<p>Due to a scheduling conflict, DS must choose between Mandarin 2 and AP Physics B for his senior year.</p>
<p>If he selects Mandarin 2, he will also take regular Physics.</p>
<p>If he selects AP Physics B, he will also take an elective.</p>
<p>He likes both Mandarin and science. He is an A student in Mandarin 1. He has been a B student in AP sciences. He plans to study Mechanical Engineering in college. </p>
<p>Your views?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>If he wants to study mechanical engineering in college, I’m afraid he has to do better than a B in sciences. And if he does, he really should take AP Physics B over Mandarin.</p>
<p>If he is serious about engineering marite is absolutely right. The more hard science and upper level math and the higher the grades the better chance he has to get into an engineering program. My S had to pass up electives he wanted to stay the course for engineering.
My D, on the other hand, had to sacrifice a few AP classes to stay with Chinese III, but she has no interest in engineering at all, so it was a no brainer.</p>
<p>One possibility might be taking AP Physics B through EPGY or CTY. Both programs are accredited, and the courses are excellent. Many schools give credit for these courses, but even if your son’s school will not do this, EPGY at least can give credit and a transcript. I believe that with CTY, credit must be granted through the school.</p>
<p>Some school districts offer EPGY or CTY courses to their students.</p>
<p>Does he have any other language already?
Which teacher is best?
Which class would he enjoy the most?
Can he “sit” in the regular physics class but do the AP homework and meet same requirements as kids in the other class, and get the AP designation on his transcript?
would the counselor still check most rigorous courseload if he took Mandarin?
these are some of the questions I would be asking.</p>
<p>Without question, take physics. One of the toughest courses that weeds out many potential engineers freshman year of college is physics. It would be in your son’s best interest to have a strong background in physics out of high school so he doesn’t risk failing freshman physics.</p>
<p>While AP Physics will be more beneficial to him in college, he has to get into college first.</p>
<p>Look at where he wants to apply for college. Do the colleges want 4 years of foreign language?</p>
<p>In some ways, taking High School Physics (Honors section if you can), might be better in the long run. He will then take the normal Physics sequence in college. Yes, college physics is a weed out course, but having some background in physics will help. That additional rigor will help ensure he knows his stuff for future classes. Once he takes AP physics (and passes the AP test), it is hard to get him to take 1st year physics again in College.</p>
<p>Two years of Mandarin in high school won’t go very far in the admissions sweepstakes. But minimal preparation in Physics will not impress the adcoms as to the applicant’s preparedness for engineering, or indeed his actual interest in the field. He could presumably apply as one of the myriad “undecided” and see if he wants to pursue engineering. As I wrote earlier, he needs to pull better than Bs in that case.</p>
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<p>It depends on if he has other foreign language. My son took 2 years of Latin, then switched to French for 2 years.</p>
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<p>It all depends on your explanation. My son couldn’t take AP Physics and all the other classes, so he had to downgrade to Physics Honors. Son still got into a top Ivy League (though not an engineering school). I’m guessing if Son applied to an Engineering school he would have done ok.</p>
<p>I agree that being a “B” student will be the major issue on how good an engineering school OP’s son gets into.</p>
<p>He is in the first class of Mandarin to be offered at his school. Before Mandarin, he was in Latin (since 7th grade).</p>
<p>No contest. If he is truly interested in engineering, take the toughest physics course available.</p>
<p>(P.S. I don’t think B’s in his earlier AP science courses will exclude him from many engineering schools if his overall grades & scores are good. Engineers aren’t always strong in chemistry and biology.)</p>
<p>The colleges generally recommend four years of a single language; four years actually refer to the level achieved, not the number of years one spent learning the language. For example, S started Spanish in 7th grade. But of all his classmates, he was one of only two who went straight into Spanish 3 in 9th grade; the rest went either into Spanish 1 or Spanish 2. As far as colleges were concerned, these classmates had to spend all four high school years in Spanish to be considered to have taken four years in Spanish. They could not claim, having taken Spanish from 7th grade through 10th grade, to have had four years of Spanish. That’s not how it works.
