Hi,
My son is currently a junior in high school and he is trying to decide between these 2 options for his junior and senior years. His counselor allows him to take whatever course that he feels he can handle, but he needs to decide quick so she can move him if needed. If he’s applying to selective college, which option will be better ?
Option 1:
Junior Year - AP Calc AB, AP Physics 1, AP Chem, APUSH, AP Econ, AP Lang, Spanish 3
Senior Year - AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP Biology, AP US Gov, AP Statistics, AP Literature, some electives…
Option 2:
Junior Year - AP Calc BC, regular Physics (non-honor, as his school does not offer Honors Physics), the rest is the same with Option 1
Senior Year - Multi-Variable Calculus, either AP Physics 1 or AP Physics C, the rest is the same with Option 1
He already took: SAT Math 2 (800), SAT World History (700)
He may take 1 or 2 more SAT Subject Test end of this year
He doesn’t want to overload himself with too many APs and stress out or gets bad grades, so he doesn’t want to take AP Calc BC + AP Physics 1 + AP Chemistry all in this year.
If he is strong enough in math to take calculus as a junior, there does not seem to be any reason to take calculus at slow page in option 1.
Additionally, option 2 should cover more topics of high school physics, so he may be better prepared for the physics subject test if he chooses to take it.
It is not required to take AP level courses in all of the sciences. Also, what about Spanish 4 in senior year?
I heard from other students/seniors who already took Physics subject test, AP Physics will be required to take the Physics subject test. Not the other way around. So if he goes with Option 2 (Calc BC + regular non-honor Physics), he will not be able to take the Physics Subject Test. Also, will it look better on high school transcript if he takes AP Physics 1 instead of regular non-honor Physics 1 in junior year ?
The physics subject test covers high school physics.
AP physics 1 covers some, but not all, of the topics in greater depth (but without calculus).
AP physics C mechanics covers even fewer topics, but with calculus.
So a student who takes AP physics 1 but not AP physics 2 will have to self-study the content of the latter at least to the normal high school level before taking the physics subject test.
A few high schools may offer AP physics 1 and 2 in one year (instead of two), like the old AP physics B. If offered, this may be good for a strong student who wants to get a more in-depth version of high school physics without missing any of the usual topics.
First of all- what is his current GPA? and how many AP classes has he already taken, what were his scores and in what year?
He is taking a LOT of AP classes requiring a lot of reading[ and TIME] and if he is not a tip top student who learns fast and can manage a heavy course load, I’d recommend scaling back the number of AP classes in total, dropping AP ECon this year and AP statistics next year, and taking some fun classes that might interest him- like CS or music, etc, etc
There is no race to see who can take the most AP classes.
I would take AP Spanish, or Spanish 4[ If AP is not offered]next year
He ONLY needs to take 1 or 2 more subject tests, at the most, so I see no reason he cant take the US history and chem in June and be done.
@ucbalumnus - thanks for the info. He probably won’t need the SAT Physics if AP Physics 1 doesn’t cover all.
The question is that will he be at a disadvantage applying for colleges next year if taking regular non-honor Physics this year instead of AP Physics ? If he takes regular Physics now, next year I think going straight into Physics C may be tough.
@menloparkmom - he has GPA around 3.9. Took AP CS (4) and AP World His (5) last year as sophomore.
He refuses to drop AP Lang, AP Econ, and AP US His, saying that he likes those courses. So if he has to drop one, that would be either AP Chem or AP Physics 1. For Math he can take either BC (if he just takes regular non-honor Physics) or AB (if he takes AP Physics 1). So that would go back to my original question.
He likes debate, so may sign-up for Debate next year.
In this case, they’re wrong. 16/17 y/o’s are generally not a font of knowledge when it comes to the college admissions process. No AP Physics course, or group of AP Physics classes, will cover all the subjects needed for the subject test.
This is a killer combo, not as bad IMO as AP Bio/AP Chem concurrently, but pretty close. Keep in mind that in most HS, AP sciences has labs that require add’l time either as before/after school commitments or as a double period. Even if the kid is a superstar STEM student, there is not reason to take every AP under the sun.
1st test grade in BC just came out and he got A. Seeing that he could do well in BC, but I couldn’t convince him to stay in BC and go down on other courses instead he’s a strong math/science kid, got 770 on first try SAT in 9th grade, without any math prep. Somehow he always tried to pick up on humanity courses/activities instead.
