<p>Chillax…or you’ll be dead before #3 goes to college</p>
<p>No, your worries are not justified. Your son and husband are right. Ease off and let him take what he wants. He has plenty of APs - one additional AP history class is not going to make a difference, and AP Euro is a time eater. Also, if the counselor, who should know what your son’s goals are, says the schedule is OK, then presumably the counselor thinks the schedule counts as a “most rigorous” one.</p>
<p>D took AP psych for social studies and AP environmental for science (she’s a liberal arts type) - not the most rigorous classes in those areas and somehow got into a top school. Rigorous courseload is a yes/no question on college apps for the most part - not a contest to take the very hardest classes.</p>
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<p>First, his APs are fine and like other posters have stated, probably too much AP fluff IMO. (If he is not getting 5’s with a few 4’s on his exams, he shouldn’t bother taking them at all.) You have to tread very carefully when pushing a student beyond his/her comfort level. It smothers them. So when they finally get into this college of <em>your</em> dreams, they self destruct. And one more thing. Before he applies to all these top schools…are you prepared to foot the bill for the whole thing if he gets zero financial aid? If no, I wouldn’t waste your money on the application fee. There is no magic pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.</p>
<p>Wow! Much of my worry stemmed from reading posts on cc. As other posters have pointed out, unless you cure cancer or donate millions your chances are pretty slim. That is why I was so worried. With odds that thin, every little bit helps.</p>
<p>But I didn’t expect to get pounded so badly! </p>
<p>I guess as some of you have pointed out, one AP class will probably not make much of a difference. He has a lot of other things to offer and perhaps his time will be better spent working on essays, etc.</p>
<p>I would like to point out, that I have another son who starts high school next year that is going to a school that has NO AP classes. I think he will do just fine. They are all different kids and will all be successful in their own way. As long as they are happy, that is what is important.</p>
<p>That said, S1 has been happy taking all of these AP classes. He chose his school and his schedules. Yes, he has worked hard, but lucky for him he has been able to handle it all and score very well on the exams. He knows what he wants and he knows that it will be very difficult to achieve. But he is trying his hardest. He also knows that wherever he is accepted and chooses to go to college, we will be deeply proud of him. Who wouldn’t be?</p>
<p>Guess it is too late for him to choose other parents, and he is not 320 pounds and can’t play offensive tackle, but he does have some very accomplished talents. So while his chances for HYP are slim (like everyone else) there is always hope.</p>
<p>He will be happy to know that you cc’ers agree with him and with dad that he doesn’t need to spend all those hours on an additional AP class. He’s also going to get a big mea culpa from Mom, because I was sure that at least one other neurotic cc mom would agree with me :)</p>
<p>I do appreciate all of your input. :)</p>
<p>That was very gracious!</p>
<p>Mythreesons1344 gets the award for the nicest response ever after two pages of posts that completely disagreed with her!</p>
<p>Wow, he already had a difficult schedule, you really don’t have to add more (in our school you are lucky if you graduate with 5 AP classes). Since he has taken 4 years of spanish, I would consider having him take the Spanish Clep test. I don’t know how the HYP schools would handle clep credits, but some of your “safety” schools for him may give him credit for this. Something to look into.</p>
<p>I agree; a very gracious response!</p>
<p>Most colleges’ language departments do have their own placement testing to place students in the appropriate level language courses.</p>
<p>My attitude would be to let him pick what he wants for senior year but not get in over his head. Senior year is very busy. Senior year ALL kids get alittle seniorities. You really don’t want to difficult a schedule. If the OPs kid is shooting for HYP level colleges the extra time senior year should be spent honing up the application and putting some extra effort into the “extra” stuff outside of academics that will make the application shine.</p>
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<p>Your son does NOT need to take the “most rigorous” courseload at his school! This is something of a myth-- or at least taken out of context when applied to schools such as the one he attends.</p>
<p>That rule of thumb was meant for kids who attended typical public high schools where many kids are not following a strong academic track, or for schools with limited AP offerings. In other words, if an ad com gets an application from a kid who has only 3 AP’s – it helps to know that is all that is offered at the school. (It will be useful information for your younger son who is attending the school without any AP’s)</p>