Having said this, four years is a recommendation, not a requirement. What I am trying to say is that high school level Mandarin for two years will not sound any more impressive than high school level French for two years. If the student is interested in Chinese studies, it will be taken as a sign of interest and will be a plus. But it won’t be of significance for someone interested in engineering.</p>
<p>How is his math? Is he signed up for AP Calculus? </p>
<p>There are plenty of kids who get accepted to engineering programs without AP Physics… but most of them are from HS which don’t offer AP Physics. It will surely raise an eyebrow if your son has declared an interest in engineering but opted for a “lite” science/math program in HS.</p>
<p>But at the end of the day, perhaps your son is signaling that he’s more interested in Mandarin than physics? Or that he’s not 100% (or even 90%) committed to engineering? In which case, this is a really good discussion to be having right now!</p>
<p>I would definitely opt for AP Physics. In my opinion, the more you learn in terms of math/science at the high school level where the pace is slower, the better of you are in college. He’s already way past the age where he has a huge advantage in learning Mandarin younger–and he can take that in college/summer programs/community college later on. If he wants to go into engineering, he needs AP Physics more than he does Mandarin. In terms of college admissions: I have plenty of friends who never fulfilled the “four years” thing (including me) who got into the likes of MIT, Brown, Harvard, etc. </p>
<p>I opted out of taking Mandarin even at my university because I figure that the courses I get to take now I won’t be able to take later, while I can learn Mandarin at community college.</p>
<p>I think my approach would be to share with S that not taking the highest level of physics might hurt him in engineering school acceptances and then let him make his own choice. (Of course, check with the school’s GC first, if you’ve got a good one, and get some input on engineering acceptances from your HS and the level of physics preparation in the accepted/rejected students.)</p>
<p>Personally, I would go for the Physics. I agree with justbreathe who indicates the relative usefulness of taking math/sciences for foundation in high school as opposed to Mandarin. Showing that he has interest in sciences and is capable of performing at the highest level offered - a level that may practically be requisite depending on how competitive the schools he’s thinking about are - is also going to be much more helpful if he really does want to pursue engineering than a mere two years of Chinese will be!</p>
<p>I really do think it’s really great that your S is studying Chinese. It’s an important language and will only become more necessary in the coming years. But although his background in Latin means that it won’t look terrible on the transcript (it demonstrates passions beyond just engineering and shows that he has facility in and curiosity about languages), taking two years of Chinese in high school, as I’m sure you know, does not count for much beyond that indication of interest and certainly does not count for much more than one year in terms of college-level language ability. Is there any way he can do both - take the physics course but remain involved somehow in Chinese or Chinese culture?</p>
<p>Of course, I’m hardly qualified to speak, so take this as you will (:</p>
<p>S dropped manadarin after 3 years in HS & took AP Physics B. He’s now a rising senior in EE and has no regrets. He found mandarin the hardest subject he’s ever taken–harder than all his APs put together. He was happy that he understood what people were saying when he was in Taiwan last summer, so I guess some of the Mandarin did “stick.”</p>
<p>I also side with everyone who suggests that if S is serious about engineering, taking HS physics (assuming he has a good teacher) is a good idea. Don’t obsess over his grades–my S didn’t get all As in his math & science but is doing better in engineering than he did in HS! S learned the HS & college subject matter well, even if he grades didn’t/don’t always reflect it.</p>
<p>Take the language class. </p>
<p>DS was taught by a national recognized HS physics teacher. DS tested high in AP exam but still had to take freshman physics for engineers.</p>
<p>Regular physics will be OK.</p>
<p>Get a life outside of your intended field of study. </p>
<p>DS did very well as an undergrad mech engineering student at CMU, and a cs master student at Toronto. But he is now doing grant proposal writing besides assisting grad students in their projects. His sponsor needed someone of more skills than just engineering.</p>
<p>LongPrime - Your S sounds like a very talented person! I personally think like you do but keep in mind in giving advise that the college “market” is very different than even 5 years ago. What would have sufficed a few years back doesn’t cut it now. In the last year or so I have seen top HS students (advanced physics, math, top ACT, SATs, etc.) turned away from places like CMU. Not taking AP physics if offered by the HS would not be considered a good thing - and repeating it if need be (some engineering programs will not even accept 4s now) will be one less stressful class.</p>
<p>Took DS most of 2008 and early part of 2009 to find a job, even with his academic credentials. Even then his position came about from his undergrad advisor, who wanted someone of greater talents than just engineering. </p>
<p>At some point in every person’s life they will read, What Color is Your Parachute?</p>