<p>Too many mandatory classes! I can’t take any electives.
For 10th grade the require AP Calc, AP Physics, AP English, and AP Gov! what.</p>
<p>They keep getting rid of AP classes so that there are teachers for the IB kids. -_- (You can’t take IB unless you’re specifically in the program.) Within the last year they’ve gotten rid of AP Physics, AP Stats, and AP Euro. :/</p>
<p>Sent from my iPhone using CC</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Freshman pretty much have their courses selected for them. English, World History (choice of honors or reg. for these two only), Alg. 1 or Geometry, Environemntal Science or Biology (the second math/science if you took Alg. 1 in 8th grade), Health & P.E., choice of Spanish, French, German, and a mandatory freshman elective.</p></li>
<li><p>There’s no early math programs. The earliest you can take Algebra 1 is in 8th grade.</p></li>
<li><p>In order to go from Alg. 1 to Geometry, you need teacher recommendation. Otherwise, you are put into a bridge class called Algebraic Modeling. Although to be fair, considering our test scores in math are less than 1/3 the national average, we probably do need it. Many kids don’t even finish Algebra 2 by the time they graduate. Out of our school of more than 800 kids, only about 30 kids take Pre-calculus each year, and only 4 or 5 take Calculus AB.</p></li>
<li><p>Many classes are restricted by your year. For example, US History can ONLY be taken as a junior. The only possible way you can take it earlier or your senior year is if you moved from somewhere else. Government can ONLY be taken your senior year. Chemistry and Physics can ONLY be taken sophomore year or later.</p></li>
<li><p>Cannot take APs freshman year, or your sophomore year except World History or European History (not both). </p></li>
<li><p>You cannot take a dual-enrollment or online course if that course is offered at your school - even if it’s over the summer!! That means you cannot take math classes to “get ahead” over the summer because they technically offer these courses at the school. </p></li>
<li><p>Finally, not really a fault of the schools’, but AP scheduling is hard due to low demand. If a class does not have 5 students, it cannot be offered. Additionally, low demand means there’s only one period where an AP class is taught, so scheduling conflicts are frequent. If APUSH and AP Calc are both offered 1st block, for example, you can only take one or the other.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>No APUSH, which I would’ve gladly taken. Instead you have to take USH I (1760s->1920s) and USH II (1920s->2000s) as separate classes. Which are requirements.
4 years of gym and 4 years of health. Also the only classes you CAN’T test out of. You can test out of any other required class though.
My school told kids that the math progression is basically Pre-Calc, Calc AB, THEN Calc BC, apparently not realizing that if you take AB or BC you probably shouldn’t take the other since they’re very similar. Now they have a “Calc BC & Multivariable Calc” class though, so most people go Calc AB —> that class.</p>
<p>I don’t really have much to complain about. Granted, my school is like other schools I’ve seen here (no APs until you’re an upperclassman, too many required classes like health, gym, microsoft applications, etc.), but I don’t exactly want to take more than 3 APs in any given year, and thankfully I don’t have the option to anyway. Also, I would’ve failed out of any AP I’d taken this year or last. I also don’t mind that the reqs. for honors classes are more like guidelines.</p>
<p>Pre-calc is a prereq. for Calc AB, so I have to wait until senior year for that, I’d shoot myself in the jugular before taking Studio Art, AP Lit is for seniors, & the other 3 offered APs I’m taking next year.</p>
<p>My only complaint is that we need enough student interest for a class to run, and because it’s usually juniors who take chemistry, that means that there are never many people signed up for AP Chem (because they’re encouraged to take physics, or they take nothing because it’s a 3 year req.), so that class may not run (and it’s the only class I’m actually looking forward to). Currently, we’ll have 3 juniors & ~5 seniors, but we need 10 for the class to run. Also, I wish that we started off freshman year with biology instead of earth science.</p>
<ol>
<li>Freshmen required to take Health, P.E, and Biology with no exceptions.</li>
<li>Only 1 AP available to Freshmen</li>
<li>AP Euro and AP World, AP Chem and AP Physics alternate years and Chem and Physics REQUIRE that you take the non-AP class first</li>
<li>AP Calc BC not offered for gifted students at math</li>
<li>AP Economics (Macro or Micro) not offered</li>
<li>AP Physics C not offered</li>
<li>Not Honos Literature, Foreign Language, or Histories offered</li>
<li>No serious Computer Science course offered that isnt just making Ppt presentations and mild video editing</li>
<li>Counselors freak out when you sign up to double up on subjects or take 3+ AP’s</li>
</ol>
<p>We’re forced as freshmen to take a class called “Introduction to Classical Studies”. It’s a class where we learned Egyptian mythology for a semester, Greek mythology for almost a semester, and Roman mythology for a day. Literally, one day. I’d have liked a class for something useful, like Physics. But no, let’s have a class to learn about 50 or so gods in Egypt. I hated every minute of it.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Freshmen required to take English, World History, Integrated Science/Biology, and Algebra A/Algebra I/Geometry/Algebra II. It’s not too bad, but Honors English and World History are a joke. Bio isn’t exactly difficult either. (for those of you wondering what Algebra A is, it’s one semester of Algebra I spread out over a year. Those who take Algebra A have to take Algebra B.)</p></li>
