<p>Which AP Physics? B is basically an honors course on steroids and doesn’t require unusual math, but taking C which is often taken concurrently with calculus would IMO be a huge mistake. I agree this is way, way too many APs for someone who is already on somewhat shaky ground academically. Skip AP Stats and take an elective! Or take honors English instead of AP. </p>
<p>And yes before signing up for calculus be sure that she has the foundations of pre-calc down. That may mean doing some review this summer.</p>
<p>That is a pretty hefty junior year schedule. It might be a better idea to find some balance between rigor and GPA…no kids need to “slide” into As and it won’t help them, but no kids need to load up on APs and get Cs. The grading scale the OP posted is the same as our high school…these schools (with tough grading scales) don’t have grade inflation. Colleges “get that” but they also look for kids that have balanced rigor with GPA.</p>
<p>Actually…the GC might not be all that good in terms of offering advice. The GC looks like,he/she is recommending the most aggressive course load. I’m not sure the current grades were considered at all.</p>
<p>We had a similar situation with one kid…GC recommended precalc for a senior math course (neither of our kids was accelerated in math…though one was an excellent math student). This student did not need a precalc at all…and algebra two would have been a challenge had it not been for a great teacher. We suggested to,the GC that the kid take statistics and economics…each one semester courses. The GC totally flipped out…told us it was not an aggressive course load…blah blah blah. We held our ground…the kid was a music performance major and calculus was not on his college radar screen at all. This same GC told our kid not to bother applying to the college from which he got his degree.</p>
<p>It’s nice to hope that the GC knows what they are talking about. If it were me, I’d be talking to the Precalc teacher to see if this teacher honestly feels that this student has the necessary understanding of precal to do calculus.</p>
<p>My engineering daughter never took calculus until college…and it was all fine.</p>
<p>Dare I say it…how about a visual or performing arts class instead of calculus? She’s already got a math class, AP statistics. Perhaps her less than excellent grades indicate she needs to feed her soul? Even if she has no particular interest in VAPA, she does have a gaping hole in her education. UC’s can’t be the only excellent schools that require one year of VAPA, other top schools might like to see that as well? Of course, you didn’t mention her EC’s, perhaps she participates in the arts outside of school? Still, a drama class, choir, history of art, music appreciation, band or orchestra (if she does play an instrument), would round out her education. She does not seem to be prepared for calculus anyway, and, plenty of engineering majors do not take calc until college. In many cases, the engineering schools want the student to start over with their calculus courses, regardless of previous experience.</p>
<p>As far as AP Physics goes, in our district, regular physics would be a pre-requisite. In my S’s case, he took Honors physics instead. That teacher declared that his goal was for every student to earn an A in their first real college physics course. Which my son did. </p>
<p>What does your daughter want? Is she satisfied with her grades? Is she working hard and working smart, and that’s the best she can do? Or, does she procrastinate to the point of being unable to turn everything in?</p>
<p>My opinion is to drop calculus altogether for now and let her pick a “fun” class instead. I’d look closely at that AP physics course and see if “regular” or H physics might be more appropriate. Then, if she wants to take calculus senior year, have her repeat pre-calc at the community college or with a tutor during the summer before.</p>
<p>I agree thumper.
Since the ranking of high schools by the numbers of students who take AP exams, many schools are pressuring students to overreach, as it is the sitting for the AP test, not the score, that " boosts" the high school ranking.</p>
<p>Not all colleges do their own grade conversions and nothing says a C is necessarily a B. At my kids’ hs, 83 was C+. </p>
<p>Add me to the group that doesn’t know what “decent” means.<br>
But, say you mean top 25-50: a kid applying for science with a C in H chem, C in precalc, projected B’s in calculus, AP stats, AP Physics- and that drop from an A- in H bio to B in AP bio- is not going to jump out as a good bet science major. The A in Healthful Living likely won’t count much; it’s a hs requirement, I’d guess, not a recognized core class. You should extract it from your gpa calculation.</p>
<p>If she had A’s across most of her non-math/science-related classes, it would present better. If she could drop some of the rigor and improve grades, it would present better. Kids do change their major interest in college, some admissions committees don’t hold you much to what you list on the CA and it would show a back-up strength. </p>
<p>Off the top, I see no good reason to stress with that 4 AP schedule. There’d have to be some good explanation for it. (More than her college hopes.) And, AP Stats isn’t going to make up for issues with the more rigorous math and sci. </p>
<p>What’s the real goal here? Plus, depending on what you see as “decent,” she’ll compete against kids in your hs, community and area. I think we need more info, here. Sorry. I think you need a revised strategy.</p>
<p>@EK, I’ve also seen studies which show students are better prepared for college taking AP classes in HS, even if they do poorly. At a guess, I think this may be a result of knowing the level of work required for college while still in a more nurturing environment (at home in HS vs. in college where it can be more sink or swim).</p>
<p>I think there is a big difference between taking one AP class in an area of interest in order to get an idea of the quantity of material involved, than taking many AP courses that were designed for students ready for the level of material.</p>
<p>My oldest did not take any AP courses in school and she has a STEM degree from one of the top LaCs in the country.
Her sister took one AP ( starting sophomore year) a year, until senior year when she took two & was admitted to all the colleges that she applied. ( she attended one of the most rigourous schools in the state.)</p>
<p>This girl,is supposedly interested in the sciences but she got a C in Chemistry and an A- in Ap biology- a course so lightweight, my daughters high school doesnt even offer it.
( what was her grade in AP history?)
If she wants to take an AP science jr year, I would recommend taking AP chem. it likely will give her a better understanding of the subject and give her a better idea of what level of courses to aim for senior year.</p>
<p>what kind of weighting does your high school do? It looks like it increased freshman gpa by almost a full point without any APs. By more than a point sophmore year. This is very generous by any standard, so I would not expect any recalculation by colleges to be as favorable.</p>
<p>Every AP course is as hard or “light weight” as a school makes it. So for AP classes it really depends on what she got on the AP exam. </p>
<p>OP- If it were my child I would not have her taking so many AP classes. Even if she had a better GPA. I think it’s too much. Also I’m not sure if the weighting that your school gives to honors classes is going to count. It will depend on the college. The colleges my son applied to did not give weight to gifted or honors classes. Only AP classes got weighted.</p>
<p>Does your DD’s transcript give both the percentage grade GPA as well as the 4.0 scale gpa?</p>
<p>The colleges we looked at didnt weight classes, and credit for AP scores was relegated to 5 and was up to the dept. ( in some cases they would give credit for 4)</p>
<p>Ill rephrase the objection the high school had to the AP bio course.
They offered an honors biology course for freshmen that covered similar depth of material as AP leaving them free to design a biology course for sophomore which was accepted for full credit at the local flagship without having to take any college board tests.</p>
<p>I have read however that the College Board recently spent years redesigning the AP biology course and it was ready fall of 2012. My kids graduated in 2008 & 2000.</p>