@rjm2018 Actually, I cannot speak with personal experience about AP Micro/Macro combined. It just sounds tough.
You should ask around. I might be wrong. I hope I am wrong. Maybe someone reading this thread can lend an opinion.
@Mjkacmom, do you mind me asking where your DS is studying business and where your DD studied as an UG and Grad for Accounting?
@rjm2018 Another thing to look for with regard to AP Lang. At IU, if the kid gets a good score on the SAT/ACT English section she won’t have to take the typical freshman English courses. That’s a big frustration saver right there.
Rjm2018 my oldest graduated from Rutgers New Brunswick and my son is at TCNJ, I think he switched over to finance. My Rutgers graduate received a nice job offer senior year at the accounting firm where she interned junior year. She hasn’t started yet because she wants to take all four CPA exams (passed the first one, studying for the second now).
OP, my daughter is not a stem kid, either. She has taken regular bio, chem, and now in Physics her junior year. She plans to major in Econ in college, and I specifically advised her against taking AP Econ in HS, and waiting till college instead. My rationale - if D does well in AP (and she would), she won’t be able to resist the temptation to use AP credit to skip intro classes in college that are taught at an entirely different level, and would be going in with weaker foundation. On the other hand, senior year she’ll be taking either AP Bio or AP Physics. Her AP test grades won’t matter (if she ends up taking those AP tests at all, will need to check with the school) but mainly I am not worried that she’d miss anything important, since she has no plans for either STEM or medicine. I know, a somewhat weird perspective. D just had a poor experience with bad Spanish teachers in middle school, it almost turned her away from studying it in HS, loves it now
can she do this? can she take the low level physics? use her lunch time to audit ap physics go early in the morning to get some review notes and then stay after school for tutoring? then she can challenge the ap exam and still get the low level physics class under her belt for gpa factors. that work?
“It’s a one year course with both Macro and Micro and at the end of the year they are required to take
both AP exams.”
EACH part of the 2 AP Economics classes - AP Macro and AP MIcro -are ONLY 1 semester classes. So it is NOT as hard as it seems.
@STEM2017, I’ll have D ask around about AP Econ and see what others are saying about the class. She has until Senior year to find out more about that class.
@yourmomma, I saw that on their website. I think getting the app in before Aug 1st was an even lower score than if you get it in after Aug 1st. She also has the opportunity to take ACP Eng Comp and ACP Eng Lit (each a one semester class, worth 6 college credits and weighted on a 5 scale) her Senior year and that’s supposed to be the equivalent of IU’s Eglish W131 class and English L 202.
@Mjkacmom, good for your D and your S too! I’ve heard good things about both Rutgers and TCNJ. That’s always nice to hear when a school has access to great internship opportunities that can potentially lead to that all-important first job. Good luck to her on passing the rest of her CPA Exams! Did your D get her MS in Accounting as well or did she do a 3/2 Accounting/MBA route?
@typiCAmom, D took a Dual Credit Intro to Engineering Design class as a Freshman and liked that and had also been doing really well on the advanced Math track until she stumbled with the AP Calc AB class earlier this year. She does really like her ACP Calc I class that she’s in now and she’s really enjoying her Intro to Accounting class. So she thought she would rather not do the STEM route and is thinking about Accounting or Finance in college. This way she can still be involved with Math. She did well in Bio Honors last year and so far this past semester in Chem Honors but she just doesn’t have an interest in Science right now.
@greg12, I like the way you think. : ) One problem is, lunch is only half an hour and a block class is an hour and a half, plus she will have practice after school too. I offered up your suggestion though to D but she’s not taking the bait.
@menloparkmom, I’ll have her talk with the GC and have her find out who the teacher is. I was hoping they’d be each one year classes like some high schools have it. I have heard rumors that Micro can be a bit tougher and that would be right when Senioritis is hitting pretty hard her last semester. We’ve got a year to kick this class around before a decision has to be made.
Since you are looking for an AP class to make her schedule look more substantive, why not do AP Bio? It’s a lot easier than AP Physics, and yet not as easy as AP Environmental Science, and it will give her an AP science class. Depending on what college she goes to, and what grade she would get on the AP exam, this might satisfy her college science requirement. She might be very happy about that. I also want to add that my D never took a physics class in HS and it wasn’t a problem for college acceptances. Since your D wants to be a business major, I don’t think not taking any physics would be a problem for your D either.
I know kids who got into Harvard without taking any AP math. They had some other things going for them.
Honestly, it would seem your daughter should make these decisions with guidance. Your daughter knows the stress levels she is willing to suffer and she seems wise and practical in wanting to avoid classes that will be burdensome.
I don’t think that high school should not be geared to admissions. As I have written before, try not to fit the kid to a school, find a school that fits the kid.
I agree…I assume she has taken Bio and chem already…if so, take regular physics and then an AP science senior year.
@rjm2018 I’ve heard the same about APUSH which is why my son decided to got DC with that, he’ll get credit for Hist 1301 & 1302. He’s also considering a Business major or Econ so AP Econ will definitely be on his schedule for Senior year (or the summer before).
We started him in SAT/ACT prep tutoring this month and will continue all summer. He’s going to take the SAT in August to establish his baseline…a time our school most kids take it Oct of junior year but that’s right in the middle of marching band/contest season so no way he can swing that lol. The plan is to take it for the second time in November if needed. ACT he’ll take Spring of Junior year. We really want all the testing wrapped up by the end of 11th grade so that he can spend the summer leading up to Senior year concentrating on college applications, essays and maybe a summer program or internship.
