<p>D. is planning to enter our countys Arts academy for music. Its a 2 block elective that teaches advanced music. It requires core music classes. She would also like to take some of the other EXTRA electives open only to those in the Arts academy like music theater. However, she is concerned that the colleges she applies to and she will be applying to good schools but not Ivies will look more favorably on her if she takes say AP Biology or AP American History etc. INSTEAD of the electives in the Arts Academy.</p>
<p>She does want to major in voice in college or something related. Personally I feel she should take the courses that help her in her chosen field..not AP's.
Thoughts on this?</p>
<p>Doesn't she have to have some academic classes to graduate high school? At our state and system fine arts magnet schools, the kids still have to meet state academic graduation requirements. I'm a little confused,</p>
<p>angstridden,
You are correct, i.m.o. She should both be focused & look focused for her college app & for her college "career." (!)<br>
My D is in humanities with a focus or two which are specialized, & a particular emphasis on the arts. We had a struggle with principal in jr. yr. regarding her expected sr. yr. coursework. He wanted more AP's in the hard sciences, etc. (& because, like your D, she had proven herself capable in those, & there were only a handful at the h.s. who had). His reasoning would be that her transcript would "look better" for college apps that way. D and I discussed it, & I persuaded her that being & looking consistent would serve her better, & I strongly believe that it has -- given her reception so far by colleges.
Specialized music courses are especially hard to come by in h.s. -- public or private. My own had one such opportunity, & prized it. (Music theory.) Go for it.</p>
<p>our state has pretty minimum graduation requirements
19 credits
(.5 credit per semester)
3 years of Language Arts
2.5 credits in Social Studies
2 years of ( ea) Science and Math
2 years of Health/Fitness
1 year of Occupational Education
1 year of Art
5.5 Elective credits</p>
<p>Although we don't have an arts academy, I imagine even if it was a private school there would be certain minimum graduation requirments. They probably still fulfill the LA/SS requirements for example, but may do it with an artistic emphasis.
I don't think it will hurt her if she takes courses in her interest instead of APs as long as she meets the general education standards</p>
<p>One more imp. thing, angstridden:
I don't know if you've been following the lively discussion on the BWRK thread in this forum. But it would appear that the one thing an applicant would NOT want to do would be to "position" themselves as just one more BWRK, rather than someone with specialized training, talent, achievement in one or more particular areas that are not quite as common. It seems that more than half of the applicants to even the selective LAC's have 5-10 APs at graduation, in the "core" courses that you name. Unless you have something special, everyone starts looking the same, at least on paper. (All those APs, all that comm. service, athletics, & <em>some</em> performing art.) I think you're on the right track to advise your D to distinguish herself in her area(s) of interest & ability. That would seem the wise thing to do for any college, public/private, large/small.</p>
<p>Yes emerald we have minimum requirements. So to meet those AND take the Advanced Music Studies..she would have very few electives left. She has to take Senior Project and is doing that now as a sophomore independent study (cutting a demo)
So she would have room for 2 AP's or as she puts it a cake course 1/2 credit like musical theater which she would love and another 1/2 music elective and maybe 1 AP.
She felt the colleges would like the AP's.
I feel she should get every ounce of training she can in the field of her dreams.</p>
<p>You should probably check the websites of schools being considered to see what requirements or recommendations they have for number of years of science, history, etc. I don't think she needs to take AP level rather than her music/arts classes, but she may need to take some level of these classes to make th minimum requirements.</p>
<p>You need to check the requirements for applicants at the schools that interest her. For example, many Liberal Arts colleges will want 4 years eng, 3 years science, 3 years math, 4 years language.... This will give you a good general idea of what is required. Lots of people fall a class or two short and exceptions are made, but you would not want to be way ofut of the ballpark for what is expected.</p>
<p>A couple of AP classes can show she is able to handle college material...</p>
<p>angst - Have you gone on the web sites of several colleges your D may be interested in? I think every college has a list of what it, specifically, wants for HS preparation. That should guide you best. Also, several schools' Admissions Counselors will be happy to guide you re individual questions.</p>
<p>Edit: I see several of us have posted this advice almost simultaneously. Great minds... ( or at least one-track minds)...</p>
<p>angstridden,
nedad just de-coded it for you, but I still suggest you scan that BWRK thread quickly to get an idea of what admissions committees are up against in the "sameness" (same look) of applications. It will also be a perspective you can pass along convincingly to your D. Not every applicant has a definable or a discovered special talent by the time they apply to colleges. (They may discover an unsual talent in & beyond college.) These applicants may be fine academicians, but so are thousands of others. Since your D may indeed look diff. to colleges, you will only encourage that trend by continuing on that track now. As long as the h.s. graduation requirements are fulfilled, I think your D should continue to pursue a special path. My D and I have zero regrets that we stuck to our position in contradiction to the h.s. administration. Her h.s. course choices have served her extremely well, both personally & in college admissions. And colleges whose mantra is "passion" need to put their money where their mouth is if they are not just paying lip-service to the concept. Passion is revealed in consistency.</p>
