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<p>Yup, and a BUNCH of premeds who are taking it for the “easy A” and driving up the curve and standard deviation at the same time. :rolleyes:</p>
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<p>Top colleges don’t care about social science electives in HS. They care about the major academic core: math, english, history, science, and foreign language. IMO, you are mistaken if you are taking AP Pysch in lieu of a history.</p>
<p>This is quite a saga - grab a snack and a drink : )</p>
<p>Well, I can only tell you what happened to my son. He was in AP English, AP Psych, AP Physics, AP Govt, and Calc BC and PE (required in IL) for his sr. year. Warned him that he was taking on too much, but what did I know? </p>
<p>In November, he begged us to let him drop Calc, but we urged him to reconsider because we were worried that some of the colleges that he was applying to would not like to see him drop a AP class. He could not switch to AB because it only offered during his AP Physics class (this year they are offering AB and BC during the same hour so that kids can switch) After he thought about it, he decided to stay in. He went to the teacher for some tutoring prior to the finals and ended up with a C for the first semester.</p>
<p>Second semester - let’s see…2nd week of the semester the teacher tears her Achilles and is out for 3 weeks. Certainly not her fault, but the school had NO plan for this. The next 3 weeks are a succession of unqualified subs and the expectation that the students teach themselves (because, much to our surprise, there is not a SINGLE other person who knows BC). Son, meanwhile decides on a college and realizes that he does not need the class and the college won’t hold it against him, so he decides to petition to change to stats (which would not impact his other classes). Since the teacher is out, school declines to consider until she is back. She comes back and then gets sick and is out for another 2 weeks. More subs and nobody to help any of the students. Now, with all the delays, and the teacher actually refusing to have a meeting until her boss forces her to, it’s the first week of March and he’s told that since it’s so far into the semester - he has to stay. At this point, he has a F, but if he goes to tutoring 3x a week with the teacher that now hates him, he could get a D!! Oh, boy lucky us! He decides that he no longer cares if he gets a F. We tell him - heck no! So, we yell and take away his car in order to get him attend tutoring. </p>
<p>What fun!</p>
<p>He ended up with a D and his last semester was AWFUL - all we did is fight with him and the school.</p>
<p>So, my suggestion is whatever you decide, do it now! Also, think about how you want your final semester of HS to be. Do you really want to be stressing about Calc your final day of HS? And don’t forget about seniorits! Son had the worst seniorits ever and had no motivation at all. </p>
<p>FWIW,</p>
<p>Lisa</p>
<p>Thanks for your posts, I think I have a solid idea now. </p>
<p>Thanx Lisa/TooRealistic for the story of your son. Basically I feel the same: the thing that I fear the most and that is the most detrimental to both my academic and non-school-related lives IS STRESS.</p>
<p>OP, the question we haven’t asked you is where are you applying to college? That does make a difference.</p>
<p>BTW, I don’t see how dropping another class is going to help you with calc. If you stay in calc, you need a tutor. I suggest that you try to hire a tutor directly, rather than going through a service like ClubZ. The services charge DOUBLE what they actually pay the tutor. Try Craig’s List. Or you may be able to hire a fellow student. The cost really depends on where you live. Around here, an adult tutor hired directly would cost $20-50 per hour. A kid will typically tutor for $10-15 per hour. In some parts of the country expert adult tutors charge over $100 per hour.</p>
<p>I have decided. I Shall not take calc anymore and take AP Chem. Yay!!!</p>
<p>I see you’ve made your decision, but if you’re still checking this thread …</p>
<p>If you weren’t taking - or the school didn’t offer - AP math up to calculus then the jump to BC is huge, really huge. </p>
<p>But …</p>
<p>Each person has different abilities in math. For example, I know a kid - happens to be a daughter - who got stronger as the year in BC went because she really liked integration. So my recommendation is to look ahead at the curriculum, talk with the teacher and see how you feel in your gut about how you’ll do as the year goes on. Remember, the jump is huge into BC and the pace is really fast (and stays fast). </p>
<p>BTW, AP Chem is a lot of work too.</p>
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<p>Yeah, I am thinking the same thing, you didn’t make things any easier for yourself. It will be a big job playing catch up this far into the semester in a difficult course. Good luck.</p>
<p>I’d say that AP Chem is much easier than Calc BC though… But catching up may be difficult as others said.</p>