@melvin123 & @compmom, thank you for bringing up some very good points!
D does do her own schedule with the GC. I’m just trying to get some extra info from this site bc her GC is responsible for so many kids. D goes to a big school of just under 4000 and I want her to be ready with questions and have a good idea of what she wants when she meets to do her schedule.
Her GC is real nice as I had to work with her to decide what D’s options were when switching out of AP Calc. At first, D was thinking about toughing out the class. I tried to tell her colleges don’t care that you took AP Calc as a Soph if you get a low C or D. So I met with her AP teacher and all of us decided, including D, to do ACP Calc and she was able to get an A+ in the class this last semester. Yay! She just needed things to move a bit slower with more classroom instruction time and she’s so glad to be understanding the material without that lost feeling now. So that was really the only interaction I’ve had with her GC.
I want to find out what AP’s are notoriously difficult and whether they’re necessary for what she wants to study in college and share that info with her. I’m trying to help her strike a fine balance of rigor while minimizing stress. The school kinda pushes AP and some of her friends are planning to do 6 next year (the max) which is crazy. D isn’t looking at super elite schools and she’s covered for tuition for her 2 state flagships but we’ve told her if she wants to go OOS, she’ll have to look at schools where she could possibly get some merit.
I strongly suggest she take regular physics, instead of AP. I’m not sure which AP Physics your school offers. Is it algebra-based or one of the AP Physics C classes (electricity and magnetism or mechanics)? Sorry if I missed that clarification – I only scanned the thread. But my daughters both hated physics, and both would consider it their hardest high school class ever. One took Physics C while concurrently enrolled in honors precalc junior year, with the idea being that the physics teacher would teach them all the calc they would need for the course. I’m not sure how she survived the course with an A, but the course took a toll on her and the rest of the class. The next year, no one was allowed to take the class who hadn’t already taken calc. Younger D took AP physics (algebra-based) during her junior year, and it was still difficult, but she has found the background handy for her bio and chem courses at college. I don’t see why your D bound for business school would need it except to fulfill college reqs. Also, both my daughters took AP Chem and AP Bio senior year and found them much easier, esp. AP Bio. Of course, your D should talk to students in her school who have taken the courses to see how they run in your school. In addition, from what I’ve heard, IU Kelley pays a lot of attention to GPA when making admissions decisions.
@bopper, yes, she had Bio Honors last year and has Chem Honors this year (so far all A’s). That’s why I wish they offered Physics Honors but regular Physics should be fine based on what y’all are saying for someone wanting to go the Business route.
@Momof3B, your plan sounds a lot like mine (prep, testing, working on apps summer before Sr year), lol. She has XC in the fall and I want her apps wrapped up early in the fall so she can focus on classes and enjoying her Sr year. I have frail elderly parents that require a lot of my time and I don’t want D to be a last minute Nelly in case something drastic would happen with one of my folks. I had also heard the rumor re: APUSH and that’s why she’s doing ACP US History instead, like your S doing the DC class. 
I wish I knew of a private test tutor to meet with her once a week to help guide her studying and give her test tips. I keep telling her about how Khan Academy is now merged with College Board to help with just that. She’s used KA in the past and so she’s biased against it bc she said it always would give her long, drawn out math explanations whenever she used it before. And, of course, mom doesn’t know anything (lol), so she doesn’t always like to take my advice. How did you find your test prep tutor and what study books is your S using?
@Isoinfo, D’s school offers both AP Physics I (C: Mechanics) and AP Physics II (C: Electricity & Magnetism).
That sounds so stressful what your one D went through! Sounds similar to what some of D’s classmates were going through in her former AP Calc AB class after she left the class (stressing, tears, anger at not feeling prepared for the weekly tests, etc.). The teacher had to majorly curve their final bc so many kids were doing awful in the class and they complained that they were tested on things on the final that hadn’t been taught at all. They are starting to phase out allowing AP Calc AB to be taken sooner than Jr year bc they’re finding so many kids aren’t grasping the concepts as Sophmores. Now, there are a couple of D’s Soph friends who managed to squeak by with an A in the class but, I’m sure like your D experienced, it’s probably taking its toll.
So far, with AP Bio, she’s hearing from others that it’s just time consuming but not all that difficult. So that may be a good plan for her Senior year.
@rjm2018 I hired a retired teacher from our high school who was the PSAT team coach! She does SAT prep tutoring now. My son meets her at the library once a week for one hour. She’s starting with verbal and grammar prep. I will probably have to get him a separate math tutor this summer but for now he’s also doing Khan Academy for 30 min a day. If you have a community Facebook group or PTA group ask around for teachers (current or retired) that may offer tutoring. I contemplated going the big box tuition center route that is popular in our area but not only was that costlier, I felt like my son would benefit more from one on one individual attention.
None of my 3 kids did any test prep and they finished applications in late Dec. They did fine, Just reassurance. Their EC’s were more important than test scores, basically, and the time spent on prep would have taken away from those.
@Momof3B, that’s good you were able to find an affordable tutor with SAT experience.
@compmom, for IU auto admit to Kelley, D has to have her app in by Nov. 1, a min 3.8 GPA and min standardized test score. Last year it was 1360 for SAT and this year it was 1380. So by the time D is applying, it may be up a bit more. I forget what the ACT score was for this year.