<p>piesquared - Calc B/C seems advanced. What does the school offer in Math for next two years or do people normally go to colleges for more Math?</p>
<p>D is taking WHAP, AP CS, AP Music Theory, PreAP Chem, English, Spanish, algebra II.</p>
<p>Texaspg,
Most kids in his BC class will be seniors (if they took Algebra as 8th graders, which is one year āadvancedā). Kidās just one of those math kids and had to get special permission to skip some grades in math. Other kids will be in AB or just pre-calc, depending on their path. Some kids take Stats.</p>
<p>The typical progression here is Algebra-Geometry-Algebra 2-Precalc-Calc. I have a beef in that most of the schools around here teach Calc AB then BC but Sās school started a more advanced precalc that will move them straight into BC. This is how it should be and actually one of the reasons he chose that school (magnet). I hate it when districts accelerate kids and then slow them down. Probably more math talk than most of you want to hear, but I find math education interesting.</p>
<p>Every year there are a few kids who run out of courses and go to the local university.</p>
<p>āAlgebra-Geometry-Algebra 2-Precalc-Calcā This seems standard which most school districts seem to follow.</p>
<p>D was trying to finish Algebra II in summer but found that the school district would not consider honors Algebra II from JHU or Stanford online schools.</p>
<p>Mathkid skipped Algebra 2. Satisfied his schoolās requirements by taking their final and doing well. Doesnāt satisfy the state. Has to take credit by examination (offered in Texas through Texas Tech). </p>
<p>The whole point of the 4x4 (4 each years of math, science, english, social studies) is to have well-educated kids. Not to make someone sit in a math class on material they already know for 4 years. But Algebra 2 is required to be on the transcript so heāll do CBE to get it on there.</p>
<p>We tried a couple of things - skip it altogether but registrar said it needs to be on transcript for graduation. If we do the Texas Tech thing, what happens is that they give you the credit but count it as a regular class (I asked!). </p>
<p>Any regular class in the class drops your rank by about 1.5%. Been through the process with the older kid who insisted on taking regular Orchestra (and continue with IB) and then dropped Orchestra altogether and still did AP Music.</p>
<p>Texaspg,</p>
<p>Same here.</p>
<p>Schoolās agreed (suggested) that if we pay for it, he can take the CBE for Alg 2 senior year when rankings are finished. It just has to be on his transcript by graduation time. I hate all these games, but UT-Austin has an excellent math department and we want to try and keep it as an option. So play somewhat we must.</p>
<p>S starts his sophomore year today, his first day at a new school. He seems to be more excited about the first day of school then I have ever seen him. Hopefully the excitement lasts!</p>
<p>bajamm- Glad he is so excited for school, and hope everything continues to go well.</p>
<p>We still have 3 more weeks before school starts. And these little folks are not looking forward to it all. :)</p>
<p>Gateway - two other names for you with regards to Food Science ā University of Alabama and Ohio State University. Iām not familiar with either program, but DDās friend has targeted those two programs for food science.</p>
<p>bajamm - good luck to your S - hope he really likes this school better.</p>
<p>S left yesterday for school - texted that he got there safely and is getting settled in. This will be a busy week with orientation and such. Classes actually start next week - tuesday August 27th. He did get all the classes he wanted (they had to juggle the schedule some and drop one of his core classes in one term to accommodate his AP classes). Will be interesting to see how everything goes this year.</p>
<p>Can someone tell me more about food science? Sounds like a field S might be interested in. At this point, itās hard to get a read on what might interest him - he loves theatre and the fine arts, but doesnāt think he wants to go to college in those fields. Although he does well in science and math, I am not sure heās a typical sciency kid either. I suggested that he try taking a quiz/questionnaire that might help explore potential careers, based on his interests.</p>
<p>My oldest son just started his sophomore year in college. Now my middle son starts his sophomore year in high school in a few days. I think we started too late with my first son. So I want to start early with this son. We have visited two college campuses (Old Dominion University and Christopher Newport University). We will visit George Mason University, James Madison University and VCU next month. He plays travel soccer and we have a game up near DC so I thought we would leave a day early and stop at those schools along the way. He knows that he wants a major that involves computers. He is considering Game Design. I think he would be great with an IT related major too. George Mason and VCU have game design programs. He is actually enrolled in a virtual Game Design class for high school this year. I think this will give him an opportunity to decide if he actually likes Game Design. He completed an IT class last year and he loved it. My oldest son did not have a clue what he wanted to do until his senior year of high school. He still wavers a bit now. However, my middle son has said he wanted to work with computers since middle school. </p>
