<p>Contact folks at fairfax county association for the gifted (fcag). They administer the amc and might be able to accommodate your son.</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-I510 using CC</p>
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<p>This is a big peeve for me. My S1 asked our HS to offer it for 4 years, and they only finally offered it his senior year with no warning or prep. However, his efforts (and mine; Iāve been requesting this in the background as well) may have paid off for S2 as they are offering both tests (10 and 12) on both dates this year, and they even had a meeting to give the kids an idea what to expect, and a copy of an old contest for them to practice on.</p>
<p>We didnāt have another local site either for S1, so he was just out of luck, unfortunately. So Iām glad our school has finally seemed to pick up on it.</p>
<p>What is AMC? I havenāt heard of it? AKMomāmy daugher will be attending HOBY later this year. Is your daugher planning on going to Chicago this summer?</p>
<p>AMC is American Mathematics Competitions and it is a series of competitions that ultimately leads to choosing a US team for the international math olympiad. But thereās a lot of opportunity for bright math kids to shine along the way, even if they are nowhere near IMO caliber. [AMC</a> 10 - American Mathematics Contest 10](<a href=āAmerican Mathematics Competitions | Mathematical Association of Americaā>American Mathematics Competitions | Mathematical Association of America)</p>
<p>Odd. I just checked and itās not offered in the state of Oregon.</p>
<p>pdx the listing you looked at was probably the āextra sitesā listing for kids whose schools are not offering it. Itās mainly offered at high schools, and there is no listing, youād have to contact the schools and ask them.</p>
<p>eyemamom and pcnwmomof2: I am in a similiar boat here too with my sophomore trying to decide if she should keep APUSH on her junior schedule. </p>
<p>My daughter feels like she should take APUSH simply because there is a mentality in the student body at her school that you take as many AP classes as you possibly can. Period. She is in APWH right now and doing well. As a ninth grader, she took APHG and did well, including on the AP exam. She is very aware of how much time she needs to put into AP classes to have a chance at scoring high on the May exams.</p>
<p>So, while my child has the confidence of knowing she probably can succeed in APUSH, the interest is not there and she is concerned about what she might not be able to do because of the time APUSH will require. Her two favorite areas of study are anything to do with world culture and languages and then science(tolerates math because it goes along with science). She thinks spending a significant amount of time studying US history sounds painful. She is not at all into government, politics, or economics.</p>
<p>A āconā of not taking APUSH is her high school does not offer an honors level class for US history. If she doesnāt take the AP class, she will be in regular 11th grade history. In the past when she has had to be in a regular, grade level class, she found the immaturity of some classmates distracting. She is also concerned about the message not taking APUSH when it is offered at her school will sent to colleges down the road.</p>
<p>As it stands, her junior schedule is AP Chem, AP Calc AB, AP Lang&Comp, APUSH, college credit Spanish, and a level one language course which she is calling her āone for funā class. If she removes APUSH, she will have four weighted classes instead of five weighted classes on her schedule for her junior year. </p>
<p>Decisions, decisionsā¦</p>
<p>Thanks, Mathmom. I will look into it.</p>
<p>College4Many, your daughter sounds a lot like mine. The APush class also has a fantastic teacher and my daughter would hate to miss out. She transferred out of Honors WH to make room for Honors Pre-Calc this year and moved to a regular history class which has been a breeze but she notices that the level of discussion is less inspiring. She applied for APush but will probably decide at the last minute. The need to balance a rigorous schedule with demanding extracurriculars and studying for the SAT and ACT plus SLEEPā¦well, these kids have a lot of pressure on them. D was out sick two days this week, went back today even though sheās still not up to par. She just felt she couldnāt afford to take another day off from school.</p>
<p>college4many: Iām of two minds on taking AP classes just to take them. Sometimes itās fine. For example, if the teacher is great or the class doesnāt have killer amounts of work. Last year my DS12 took AP Lang even though heās not big on English. Great teacher and not too much work. He loved it and got a lot out of it. On the other hand, my DD14 wanted to take AP Bio and AP Euro this year (only APs open to sophs at her school.) She doesnāt like science and she only wanted to take AP Bio it because she felt like she should. Weāre so glad we talked her out of it. For her, it would have been a huge amount of work for something she doesnāt like and it would have impacted everything else she did this year. And nobody can voice that impact more loudly than a 15 year old girl!</p>
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<p>My S1 signed up for APUSH for many of the same reasons. However he dropped it the minute he started on the summer homework and realized how much he was going to hate it. He had a similar issue with the non-AP class though. Although our school does offer honors US History he said that the level of that class was nothing like the level of his prior honors history classes. </p>
<p>I donāt think you have to take every AP class your school offers, especially when they offer a LOT of them. As a single data point, my S1 ended up with 2 AP classes Junior year (Bio and English Language) and 5 senior year (Chemistry, PhysCMech, CalcAB, EngLit, CS). He is now studying CS through the Engineering department at Cornell. I think ātypicalā for our HS is 3 junior year and 3 senior year. </p>
<p>It might be worth asking your childās guidance counselor just how many (or which) APs they need to take for the counselor to check of that your child is taking a āmost rigorousā schedule compared to others at your school. I donāt think most counselors actually require you to take every AP in sight for that designation.</p>
<p>The other thing to consider with AP classes is whether theyāll get you out of something youād <em>really</em> rather not take once you get to college, and save your college schedule space for stuff you want to take ;-)</p>