<p>When a student is attending a school that is itself extremely rigorous and competitive – it doesn’t matter any more. The colleges don’t want kids who are overloaded and exhausted by the time they reach college. So when there are too many APs, it can end up undermining the application rather than helping.</p>
<p>A college ad com should be able to glance over the transcript and get a sense of what the student’s particular interests and strengths are. I don’t get that at all from your son’s courses. Does he have a passion? Something that sets him apart from others? If so, I think I’d have to look elsewhere on the application to find it. (So maybe it would be a very good idea for your son to drop some APs in favor of electives that better fit his interests).</p>
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<p>Where would your son like to attend college? Are his reach schools Ivy Level, or is would he like to focus more on his music and go for BFA?</p>
<p>I think an arts magnet can be an advantage in college admissions – but I think your son’s AP heavy schedule might undermine that advantage, depending on his goals. Dedicated musicians spend a LOT of time practicing their instrument every day-- and your son’s schedule tells me he doesn’t have any time for practice! Even the way you worded things – I get the sense that your son has pretty much lost interest in his music and is only signed up for those two courses because they are required. </p>
<p>That’s not a bad thing if in fact your son wants to focus on more on academics. If he is a future doctor or scientist who also happens to play the violin – the colleges will be happy with that. But my point is that it’s important to know what the end goal in order to know how best to shape the curriculum.</p>
<p>And good luck to him! (I wouldn’t be an offensive tackle either, though I have put on weight since my college days. ;))</p>
<p>So have I, mini – but it needs to be the right kind of weight in right places. Becoming rounder in the middle is not all that helpful ;)</p>
<p>If you are going to be an offensive tackle in the Ivy League, round mound is good! 
(And they are so rare! 320lb offensive tackles at HYP are rarer than published novelists, and probably rarer than patent holders.)</p>
<p>If this thread were a football game I suspect at some point someone would have been called for piling on. :)</p>
<p>I agree with mini. A few points to try to precisely carve out the “how many APs are enough” question:
- Talk to GC to find out the number of APs that your kid has to take to still get the “most rigorous schedule” marked off on the GC’s recommendation form. The GC might not reveal this, though. But if I had to guess, the difference between 9 or 10 APs (can’t remember your exact number) should not make it fall down to the next level on the GC’s rec form.
- Get the book “How to be a high school superstar” by Cal Newport. Although, it will be late for you to implement these ideas, it will at least give you some peace of mind that you are doing the right thing. Basically, HYP gets a ton of apps with 9-10 APs. So what sets your kid apart from those kids to get the “accepted” stamp? Basically, it’s doing things that are unique or different or something at a very high level that is often difficult to explain. It’s not from going to 9 APs to 10 APs. Thus, if your S is a musician and composes music and submits a CD of his written and recorded music (assuming it’s of high level), that would have greater impact on admission than AP classes #8 to #10.</p>
<p>I don’t think ivies “ding” students who’ve taken a good number of APs but “could” have taken “more” because high school schedules don’t always allow a student to take “more” even if desired. </p>
<p>This student could WANT to take 2 more APs, but if the periods that those desired APs conflict with other APs, then a student has to make a choice. Schools often only offer 1-2 periods of each AP, and sometimes the offerings are at the same time. </p>
<p>Does the OP’s son have Ivy-worth ECs? Now, that’s something that ivies may ding him for if he’s lacking. The ivies get enough apps from students with perfect academic records. They want to see that the student excelled elsewhere as well.</p>
<p>I don’t need to add my voice to the chorus here.</p>
<p>However, I do suggest you also lighten up about HYP. I know you want the best for your son, but your are drawing a bull’s eye that isn’t necessary. There are so many wonderful schools available to him there is no real reason to have your sights so firmly set on HYP.</p>
<p>I know you said safeties are in place, so you do have other schools in mind, but HYP appeared in many posts.</p>
<p>“When a student is attending a school that is itself extremely rigorous and competitive – it doesn’t matter any more.”</p>
<p>I agree with the essence of your post, but this is an overstatement. If you go to Stuyvesant or TJ or New Trier, you still need an aggressive curriculum within that school to be on track for HYP. Whether you end up with 9 or 10 APs certainly does not matter, and even whether it’s 5 or 9 APs matters less than your outstanding personal qualities. But you need to signal that you are challenging yourself and taking advantage of the opportunities available at that kind of school. Choosing a course load that is middle of the road for the school probably won’t do unless we’re talking about a tiny, ultra-elite place like St. Paul’s or Roxbury Latin.</p>