<li><p>Required to take Alaska Studies, Lifetime Personal Fitness, Government, and Econ to graduate.</p></li>
<li><p>Only AP classes available for sophomores are AP Environmental, AP Bio, and AP Stats. I chose Environmental because it sounded the most interesting.</p></li>
<li><p>It’s way too easy to get into AP and Honors classes. My honors World History and Honors English classes are a joke, and some of the kids in there aren’t really suited for honors.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Guys, nothing is worse than Monta Vista High School… We are allowed to take APs only from junior yr onwards, due to the academic pressure forced on students by their parents…</p>
<p>Resurrecting this thread :D</p>
<ul>
<li>This is my biggest complaint: We are required to take four year of theology (Catholic school)</li>
<li>No Physics B or C: E&M (only Mech)</li>
<li>No APs 9th grade (usually not until junior year)</li>
<li>WAY too easy to get into honors classes</li>
<li>No Honors for foreign languages (except Spanish 3), so I’ll be stuck in Spanish 2 next year with a bunch of hooligans who couldn’t give a **** about their education :(</li>
<li>Only 2 foreign languages offered (Spanish and ITALIAN, of all things!)</li>
<li>My other biggest complaint: If we have a problem with our schedule for next year, we have to wait until AUGUST to resolve it instead of just doing it the week after school ends. I mean, if we don’t know what classes we’re going to be in until the week before school starts, HOW are we supposed to get any summer HW/prep done??? DERRRRR!!!</li>
</ul>
<p>No APs until junior year
Grammar class required for freshmen with no honors options.
Barely any screening for honors classes. I know a girl who failed Honors English II, and then went on to take Honors Bio (reading based, just like english II) and failed that too.
Few APs offered</p>
<ol>
<li>Only four AP classes and three of them can’t be taken until senior year.</li>
<li>You need two years of chemistry before AP Chem because the teacher covers the material really slowly. Which I guess is better than learning it too fast and forgetting, but still. </li>
<li>The only foreign languages are Spanish and French.</li>
<li>Required classes: Manage Transitions, Career Search, Financial Literacy.</li>
<li>Our highest math class is called calculus, but in the course description it says “we finish the pre-calc book.” Not sure how that’s calculus.</li>
</ol>
<p>Gym for another year :/.</p>
<p>Old school: 8 periods. One of them is lunch. One of them is Gym, required for 4 years. This gives you six classes to take. English is required for 4 years, of course; same with math. If you take a language, that takes up three or four years. If you take band/orchestra/choir, that eats up another class slot. Many of my friends at that school have quit band/orch because they need room in their schedule for something else.</p>
<p>They’re uptight about changing courses, so you have to plan very carefully for course selection in January. Changing courses is almost impossible there, and most people who want to change a class aren’t allowed to do so.</p>
<p>You have to be recommended for AP classes. I wanted to skip first-year chemistry and enroll in AP Chem; my honors bio teacher recommended me for AP chem, but the department chair is an uptight you-know-what and said that first-year is mandatory and essential to succeed … I moved out of state that year/last summer (for unrelated reasons), enrolled in AP Chem, and got a 5 this May.</p>
<p>New school: So much more relaxed. Counselors are more helpful, it’s smaller, there’s way more options for what you can do, the department chairs are actually competent. You can email your counselor anytime between course selection time (March or so) and the start of school, and chances are your class will be changed without any hassle. I switched two classes this past summer and my counselor was completely fine with it.</p>
<p>Lol seriously. I wish I can switch classes that easily. Changing classes poses as a difficult situation in my school.</p>
<p>U mean monta vista in cupertino?</p>
<p>What I hate about my course selection is that I can’t take Biology and Chemistry in the same year! I have to take both of them in separate years!</p>
<p>1) You can’t take AP classes until junior year, and even then, there’s only like three that they let you take. :I The rest are reserved for seniors.
2) Our school only has 6-7 AP classes that you can even take.
3) The guidance counselors suck.
4) A lot of the kids in Honors/AP classes don’t belong in there.
5) Gym is required every freaking year.</p>
<p>Lol, two year-old thread.</p>
<p>1.) No honors for either Spanish I or Spanish II.
2.) AP Computer Science isn’t offered; this really annoys me because I have a high interest in CS. The only computer classes offered here are basically how to operate Microsoft Word or Photoshop/Illustrator.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Same as above; no honors foreign language classes, just levels 1-3 and then AP… so all kids are lumped into one class. My Spanish 1 and 2 classes were horrible, hopefully only kids who care are taking Spanish 3.</p></li>
<li><p>We only offer Spanish and French, which I think is weird because I know of many smaller schools that offer more variety in this department. I really wish my school offered Chinese.</p></li>
<li><p>We only have six periods and, being in a sport, I only have five. Considering I need English, History, Math, Science, and Foreign Language for at least three years each, I have no room for electives. I really wanted to take AP Psychology last year and this year but I won’t have room until senior year, and even then, I’ll probably be sacrificing a science class for it. I was also interested in taking Photography, Astronomy, Statistics… you get the idea.</p></li>
</ol>