<p>Well, I guess it is finally time to jump over here and introduce myselfā¦ some of you I already know intimately over on the 2012 threadā¦ so happy to see so many of you over here as wellā¦ I have a DS 14 who is I think going to prove to be quite a challenge as far as college admissions go. He is, like his brother, at a private college prep school, no rank, VERY rigorousā¦ not very many kids above 4.0 weighted. Huge amount of kids go onto top schools though. </p>
<p>My S wants to major in physics and theatreā¦LOL!!! He is a competitive sailor and would like to sail in college if possibleā¦ but probably just club. He is exceptional at scienceā¦ esp. physics, and tolerates mathā¦ does NOT want to be an engineerā¦ unfortunately. He is VERY creative and is the inventor type. He is a tenor in his HSās top choir and in the audition only acting class. He loves english and science, tolerates latin and math, and HATES history. Did not take the only AP Sophomoreās are allowed to takeā¦AP EURO, took Econ instead. </p>
<p>They havenāt received their course scheduling pamhlets yet, but most likely will take next year:</p>
<p>AP Lang
AP Latin
AP Bio
H pre-calc
AP Psychā¦
English Elective </p>
<p>A lot will depend on how this all works out with his chorus,AP latin and theatre classes, as these are only offered 1 period each.</p>
<p>He was ill the day of the PSAT so took at a later dateā¦ will not know results till Mayā¦ My DS 12 started SAT tutoring the summer between 10-11thā¦ and took the PSAT in Oct and the SAT in Novā¦ I think that is a good planā¦ that way he can retake in March if needed and take the subjects in May.</p>
<p>Thanks, NOVAMOM. S2014 took AMC8 two years ago with FCAG. He was then at a private school which didnāt offer it. I didnāt realize FCAG offered AMC10 and 12. Iāll look into it. I didnāt hear back from GMU today.</p>
<p>For those who think AMC is a great place to spend a rainy afternoon, it stands for American Math Competition. I believe itās international. At its different levels it is a very challenging math test given on the same day everywhere. Top scorers are eligible to take the American Invitational Math Competition (AIME), and there are higher levels above that. The website is [MAA</a> American Mathematics Competitions - AMC](<a href=āAmerican Mathematics Competitions | Mathematical Association of Americaā>http://amc.maa.org/).</p>
<p>Schools can buy the competition packets from the math organization which manages the competitions. The packets only cost about $50 for 10 tests. I donāt know why every high school in the country isnāt offering this to their highest achieving math students. I offered to pay for the second test at my school, so kids who missed the first one could have a chance to participate. Iām waiting for a reply.</p>
<p>Hi 5boys! 
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<p>My d asked around and it sounds like the ap us hist at her school is a misery. I think weāll have her take honors us history instead. Sheās a way different child than my oldest, and she doesnāt seek out the biggest challenge. If sheās overpressured in one class everything else also falls apart. With some anxiety issues, itās best to keep her in a sweet spot.</p>
<p>I think sheāll only take one ap next year in english. There arenāt enough kids interested in ap latin, so sheāll take honors latin iv. I think sheāll be better off sticking with honors level in everything with one ap so she can do well in everything. If that means some colleges are off the table, then so be it.</p>
<p>Need help with schedule.</p>
<p>My DS is a B/B+ student in Honors classes and like to challenge himself. He is planning on taking following: is it too much?</p>
<p>H Precalc
H Spanish 4
AP US hist
english 3
H Physics</p>
<p>optional in order or preference
AP Chem or
AP stats or
Computer programming + Hon Accounting.</p>
<p>I am pushing him to keep one class open and take lunch or study hall. </p>
<p>what do you experienced parents think?</p>
<p>eyemamom: My daughter has heard simililar comments about APUSH in her school too although in the past, she has landed herself in supposedly awful classes and has done fine. Her PLTW teacher is a difficult person that had her crying in the bathroom early in the year but they have now developed a working relationshipā¦well more like a relationship of tolerance and counting down the days until the end of the school year. ;)</p>
<p>Tweetytweety, I can only tell you my thoughts based on the experience weāve had at our school. I donāt know how different the curriculum is for each class from school to school, but at my kidsā school AP Chem and APUSH both have reputations for being extremely difficult and time consuming. My B, B+ honors student dropped AP Chem this year just in time to avoid failing it, and he was working hard at that succeeding in the class. He had an A in Honors Chem the year before. Iām still scratching my head over that one. Hopefully others will share better experiences. Fortunately, my 2014 straight A S doesnāt want to take it, having taken a lesson from his big brother. My 2013S elected not to take APUSH. My 2014 wants to take it, feeling that he can master the material easily because his ability memorize things easily will help him out. When I mentioned this to the teacher at course selection night, he agreed with my son. He also said that this year he relaxed his requirement for outlining, from 9 chapters per quarter to 5. Thatās a significant decrease in homework time, but other teachers may not have the same approach, so it really depends on the teacher. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>AP classes vary so much school to school and teacher to teacher. DS12 took AP Chem last year and it just about caused him to have a nervous breakdown. I think he and two other kids managed to get an A, but that was it. The teacher basically sets it up so that only the very top kids take the AP exam and then he can brag about the average scores on the test. Only five kids took the test last year. We already told DD14 that there is no way on earth we would let her take AP Chem next year. Donāt know if she could handle it, but I know we couldnāt!</p>
<p>One of the problems with APUSH is that many high schools, including my sonās, schedule the class as one semester. College Board recommends it be an all-year class. This may explain why so many kids feel overwhelmed with the work load. My son has heard all about that amount of work, but he loves U.S. History so he will take the class. It is also a dual enrollment class, so he looks forward to earning college credit for the time and effort he will put in.</p>
<p>My oldest went to a different HS. APUSH was an all-year class paired with AP English Language. Awesome class, and a good portion of the students scored high enough on the exams to receive college credit.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, AP World keeps my son extremely busy these days, or as he puts it, heās used to living on 5.5 hours of sleep most nights. He said heāll make up for it on Saturdays.</p>