<p>I don’t think you should be taking his college admissions process into account as a big factor in this. I agree with SteveMA. You are overthinking this. Let him decide, and support his decision. If he is happy and doing the activities HE wants to do, that will shine through in his applications.</p>
<p>And… rank is not everything! My D2 probably only ranks in the top 25% of her class, but got accepted EA to U of Chicago last week. And someone with higher rank in her class was deferred. Let him be true to his interests and passions, and pick the school he prefers.</p>
<p>A student taking AP calculus in 9th grade is four grade levels ahead of the normal math progression in the US, and is likely an extreme outlier even in an elite high school (or even among those who will eventually end up at a super-selective university). Try not to base your opinion of the school on a few extreme outliers, but rather on the usual crowd of students that your kid will mingle with.</p>
<p>If you mean other AP courses, remember that AP courses commonly taken in 9th or 10th grade are usually what are regarded as “AP lite” type of courses like human geography or environmental science, which are rarely accepted for subject credit or placement in college, or (if they are) accepted in place of semester-long courses that are considered easy courses in college (that may exist only because they are not commonly taken in high school as part of a typical college-prep curriculum). So it is not like that many students, other than a few extreme outliers, are doing truly college level work at college pace in 9th or 10th grade.</p>
<p>"On the other hand we’re happy in our current neighborhood and it’s got some big advantages, such as great public transportation, walking distance to the specialist my son sees for his chronic medical conditions, and walking distance to my elderly mom who has health needs and sometimes needs support. School B would mean moving to a new neighborhood which is a big step. It would also be a hard step to undo if it didn’t work out, as we had to wait a long time to get into the affordable apartment complex where we live now. "</p>
<p>IMHO, this is a big piece of the puzzle here. He’s part of a family, and what happens in the family affects him. How much strain will it be on you to move, be far away from your mother, get him a whole new medical plan, new friends, new neighborhood, new school? What will it be like if your mother needs help and you have to travel to see her? Is your son close to his grandma? How will he feel about not being able to see her as often? Will the move mean new jobs? Will this affect the family economically? Will there be a bigger need for a car- which means higher gas bills. Will your S need (or want) a car when he is 16- which means another car? How does he feel about moving, making new friends? How does he feel about the difference in diversity in the schools? Is he committed to the arts or still trying to find his niche? </p>
<p>I understand that one of your concerns for him is the pressure and competition at his school. Somewhere, every person encounters this- if not in high school, in college, or the workforce. At the other school, there may not be as much academic competition, but there will probably be some kids who are extremely gifted in the arts and that is a type of competition too. The focus here on CC is college acceptance, but it also comes down to self acceptance, which is a tough task in high school. If your S is in the middle of the class at school A academically- then the college that matches him is the best school for him. There is another side of this puzzle too, and that is test scores and the level of rigor at the school. Colleges know the schools the applicants come from. A student may be in the middle of the class at school A, yet have higher standardized test scores and a more rigorous curriculum than the top student at school B.</p>
<p>Taking AP’s in 9th grade–you are positive about that or are you just assuming? We have some kids taking AP’s in 9th grade but those kids are REALLY smart but most kids that are college bound take honor’s courses in 9th grade, some AP’s in 10th grade, mostly AP’s in 11th and 12th grade. Just because other kids get pressure from their parents, and I doubt that is where all of the pressure comes from, doesn’t mean your child has to have the same pressure. Our kids took all honors/AP classes. DD decided to take an honors level history class last year vs the AP class. A week into the class she knew she made a mistake. She doesn’t like history but she realized that the kids taking that class were not the kind of kids she wants to be in class with. She stuck it out for the year but signed up for all AP’s this year. There was no “pressure” to do so, just that she realized that she would rather be with motivated students.</p>
<p>Penny, the schools are about 4 miles apart. So we’d keep the same medical team etc he’d just need to take a couple of city buses rather than walking.</p>
<p>In the local hs, he could get A/B grades, play football, presumably get involved in other ECs, be near the things he needs to be near- but possibly face some academic pressure. In the new hs, he’d have limited EC choices, still be an A/B student, the family uproots, it’s harder to get around, get to the doc and Grandma and whatever- but the school itself would limit the level of academic pressure to two honors and no APs in 9th–? </p>
<p>As you said, you are happy where you are, you can manage his academic choices at the local hs, insist he be realistic about academic schedule-until he gets his own footing, learns more about himself. And, all the while, it seems he has more opps for a rounded experience. In a convenient setting that works for the family. 9-11 is a time when they learn when to stretch and when to hang back. I think many of us have experienced this. It’s part of that growth phase.</p>
<p>Gosh, for 4 miles it is a shame that you would have to move out of your apartment.
