<p>I am stuck in a dilemma. I am a freshman in the International Baccalaureate program. I am taking 2 AP classes this year: AP World History and AP Human Geography. I have 4.0s (on a 4.0 scale) in both of them. My unweighted GPA is 4.0 (on a 4.0 scale) and my weighted is 4.833. </p>
<p>I was talking to my Algebra II teacher today and found out that in IB Math SL 1 (my school does not offer HL math), we are not taught polar coordinates, or arctan, arcsin, and arccos. Even in my Algebra II class, I feel so bored. I learned all this material last year and the year before and I am not at all being challenged. I feel as if IB (at my school) does not focus much on Math and Science but rather completely concentrates on the Humanities. The hardest classes at my school are the histories. </p>
<p>She was suggesting going for Dual Enrollment at a local college so that I can take Differential Equations, Advanced Physics, as well as topics such as Combinatorics before I go to university. I talked with my family about this, and would like some opinions. I also want to take into consideration clubs and social activities. Where will I have the most challenging yet fun experience? I repeat, I am truly feeling bored in my Algebra II class (and it is an Honors class). How should I deal with this?</p>
<p>You’d probably find more challenge with a college class. The question is, do you have a good college to go to close by, so you can fit it in during your school day or afterwards? DE can work really well, but scheduling can sometimes be a headache. DE doesn’t detract from your high school activities, really. You can just take a class or two, but keep other classes at the high school. Look into it, for sure.</p>
<p>Moose97- My son just graduated last year with the full IB diploma. He wanted to do Speech and Debate and because of the way IB is structured at his high school, he had to take classes at the local community college in order to meet all the graduation requirements. He took 3 cc classes at night always during regular school semester. He did this to show academic rigor instead of taking them during the summer. Summers were spent doing internships towards his passion and future major in college. He also was involved in clubs and other activities (But he was captain of the Speech and Debate team so this took up the majority of any extra time he had) He too took AP classes as well for his elective classes. His school was on the quarter system with a block schedule so he was able to take more classes that way. But he graduated 5/635 in his class and actually had so many credit units from AP and IB and his cc class that at the end of his freshman year of college (in May ) he will be a junior in standing. So he will graduate from college a year early and save us one year of college tuition! By the way he attends Rice University. </p>
<p>So I definitely suggest that you take cc classes for more than one reason.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the posts guys. However, I believe that you may not have understood my question correctly. I can only do ONE. I can either get an IB Diploma or College Courses. I CANNOT do both. My school restricts the amount and type of courses one can take since the administrators want the best scores possible. Hence, I can only take one science, one math, etc. I am extremely interested in math and science (I am taking Precalculus on AoPS) and am planning on conducting research in fluid dynamics in high school. However, I personally believe that the IB program is focusing WAY to much on English/history - 2 subjects that are OK but not ones I would prefer to concentrate in. We have a program called AAA (this is Dual Enrollment) in which our history and English classes are APs while ALL the other classes are college classes. </p>
<p>I am definitely interested in this program but I am having a dilemma in that my social circle is already developed in my CURRENT high school and I am already involved in clubs. Considering my current situation, what do you think is the right option?</p>
<p>My son does Dual Enrollment because, like you, he wanted to focus on math and science and I agree that IB seems to focus on humanities and liberal arts. So, he chose DE over IB and is a Junior now and will graduate next year with his AA degree (with about 66 college credits) with tons of science (Bio, Chem, Phys1 - 2) and math (Pre-Calc, Trig, Calc 1 - 3), plus the regular liberal arts courses under his belt. It is a huge commitment, but he is happy with his choice. I have had to fight the school rules a few times to make it work. </p>
<p>Also, your decision is going to require more research into your future. What colleges are you applying to? Not all of them take DE credits. In Florida, all state schools accept all DE credits. But I do not know the rules elsewhere. Some out-of-state and private schools accept all, some, or none. We looked into every school that was on his list and confirmed that most or all of the DE credits would be accepted and selected his courses “wisely”. </p>
<p>You may be able to combine DE with AP (a good option), but you are probably right that they won’t let you combine IB with DE. </p>
<p>Also, if DE is taught off campus, do you have transportation? Does the college schedule/calendar match with your school calendar/schedule? How many high school periods do you have to attend along with your DE? Is your school flexible in helping you schedule DE? Have you taken the college entrance test or SAT/ACT to have the cut scores to get in? </p>
<p>Just a few of the things to consider. Good luck! </p>
<p>PS - College Algebra is a lot like Alg II in high school. College Trig and/or Pre-Calc does arcsin, polar coordinates, etc. So, get a copy of your DE college’s catalog and read about all the courses because they don’t always line up with high school.</p>