My son will enter our local public high school this fall and if all goes well he hopes to do well enough such that he will be admitted to NCSSM, NC’s science and math boarding school, for 11th/12th grade. He should have a better than average chance for admission but we are painfully aware that nothing is guaranteed for sure. The school is a boarding school that specializes in Science and Math so he hopes to take courses in 9th and 10th grade to both position him well for admission but also hopefully maximize his ability to take very high-level science and math courses if he matriculates.
An issue we have is that in order to best position him, he will not be able to take an AP History or AP English course and we wonder if that will harm him for admissions into a top 20-50 university?
Things may change significantly but it looks like he would finish 12th grade with an impressive set of math and science courses (including at least 7-8 APs) plus Honors English and History. If it is crucial he could try to take AP English or an AP History course while at the boarding school but he prefers to not focus on those while there. The school requires juniors to take rigorous English/History courses but these courses are not AP.
His freshman schedule includes AP Computer Science, AP Physics 1 and AP Calc AB and if his freshman year is successful, hopefully he will get through AP Calc BC, AP Stats and AP Spanish in his sophomore year. Additionally he will take honors English and a history course plus some other science classes.
I wouldn’t worry about it; the kid can’t take what’s not offered.
NCSSM, like many top HS’s is very selective as to what courses they label AP. Many top schools offer no AP courses at all.
It’s not like NCSSM offers generic English III and English IV courses; their English offerings are on par with some college electives I’ve seen. Every college AO in the country knows the rigor of the school. If your son does well, I’m sure he’ll have some fine college options.
Thanks for your response @skieurope !! He could take AP US History or something similar in 9th or 10th grade but he prefers to try and get through AP Spanish plus get through at least the honors chemistry course as this would enable him more flexibility when/if he gets there…
The transcript would be evaluated in context. I’ve said before on other threads: just because a HS offers 30 AP courses does not mean that a student needs to take every single one of them. What’s important is that the overall schedule is both challenging and well-balanced across disciplines. What I often come across, which does not appear to be an issue with your son, are the kids who ask if it’s OK to triple up on a subject (like science) at the expense of another (like history or Spanish)
The classes he’ll take at NCSSM are considered equivalent to AP, so he’s okay because he’ll automatically be considered as having taken a super rigorous curriculum. In addition, considering how advanced he is at math, I wouldn’t take AP Stats, unless he wants a really easy introduction to statistics.
No one is expected to be in all-AP classes, and he’ll be perfectly fine with Honors English and History from such an excellent school.
NCSSM has a very strong humanities department. As a junior he would take their American Studies course, which counts as two classes combining English and History. My S graduated from NCSSM and is now attending a top school. College admissions know about NCSSM’s curriculum and view their transcripts accordingly. What congressional district are you in? That will come into play for chances of admission. Message me for more info on NCSSM from a parents’ perspective. My S had a great experience there.
AP Spanish as a sophomore? I hope you realize how ambitious this course schedule is, especially considering that your kid has not started high school yet. Obviously your son is smart and talented. I would try to remain flexible with the level of his foreign language class in his sophomore year and make sure the pressure is not to much in his freshman year. Not sure that taking AP Spanish over Honors Spanish will help get into NCSSM anyway. Be prepared to lighten up as needed.
@Sam-I-Am It is a very ambitious plan and we have no idea if he will do it or not as it really depends on how things go in 9th. He likes Spanish and was able to get a medal the last two years on the National Spanish Exam Level 1 and 2 but not sure how he will do in Honors Spanish III this year? Truthfully, not even certain if he should do Spanish III this year vs Spanish II, we will have to wait and see how things go.
You are right, AP Spanish will not help him get into NCSSM. He wants to finish up with a lot of non-STEM courses so that if he hopefully gets into NCSSM he can take more STEM courses there. Taking AP Spanish in sophomore year is part of that plan but high school brings so many other challenges that there is a lot of uncertainty. Not to mention that we have seen some very qualified kids, not get accepted.
Thanks for your feedback!!