<p>Anyway, how early do all of you start applying for scholarships for your children? I have noticed some scholarships are open to students in the 9th grade and above.</p>
<p>Also, do you all think it is more important to have a high gpa with regular classes or a little lower and take advanced classes? My son is in good standing GPA wise right now. He had solid Aās the entire year in a couple of core classes last year. Now he is considering a switch to advanced classes. Iām worried that his GPA will slip. If he continues to keep his GPA up, should we give him an opportunity to take advanced level classes his junior year?? Do advanced classes really matter at REGULAR (not extremely competitive like UVA) state colleges?? Or is the overall GPA more important? THANKS!!!</p>
<p>Allboyz - looks like we have kids at the same levels!</p>
<p>GPA is usually tied to school rank. if they are weighting the advanced classes, the rank starts dropping if you donāt take them. So it is mostly based on how your school calculates GPA.</p>
<p>allboyz - welcome to this group. There are several schools that are good for computers/Game design in the east coast - RPI/WPI/CMU all come to mind immediately. Both RPI and WPI offer generous scholarships AFAIK.</p>
<p>The GPA/advanced classes question is a tough one. You donāt really want his GPA/rank to tumble, but at the same time, you donāt want him taking a very easy cakewalk schedule. He has to show that he did challenge himself. Iāve told S that he should take honors/AP classes if he feels like he can do reasonably well, provided he put in the work. For example, last year, he had a French 1 class that he got an A in - there was no option for an honors class and he could have slept through this class and still gotten an A. On the other hand, he had an advanced algebra and trig class where he had to work, but he still did get an A. Iād much rather see him taking classes similar to his algebra class, rather than the french one.</p>
<p>Hi Allboyz,
I too have three boys ('12, '16, and '19)! At least two overlap, whatās the year for your youngest?</p>
<p>IMHO, on the GPA/Challenging course issue, GPA matters most for the majority schools. I agree with arisamp that some challenge is needed (especially for the top schools), but you need to find the right ones to take. </p>
<p>I think it all depends on the kid. If they like challenge of any sort, go ahead and have them take the tough classes, they will most likely rise to the challenge. If they hate/love certain subjects, only take the tough classes where they will enjoy and want to do well. Why torture them with physics if they love shakespeare? If you pick the wrong kind of challenge, it will make for a stressful and unhappy year.</p>
<p>Filmermom nailed it - if the kid is up for the challenge and likes/loves the subject, things should go well. If not, it can be sheer torture!</p>
<p>First day of classes for S. No news from him except for a brief call yesterday - the connection was awful and he really didnāt want to talk (at least it seemed that way). Sigh - I sent him a message wishing him good luck and asking him to send me a first day of school picture - hope he remembers to take one :(</p>
<p>We are taking our oldest DD ('13/'17) to college this weekend. The younger two, DSā16 and DDā19, start school on Tuesday Sept 3rd. </p>
<p>DSā16 got his schedule in the mail and it looked pretty good. Got all the classes he wanted but we donāt know which teachers yet. Iām hoping he gets the same math teacher his older sister had for her last 3 years. DD loved her.</p>
<p>DSā16 is taking AP Human Geo, AP Comp Sci, Math Analysis, Hon Chemistry, Hon Eng 10, German 3, PE, and Business Law.</p>
<p>@allboyz</p>
<p>On the GPA question I think some of the answer depends on the schools your child is looking at. Most schools will tell you they look at the Transcript #1. They like to see kids challenging themselves but I doubt they would want to see Cs on there in AP classes. If your son can get an B+ or better in the harder class Iād let him take it. </p>
<p>I agree with the others who said to let him take the challenging classes in the subjects he enjoys. My oldest DD just finished the IB program where they have to take the hardest class in all subjects. That isnāt right for all kids. A few kids in the program really struggled and it really lowered their unweighted GPA. My son is NOT doing IB. He is going to take the AP classes we think heād do well in.</p>
<p>Hi Filmermom,
My boys are '12,'16 and '19 too! 
</p>
<p>Thank you for your advice regarding the AP classes. It makes since to select AP in the subjects that he enjoys. I will talk to my son about it. Thank you again for the reply! :)</p>
<p>Hi!
I wanted to thank all of you for the replies to my post. I really appreciate it. I think we will stick with his planned schedule for this year. Then we can decide which AP classes he would like to try for next year. He works very hard to keep his grades up so I do believe he would be successful. Thanks again for the replies. Look forward to chatting with all of youā¦ Take care!</p>
<p>Iām a little unsure if I should be taking my DS16 to any college visits at this point. He is so unclear about what/where heād want to be, let alone what he wants to doā¦ Iām thinking next springā¦ His schedule looks pretty good. Heās taking two honors classes, in US History and Chem. the rest are all college trackā¦If he does well this year, weāll consider APās for next year or Senior yearā¦</p>