At least you don’t have to move far from grandma at this stage of her life.</p>
<p>Is it possible to attend the school out of district? In our area, it is possible. You have to apply and pay a small fee, but it’s not much compared to the cost of moving.</p>
<p>I would still consider how the middle of school A does.
How much time does your S want to spend in the arts? One reason why there is not a big focus on academics is the time involved in the arts. For any production, there’s hours of rehearsals, practice, lessons. The students may not have time for a heavy load of AP classes even if they were offered. Each school offers something to a child, but I guess you will have to think carefully about how it fits your child.</p>
<p>It’s hard to know what’s accurate and what’s boasting parents and what’s my kid exaggerating. Here’s what I do know:</p>
<p>My son claims that he’s the “only kid” who is in Algebra 1 in eighth grade. He says “everybody” else takes Algebra in sixth or seventh. I know that’s not true, but it is true of all the other kids I know personally at the school, except one. In contrast the other school lists Geometry as the highest possible math to take in 9th. </p>
<p>At back to school night his honors history teacher talked to us about the process for applying for APUSH next year. She said about 1/2 her kids are accepted into it. I know that there are more sections of honors than on level, so I figure that means that 1/4 of the kids are taking AP for that subject. </p>
<p>I don’t think that all these kids are amazingly bright. I think that academics may come a little easier to them, that they may do less outside of school, or their parents are providing more support than I’m interested in doing, but overall I think they’re kids pretty much like my kid.</p>
<p>Are you in an extremely high academic pressure area? Killer? Because, on one hand, looking ahead to college opps is not unreasonable- but dropping down in pressure is not a guarantee he’ll thrive and expand his college horizons. If he is driven by theatre, that’s one thing- you’d want to maximize that experience.</p>
<p>Can you just talk to the GC at the local hs and get a read from him/her? APUSH is a tough choice in 9th, when their history knowledge is still limited. My kids’ normal track was Alg 2 in 9th.</p>
<p>There is a program where you can pay OOS tuition at the second school, but it’s higher than we can afford long term. </p>
<p>And you’re right, one of the reasons for the less academic pressure, and fewer EC’s, is that the kids at School B are spending almost all of their waking hours on their arts. They take 9 or 10 classes, rather than 7 like at School B, and then stay late to work on shows. The tech kids are generally there the latest, and are often asked to be there early too. What homework is done, is done in the corridors during rehearsal or in study hall, rather than at home with parental help, tutoring etc . . . </p>
<p>As far as what my son would think of for spending every waking minute on theater, I have trouble telling. Right now theater is one of the things he’s done a fair amount of, and he enjoys it very much. When he visited School B and saw the kids up on the catwalks hanging lights and doing other things he was convinced he wanted to do this all the time, but he’s 13. 13 year olds change their mind. One thing he doesn’t do much is talk about a career in theater. The other day he told me that he’d narrowed down his plans for the future to 5 careers. Theater production/management was on the list, but the other 4 things were not arts related. </p>
<p>Luckily, we don’t have to decide for a while. During that time he’ll take a field trip to A with his school, and we’ll meet with the guidance counselors from A to pick his classes. He’ll almost definitely get an invite to work out with the football team (8th graders always have in the past, but they’re switching coaches this year), and we’ll attend a show or two. I’m also hoping he can interview with the tech director there. </p>
<p>He’ll also have an interview with B, and likely spend an afternoon/evening helping with a show there, and getting to know people. We’ll probably also go to one or more shows there so he can see both productions. I’d also like to sit in on a class or two myself.</p>
<p>I imagine tuition for a specialty school would be high. In our area, people can switch in the same system but it is the same type school, and the fee is modest. </p>
<p>It seems like you will have time to figure this out, and so will you son. </p>
<p>I hope the decision becomes easier as you learn more.</p>
<p>I agree with UCB that Math AP in 9th sounds very advanced compared to the national norm. There are probably less than 1% of all 9th graders in the nation that fit this.</p>
<p>10th seems early but doable while 11th is much more common.</p>
<p>In our area, AP world history is common for 10th, and Chemistry is rare since they won’t let students take chemistry AP until the second year of chemistry and they dont allow first year until preap bio is done. So essentially it is a sequence which holds someone back in chem until 11th.</p>
<p>In Texas, anyone in the middle of the class gets eliminated from flagship admssion consideration. So for a texas kid, second option works much better. However, I would not send my kid there since it does not sound challenging.</p>