D, a junior is taking her 3rd yr of science and her 3rd of a foreign language. Next yr she will be required to take a health class to graduate so she has give up one academic class to make room for health. Her most important ECs revolve around her foreign language. She loves studying this language. Her gc told her it looks better to take a 4th yr of science. She will not be a STEM major in college fwiw.
I’m thinking she take AP Env Sci and take the language at an online school or skip the language all together. Please tell me your thoughts. Thank you.
PS-she already had regular bio, chem and is now taking physics, all with labs.
@DadTwoGirls Thank you. This is so tough. I am terrified of making a mistake on her behalf. She’s in a situation where she wants to please the GC and the college admissions people, I agree that she should take what she likes best, but I feel like she has to play by the rules to get into the school she wants. Ugh.
@skieurope I think she has to take health at her school, sadly. I was thinking she should take the language, but today her gc told her it looks better to admissions to take the 4th yr of science. I trust CC more than her gc so I’m not sure what to do.
It really depends upon the colleges she’s targeting. The tippy tippy top may request both. But even then, what they request, and what the student is able to achieve due to curriculum constraints are at odds, and colleges know that. Your GC can certainly explain that in the GC rec.
But if schedule conflicts truly come into play and its one versus another, I’m of the belief that the student should choose the one s/he enjoys more/is more aligned with career interests/pick another parameter. The worst, IMO, reason to choose a course is thinking that is what the college would like.
If she has 3 years of lab science that includes biology, chemistry, and physics and she’s not a planning on majoring in a STEM subject, she should absolutely continue a language through AP level and skip APES. I say this for several reasons: 1) AP language will likely count in fulfilling a college language requirement whereas she will likely not get any credit for AP EnvSci, 2) Adcoms are not at all impressed with APESi, which many consider to not be as serious as other AP science classes (i.e., it’s often considered to be “AP Lite” class); 3) foreign languages are best learned with face-to-face practice (not online); 4) assuming your daughter prefers language classes to science classes, it will make for a much more pleasant senior year.
My D did not take a science her senior year in order to take an AP foreign language class. She got into all of the schools that she applied to (including HYPS).
That said, you want to make sure that it won’t change the GC’s ranking of “most rigorous” course load (if indeed that is what s/he would say). Perhaps if your D were to show the GC something from colleges stating that they would offer credit for AP foreign language but not for APES she could make the argument that it makes more sense for her NOT to take APES.
My D was able to take health over the summer at a local private HS that offered various classes. She also took a math class and one of her friends did both chem and physics (I learned later that her mom had been a chem and physics teacher in a prior life). We had to get permission from her home HS for the credits to transfer. Is this an option for you this summer?
Otherwise, if she is not going to major in STEM and is not applying to the Ivies, she should do what she wants.
My gut feeling is that if she has taken bio, chem, and physics then it is fine to take the foreign language. However, I would check the recommended/required HS coursework of colleges she is interested in attending – this can almost always be found on the school websites.