<p>You can also look upon it another way. (My D and I did.) She wouldn't want to attend any college which wanted or expected her to be diff. from who she is & who she is "destined" to be. To structure a h.s. courseload based on what one thinks a college wants to see may end up bringing a student to a college that he or she will then want to transfer out of by the end of freshman year. What gain is that? If your D's innate talents & capabilities & achievement are not priorities for that college, she would not be happy there. Truth in the most encompassing sense is the best policy. Courage!</p>
<p>Epiphany, I don't question your approach or obviously positive results, but I think still that angstriddent should know what the common college standards are as she and her D make this decision. If only taking two years of science or not doing US HIstory, for instance, meant that most schools she might want to go to would not accept her, then this is information she needs to know now. If, on the other hand, the schools she's interested in do not have these requirements, then she can skip those classes with a clear mind. Getting the info won't hurt (knowledge is power :) ).</p>
<p>garland, maybe I missed something. I didn't see that "a's" D was going to skip US History. But in any case, many core courses can be taken in community colleges. (Home-schooled/independent studies students do this routinely.) If there's something essential for h.s. or the colleges being applied to, that "a"'s D needs to take, they can probably work that out between the h.s. administration & a comm. college. It happens all the time. My gosh, it would certainly demonstrate "passion" to have to go to the trouble to take an off-site core course so that one could take a special-opportunity course in h.s. I know a h.s. Sr. not in my D's school who has been doing that very thing. She knows she wants to specialize in a performing art in college, but understands the importance of fulfilling h.s. requirements. (And she is also "killing 2 birds with one stone" by proving she can handle college-level work.)</p>
<p>Also, a student motivated to take an unusual h.s. course may have the option of an off-campus summer school core course at a public or private h.s.</p>
<p>I don't think "my approach" is at all incompatible with fulfilling h.s. requirements. I thought the alternatives being weighed by A's daughter were which remaining <em>electives</em> to take: AP academic course or perf. art course.</p>
<p>Actually, I'm not sure she'd be skipping them or not, either. That's a question I asked in my first post, where I asked if she meant taking them AP or taking them at all, because otherwise she could take them at a different level.</p>
<p>angst - Your D and you seem quite confident of where her long-term interests lie. However, things do change. If she is going to LAC, not Conservatory, she might even find her interests evolving after she gets there. So, just another "cautionary tale" wrt checking colleges' expectations for hs curriculum. And, although we spend a lot of time debating the value of BWRKs from adcoms point of view, I'm not sure many of us would debate the merits of being a well-rounded human being. To the extent she can focus on her specialty without compromising broader exposure, I think it's great. But there is such a thing as being too narrow. Not saying your D is flirting with that, just suggesting it as a consideration.</p>
<p>I know of quite a few Interlochen kids who got burned this way. They were so sure that music was going to be their career and that they were headed for a conservatory, that they did not take the load of academics required by colleges. After a tough first semester or year at the conservatory, there is some re-thinking that occurs. Guess what? Not enough academic credits from hs to transfer to a college! When D went to Interlochen for her last two years of high school, part of the deal was that she continued with the most rigorous academics available. She groused about calculus senior year, because of all her audition trips, but made it through and got a 5 on the AP exam. She had the academics for highly selective colleges as well as her musical talent. She later thanked us for pushing her on this.</p>
<p>Angst,
I would talk to the guidance office at the performing arts school your daughter will be attending and ask them how students who have graduated from the program have faired without AP classes. They may have suggestions as to how she can supplement their curriculum (for example, taking community college classes).</p>
<p>It is a fact that most selective colleges would prefer to see at least four, preferably five "core" ACADEMIC classes on the schedule for junior and senior year - "Training" is important but if your daughter is only in her sophomore year she may decide by senior year that she wants to try for some of the more selective colleges, or even not pursue her music in college. It happens. I don't think she needs to take AP classes in each of the core academic classes but she should strive to have at least 4-5 core academic classes from among English, math, science, languages and history each year. </p>
<p>My daughter has faced this issue with her art classes. In order to fit in art and those academic core classes each year, she has attended summer school and limited her choices of other electives. Next year, she will be doing an independent study for one required class at her school in order to fit in both art and an honors Asian studies class she wants to take.</p>
<p>So, I guess my advice is that you have to make sure that your daughter is willing to take the risk of limiting her options down the road in favor of pursuing extra elective classes. It is something that has to come from your DAUGHTER, not from you. If she wants to take an AP class or not take extra electives, follow her lead - she will have ample time in college to take music classes. If she decides to go for the electives make sure she understands the limitations this will place on her future choices for college.</p>
<p>Hi, Angst. Will reveal via PM only, if you'll enable that on your CC Control Panel. (Last time I looked, I couldn't PM you. That was about a week ago.)</p>