“Is my child doomed?”
OP I only skimmed through all the posts and am very late to thread. I do think a high school student should take the hardest possible courses that they can take AND do well in, if anything, to help nurture time management skills and to help instill student with some confidence that he/she can handle the increasingly challenging demands that they will face in college. You should not be “mad at myself for encouraging the APs” especially IF D had been doing well previously. It’s much better for a student to push their boundaries in high school and fail or not perform to expectations than in college at perhaps 3, 4, 500 per unit. So, okay D struggled in Chem, maybe Physics? Not exactly the easiest courses and taking these 2 AP courses along with Anatomy I do would wonder who thought that was such a good idea even for the smartest of students. But apparently things have worked out (Chem C, Physics B). So embarrassing, morale/ego deflating, yes, but not the end of the world. D will still find many, many good colleges that will accept her. Don’t rule out community college, even if as referenced in post # 7, D has interest in med school. Starting at community college is a viable path for premed hopefuls. If anything, after talking with counselors, maybe D should tap on brakes a little senior year in terms of her course selection and try to finish on a high note academically to help reinstill confidence. Maybe also start slow as to rigorous schedule first semester college to help get her bearings and further cement confidence. And when D starts college she should know that she will start with a clean slate. Nobody will really care what happened in these Chem/Physics courses except college and only if she was to take Chem/Physics again, then they’d may have D take placement test(s) to get her situated properly. Good luck