I would go with option 2 ONLY if he can drop AP econ this year, and AP lit + AP stats senior year (he should take Spanish 4+ English honors or senior English).
That schedule is AP-overload and kind of says 'AP junkie '. Now it seems that the choices may be either 'regular’or AP - is that the case? Or are there honors classes? What are the 'regular ’ classes like if that’s the case?
Seconding subject tests in us history and chemistry, unless applying to Georgetown in which case he already has two perfectly serviceable scores.
Looking ahead, what are his potential college major(s) or other academic interests?
Be aware that science APs are not necessarily that useful for advanced placement in college, so trying to cram all of them into the schedule may not be as worthwhile as it may seem from a high school perspective. Calculus BC is generally more accepted for advanced placement, and BC covers material at college pace, rather than at a slower pace like AB does, so the student gets a taste of how quickly a college course covers material.
He’s undecided, but more into debate, law, or potentially pre-med. He’s not interested in engineering. He’s very good at Math, one of the top math kids in his freshman/sophomore class. He’s doing Math honors society, staying after-school to help tutor other classmates in Math. But that’s all he would want to do with math. He would not want to be in a Math competition or Math team, etc… Now come to AB vs. BC, he decides to take AB to have more free time doing other stuffs that he likes like tracks, debate, etc…so if I insist he takes Calculus BC, then he would drop AP Physics 1 and take the regular non-honor physics instead. I would think the regular physics would be too easy for him. He plans to take BC next year when he’s senior though. But then he won’t be able to take Multi-Variable Calculus in senior year - which has Calculs BC as the pre-requisite.
Regular course = unweighted
Honor course = weight 0.5 point
AP course = weight 1 point
So for GPA calculation: an A in a regular course = 4.0, A in Honor course = 4.5, A in AP course = 5.0
Pre-law and pre-med students can be any major, though pre-med students have some course requirements. I.e. he can be a (for example) math or rhetoric major as a pre-law or pre-med student. What major(s) actually interest him?
“But then he won’t be able to take Multi-Variable Calculus in senior year - which has Calculs BC as the pre-requisite.”
So???
there is NO NEED for him to potentially kill his GPA by tackling MV Calculus.
Have you any children who have recently applied to College?
The first semester of SR year is CRITICAL AND is when Sr’s ALSO have what is essentially an additional part time job- the whole college application process, whcih is stressful AND consumes a lot of time.
Your DS does not KNOW this- we do.
So encourage him to not kill himself with a schedule that is unnecessarily too hard, in the mistaken belief that it will “impress” college admissions officers.
Let’s forget about Senior year for now, assuming he will do some Early Actions and probably an Early Decision. Those colleges probably will see up to his junior year transcript, or will they see his Senior year’s first semester courses/grades as well when they do their acceptance decisions ? So that goes back to my question, which of these 2 options will be better for him in term of college applications, assuming he gets the same grades for either option:
Calculus AB (weighted 1 point more) + AP Physics 1 (weighted 1 point more)
or
Calculus BC (weighted 1 point more) + regular Physics non-honor (easy, not weighted)
While many public universities use weighted averages, private universities (and many public ones, too), “recalculate” or use unweighted GPA, so that an A in regular physics and an A in AP Physics 1 count the same for college admissions.
Regular Physics will cover more topics and will be a sufficient introduction.
At most selective universities, a total of 6-8 AP’s TOTAL in high school would be expected, and the unweighted GPA would be used with mostly A’s (unweighted GPA in th 3.75-4.0 range, top 10% class if a competitive high school, top 10 if a lower-performing school.)
Option 2 is better since he’ll get to show his strengths in math and will study more broadly but without added pressure for regular Physics.
Try not to think of the choice narrowly in terms of gaming the high school’s weighted GPA system or minute differences in how a college admission reader will see it, but in terms of what will be better for preparing for his actual academic interests in college.
Previous posts indicate that math is a stronger interest than science, so why try to overload on AP science courses at the expense of taking math at a slower pace? In addition, if he chooses to take AP physics C as a senior, it may be better to get an overview of physics through regular high school physics as a junior rather than partial coverage through AP physics 1 as a junior. The same can apply if he chooses not to take any physics senior year. AP physics 1 only really makes sense if he wants to take AP physics 2 senior year.
he’s a strong math/science kid, got 770 on first try SAT in 9th grade, without any math prep. Somehow he always tried to pick up on humanity courses/activities instead.