<p>Any suggestions? Concerns are electives, and is it balanced, or too difficult in senior year. Class of 2017.</p>
<p>Middle School (H.S. classes)</p>
<p>Chemisty 1 Honors (Middle School 8)
Geometry 1Honors (Middle School 8)
Algebra 1 Honors (Middle School 7)
Spanish 2 (Middle School 8)
Spanish 1 (Middle School 7)
English 1 Honors (Middle School 8)</p>
<p>Summer: Health Opportunities Physical Education</p>
<p>Freshman</p>
<p>Algebra 2 Honors
English 2 Honors
Spanish 3 Honors
Concert Band (EC/Marching Band)
Engineer 1 (Solid Works Certified), EC/TSA Club
Biology 1Honors
AP Human Geography (Only B Grade)</p>
<p>Sophomore forecast</p>
<p>Anatomy & Physiology honors
AP World History
Precalculus Dual Credit
Engineer 2 (pre requisite for Robotics Foundations)
AP Language and Comp
Wind Ensemble 2 (EC/ Marching Band)
AP Biology</p>
<p>Junior forecast</p>
<p>Calculus AB
AP US History
Engineering 3 Robotics Foundations
Wind Ensemble 3 (EC/ Marching Band)
Spanish 4 Honors
Physics 1 Honors
AP Literature and Composition</p>
<p>Senior forecast</p>
<p>Calculus BC
AP European History
AP Physics B
AP Spanish
Engineering Tech Leadership (EC/TSA Competition Team)
Wind Ensemble 3 (EC/ Marching Band)
AP Chemistry</p>
<p>Yeah, this looks like max rigor. Don’t think that the electives are bad- what in particular are you worried about? I don’t think course rigor is going to be the weakest part of your application unless you somehow won a Nobel, started the next Google, have a 10.0 GPA, etc.</p>
<p>@dividerofzero if you look at the schedule to junior year it looks great, but then the senior year looks like heck. Would like to get rid of AP European history, AP chem and engineering tech and find an internship.</p>
<p>Oh, puhleeze… this is plenty rigorous for most of the world except for CC. Combine it with the right ECs and you have a shot at any school out there. Combine it with the wrong ECs and no ramping up senior year will save you. Admission will be determined by factors other than the schedule, but this schedule puts you in the running. Although I do have to admit it looks so drone-like that there has to be a way to make it look more interesting - do you really need to do all the band stuff? So predictable.</p>
<p>@Sohoist if the classes are that though, sure. Colleges don’t penalize you for pursuing your passions, although I think AP Chem is a course worth taking (or AP Phys C instead of Phys B, which is basically worthless if you’re going into STEM).</p>
<p>@mrMom band class is multifunctional. D doesn’t want to be a music academic. It is her social outlet which is huge. Leadership opportunities abound with 200 band kids in Marching Band. It is a period which allows her to shed stress during the day, and pretty much a tip of the hat to her effort elsewhere.</p>
<p>We painted her into the corner senior year. Five of the arguably hardest AP classes by category are not by choice, but having run out of classes.</p>
<p>I having to tell myself it senior year looks hard, but she has been prepared for the challenge. It is no harder than a college course load. That brings to mind, a late summer birthday, and she is always in the youngest group of her cohort.</p>
<p>End game is Mechanical Engineering or Biomedical Engineering.</p>
<p>My comment about band was not to increase the academic load, it was that it looks so much like the “Asian drone” schedule, it gets a little boring for admissions committees, particular for Asian students. If she enjoys it, fine, she does need a break every day, but if she doesn’t enjoy it at any point along the way, please don’t hesitate to substitute something else, it won’t hurt her in the slightest. It’s also a slot that could be used to explore something else, like art or shop or theater, if she gets so inclined.</p>
<p>I also take it this is a long range schedule. That’s fine, just be flexible, things change. I think you’ve got like 13 or 14 APs in there, which may be a bit much, 6-8 is usually enough for most schools, though a little more can’t hurt, unless the rigor starts to drag her grades down. My D had 10, which is a lot for her school, but it made up for a slightly weak ACT. We had more pencilled in, but dropped two along the way, AP Lit and AP Spanish, which her GC said were unnecessary, since she had Spanish V, non-AP, by junior year and also got an A and a 5 in AP Lang as a junior. If you’re looking to lighten the load, I would suggest those two classes be your first candidates, particularly for a STEM kid. (Most engineering schools do not have a foreign language requirement in college.)</p>
<p>A couple other comments - AP Chem without a prior Chem course is really tough to pull off, unless the MS Chem course was also a HS course, but that will be 4 years prior. AP Physics B or C is easier to pull off without a prior course, and that may be a redundancy in your schedule. Consider dropping AP Lit and/or Physics 1 in junior year and moving AP Chem to junior year or another Chem course in junior year prior to AP Chem in senior year. Also consider making AP Euro senior year optional if keeping the other AP courses I mentioned, just make sure there are 5 cores in senior year. And if your school offers AP Physics C, take that instead of B. Consider a writing course senior year that covers college essays, many schools are now offering this.</p>
<p>@mrmom62 MS Chem was a virtual course which had it pros and cons. I was very proud of her have owned the of the quantitative skills: mass concentration, molar concentration, number concentration, and volume concentration.</p>
<p>Thank you for highlighting AP Lit and AP Spanish as optional. Also thank you for the caution to maintain 5 core classes as a senior. </p>
<p>I don’t see any way for her to not do AP Chem without the gap from MS. My only thought is to protect her by doing it in her senior year, and having only one semester reported on college apps. She aces it and no difference, she pulls a B and it is only one semester not 2 reported.</p>
<p>That’s a viable strategy for AP Chem. I’m still wary of it, but that will limit any damage. If there’s a non-AP Chem class, I’d consider that as well - without a HS chem course, no one is going to look oddly at it and she’d still be covering the Big 3.</p>
<p>From reading your other thread, I understand that there seems to be some issues with your school’s offerings. That said, the school does not seem to be aware that there is no Physics B offered after this year, or have yet to address how they will implement its replacement. Regardless, for engineering, Physics C would be a more meaningful class. I also agree with the above that some type of writing class senior year will be beneficial for writing college essays.</p>
<p>Physics C is also considered to be the AP class that’s most similar to an actual college class. I’d definitely go back and take C instead of B (even dropping AP Chem or AP Bio) if I could.</p>
<p>@dividerofzero I have been convinced by all here Physics C instead of B. Unfortunately, Physics C currently is only a study group with a teacher and 8-10 kids. It is very much the school saying we don’t have enough kids to enroll. the school must front load Physics Honors with students because it is a prerequisite to AP Physics B or C. </p>
<p>The same thing is happening with Calc, many kids are directed into College Algebra to meet their dual credit math requirement in the Associate Degree program. Essentially, Stem students are taking a class that has no core value their college major and are then moved on to PreCalc as a junior. Siphoning the candidates for Calc BC.</p>
<p>Physics C, someone wrote is a Calc based class. Is it okay to take Calc BC and Physics C together?</p>
<p>
I’m not quite sure why that is a problem.
Yes. There really is not that much calculus involved, and pretty much all of it is learned in Calc AB. It is very common at my school to take Calc AB concurrently with Physics C.</p>
<p>@skieurope the existing path is Physics Honors, AP Physics B.
The Physic C study group has no accountability, no transcript…I don’t see how it is different from self study with a group leader who could be moved from the group due to accident or personal concerns and not be replaced.</p>
<p>Ok all you all are great to help me focus. Thank you.
@dividerofzero @mrmom62</p>
<p>We actually covered a substantial bit of Physics C in Calculus BC- both classes help you understand each other.</p>