<p>Kind of like the 'C in AP Chem' thread, but without the convenient out of being able to drop from the harder version to the easier version since the classes are in two different subjects. My kid will be making her own decision on this one, but I'm curious to know what people here think of this situation.</p>
<p>D1 is a 10th grader at a magnet where students graduate with at least 12 APs under their belts. She was initially enrolled in AP Environmental Science in the "regular" school, but after a week of classes found it easy to the point of boredom. She switched into the magnet Geology class, taught by an excellent instructor. Thing is, the class is HARD. Harder than her other APs (European History, taught by a notoriously demanding teacher, and Physics B, taught by the Geology teacher), not to mention her other academic classes. The course doesn't have any pre-reqs, but the teacher did a calculus-based derivation of half-life, saying that 'those of you not in calculus yet won't get this'. D1 is taking trig/math analysis this year. In addition, the class has a lot of the magnet's academic/scientific stars, and D1 says there is a difference in the way the instructor teaches her Physics B class versus the Geology class.</p>
<p>Thing is, she's interested in the material and the subject, not to mention that the class apparently has several cool field trips. This is an elective, not a required class. She knows she could have an easy AP-weighted A in the Enviro class, but would rather have the interesting non-AP class with a non-weighted B. She took her first AP last year (World) and did fine, and says that her 8th grade science class prepared her well for her Physics class. She has a number of different interests in terms of future college majors or types of work, and something science-ish isn't ruled out. She'd also like to take the Enviro class when it's offered through the magnet. </p>
<p>D1 says she's going to give it another day and see how it goes. We talked about her speaking with other students in the school to find out about the reputation of the class, and maybe also speaking honestly with the teacher to help her decide. There's a new GC this year, so that's not a useful source of information. And there's no textbook, so we can't use that as a guidepost; it's a case where the info gathered by the student is going to be much more useful than any parental resources. </p>
<p>Thoughts? These classes are the only two possibilities she has to work with.</p>
<p>Colleges look at a lot more than just how many AP's a student has taken.They also know which are considered "lightweight" AP science courses [ ES] and which are harder[ Chem/ Physics] If she is interested in the material and has an excellent teacher then she should stick with it. Since she will have taken at least 2 classes with this teacher by the time she graduates, a letter of recommendation from him will carry a lot of weight with colleges.</p>
<p>OP - Your dilemma brings a smile to my face. DD chose Photography as her elective last year. The Prof emailed all registrants a 26 page syllabus and class-by-class study topics manual. The very first line, in 48 point type was "THIS CLASS IS HARD!!!!!" And it was. But DD got a lot out of the course, and the Prof's compliments were immensely gratifying. YMMV.</p>
<p>Most important considerations IMO- especially in high school when you should be getting an exploratory/preparatory education IMO- is are you interested in the subject- is the curriculum/instructor good.</p>
<p>One daughter attended private prep where virtually everyone attends a 4 year college inc " ivy" colleges. No APs.
Her sister attended public inner city which is a magnet for " highly gifted" and which offers 17 or so APs. Incidentally, sister did not participate in the middle school gifted program. Took 4 APs. Two senior year, one junior, one soph.</p>
<p>Both kids were admitted to all the colleges they applied.</p>
<p>I don't feel difficulty is the 1st thing anyone should look at.
I mean really. :rolleyes:
If something is so difficult that you have to give up ECs & social activities not to mention sleep, is that really a * smart* thing to do?
If you want to have a competition between other students to see who gets the title of intellectual of the week, wait till college and attend Swarthmore, UChicago or Reed. ;)</p>
<p>* the class has a lot of the magnet's academic/scientific stars, and D1 says there is a difference in the way the instructor teaches her Physics B class versus the Geology class.*</p>
<p>Classmates can also add much to the environment. Sounds like a good class.</p>
<p>Will she be intimidated by the science stars or inspired by them to do her very best? If the latter and the material interests her, I'd say go with the magnet class. Sometimes, kids do not do well out of sheer boredom (like my S).</p>
<p>I recently completed a trip visiting 7 colleges with my son. Some were large and very difficult to get into and some less.</p>
<p>There was one clear common denominator with all of them as I sat throught info sessions making notes.</p>
<p>The whole package is clearly looked at and the colleges do not look at the weighted GPA, mainly the classes that were taken to obtain it. They take the transcript and do their own calculation of what the GPA would be with all of the different grading systems and weight systems. Also taking into consideration that some schools don't even offer AP classes.</p>
<p>They are looking for the "most challenging" course of study. They want to know that the student has "stretched" beyond the easy A's that they can obviously get by taking classes that do not challenge them. </p>
<p>Some said when choosing AP courses, to look and see if they are going to benefit the student in their college course of study. A history major for instance does not necessarily need AP Calculus and Biology. </p>
<p>If a student wants to take them because they enjoy the course material, great. It may help to eliminate some entry level gen ed requirements, but they do not recommend struggling through a ton of AP classes to potentially hurt not help the GPA.</p>
<p>Update: she's decided to stay in the class. Another friend joined the class who's not one of the "smart" kids, so the two of them have decided to attack it together. Besides, the class DOES sound interesting--the teacher goes off on tangents that tie into current news. Don't know if the instructor will be one to write D1 a rec, since D1 feels that he tends to write recs only for the science stars, but we'll see. </p>
<p>Thanks for the opinions, and for helping me keep my mouth shut when D1 was mulling over her options :)</p>