his health. Good luck!</p>
<p>What seemed to be most important as my daughter went through the college process was that she had taken the most demanding course load that was offered at her school and had done very well. She had activities outside of school, a few of which complimented what she studied in school....they were noted by the admissions committee person who reviewed her application. Oddly enough in this world of specialized students, they liked that she was very well rounded. </p>
<p>If what you are thinking about for your son is typical for the highly motivated students at his high school, then go for it - and take it one year at a time. That being said, I have to tell you that my daughter went to a demanding private school (+30% ivy/ivy equivalent placement) and ended up at a highly selective college without taking as AP heavy a load as you list. Even with fewer AP's she was often up very late because homework was not started until 7ish because of EC's.There are some AP courses that eat up your life with reading (AP USH is one of them). High school work is more time consuming than middle school work even if your student was on the fast track during his middle school years.</p>
<p>IMHO, the most important part of a child taking on this demanding a life is that a strong desire is coming from them to give it a try, no matter what their academic potential is. A child can be very talented and not cut out for the grind - especially when pursuing academics in the summertime. </p>
<p>My daughter had certain academic areas that she really wanted to explore on her own but even if I had wanted her to, there was NO WAY that she would have explored outside of those areas. She self studied math one summer. To do so she had to write up a proposal and get permission from her school. I questioned her wanting to study during the summer because my feelings were that someone who had just graduated from eighth grade should have down time to play and read. Well, I was wrong. She got the job done and jumped a couple of math levels. She likes mucking about in a lab and didn't get to do it enough during the school year - she did that one summer, she LOVES modern art - she studied that. She also only went to school or studied for part of each day. She taught tennis and/or volunteered at a local hospital the rest of her day. I facilitated things but she was the mover and shaker. I love her dearly but I have never really understood her drive. During my adolescent summers I read every second that I wasn't working. I did not have a need to do, do, do. </p>
<p>In a very long winded way I am telling you the obvious, you can't make a student do what they don't want to do even if you bribe, threaten or cajole. It isn't just about ability, it is also about motivation. There are some people who would look at the proposed course load and feel that they could handle it and, even more, would be excited about the possibilities - and there are some who wouldn't. If your son is one of the "Bring it on" types then I would give it a shot but there are tons of talented students who would not want to take on a class load that is quite so intense (and they will still do just fine at college application time).</p>
<p>For someone interested in the social sciences, I would recommend AP-US History, usually combined with AP-American Lit, and taken in11th grade in our high school; AP-European History and AP-English (usually taken in 12th grade in our high school). These set of courses are preceded by two years of Honors Social Studies and Honors ELA, although it is possible to take some of the AP courses somewhat earlier.
He should also take 3 years of lab sciences and four years of math (whether to take AP-Calculus or not should be left up to him; many GCs recommend it). If he wishes to take AP courses in the lab sciences, he will have to take Honors classes first, or summer classes such as CTY's. These are excellent preparation for the AP classes, but I only recommend it to kids who really want to spend the summer doing academic work. He will also need to take at least 2, preferably three years of a foreign language.</p>
<p>If he is interested in musi, he can pursue this interest by continuing to take classes and entering competitions. He might take AP-Music Theory after a bit of self-study.
FOr AP Art History, he will need to asemnle a portfolio, so that is best left to senior year.</p>
<p>If HE (not you) really wants to take an AP in 9th grade, he should take just one, and another one or possibly two the following year; two or three in junior year, ditto in senior year. That comes to 9 APs, which is plenty in my opinion. He could presumably take AP-Economics, AP-Giovernment, etc... but I don't see a lot of point to these courses, as he will likely be required to take them all over again in college,</p>
<p>This is actually a heavy schedule. Keep in mind that he will want ot pursue ECs, that he will have college visits, tests (SATs, state tests, AP exams, finals) , college applications in the senior year.</p>
<p>Citygirlsmom wrote:
"If the AP classes were easier, what does that say? Curious.....and 2 AP's as a sophmore, our VERY competitive prep school does not allow AP until 11th grade...what were the pre-recs for statistics? And as a Senior, they cannot take more than 4 and that is with all kinds of special permission, yet we somehow manage to get 5-10 kids into Stanford a year....go figure...."</p>
<p>I must say I was also surprised that the regular 10th grade physics was harder than the AP Physics. Can't figure out why.. I think it was getting used to idea of analytical problemsolving. </p>
<p>Prerquisites for AP statistics were Algebra I & II and Geometry. Their school uses AP Statistics as a filler class in 10th grade for kids taking a lot of math classes because otherwise they would have to offer multivariate calculus in 12th grade for make sure kids have 4 years of math. It is actually a pretty easy course (as well as an easy AP exam). </p>
<p>I am not at all convinced large number of APs are required for admission to selective colleges (although I guess not taking APs when school offers them may be negative for kids). As of now I think the only place where AP seem to help is at places like UCLA and Berkeley where weighted GPA is used but there have been some interesting articles about UC system wanting to change this.</p>
<p>Schools seem to differ in their philosphy about AP classes and frankly, like phonics and whole language controversy, it is probably of great relevance to educationists, to the rest of us, it is only a problem if our kid can not read. </p>
<p>Many apologies if I misread a tongue in cheek comment.. ;-)</p>
<p>imo, I think your son should choose for himself what classes to take. If he doesn't have an interest in those subjects, then why should he take them if they're not required? There are other classes out there that aren't ap that are still terrific. I'm lucky enough to have parents that didn't push me as far as scheduling goes, and I've been extremely satisfied with my own choices throughout high school. I have taken a number of ap classes, but it was only because I was interested in the subjects. It pains me to see the kids in my school who try to take just about every ap purely so they can have the highest weighted gpa, when they would be much happier pursuing what they liked. Really, planning his high school future now will not help, because it will definitely change. I planned my own out yearly, but I never stuck to the plans I had, partially due to change in interests, partially due to scheduling conflicts. </p>
<p>I really wouldn't suggest eliminating his extracurriculars. Ecs are a very important part of college admissions, and I believe that you can learn more through ecs than through an actual class. Good colleges will automatically deny someone with perfect grades and scores who lacks ecs. Ecs are the fun part of high school, where students get to learn and enjoy their time. They provide a more fostering environment, where students get to meet with peers of similar interests.</p>
<p>In short, the students I know whose parents have created their schedule for them and cut down on the ecs and time spent with friends have been the unhappiest. High school is a time to start cutting strings, not tightening them.</p>