<p>He’s excited about it; it’s the first standardized test he’ll be taking where the results don’t “count”. (I know they do, technically, but still. It’s nice to have the normal test pressures taken away.</p>
<p>Our DD’18 has just taken the entry test for the private school she wants to attend. She also had to sit for testing for the honors track for our local public. DD’12 went to the private, so her little sister already has some of the uniforms. If she is admitted (she will find out in a few weeks) she will have to take placement tests for language (Math, Science and English are placed from the entrance exam). It is interesting how each child is different - I am sure that her interests will be very different from her older sisters, even though she wants to go to the same school.</p>
<p>Hello, all. I have a DD '18 and a DS '14 (hello to fellow '18 parents – I recognize some of you from the other thread). Now that college app season has wound down for my son I guess it’s time to shift focus! </p>
<p>DD is in the midst of applying to the same magnet school her brother attended although I am not sure it is the right fit for her since it is an intensive STEM school and she is … not so much. But we thought she should go through the process since it is similar to the college app process. First stage is a standardized test (customized to the school), so it is practice for the inevitable SAT/ACT. The second, semi-finalist stage, involves personal essays, activity resume, and teacher recommendations. She’s now in the second stage but we won’t know results until late March.</p>
<p>DD is in Spanish now and will probably continue it in high school. The only trick is to not switch mid-HS as AT LEAST (sorry, can’t figure out how to format on this new forum so I am not really shouting there) three years of a single language is preferable, rather than 2 of one and 1 of another. My DS stopped at three years, which his GC said was fine given the curriculum at his HS.</p>
<p>For the math question above – a good portion of kids around here take Algebra in 7th grade, then Geometry in 8th grade, ending with Calc BC as seniors. However, there are a significant enough number of kids who are a year ahead of that progression that the local (public) high schools I am familiar with offer Multivariable Calc. My son’s STEM high school offers courses even beyond Multi, as there are always a handful of freshmen who take BC Calc. </p>
<p>Welcome 2014novamom. I recall this time last year when my S’13 had all apps in, but not all responses back. Exciting and anxious. Good luck to your son. If the discussion on the 2013 thread is any indication, the kids can thrive wherever they land and in many cases the school they end up attending is a better fit than the “dream” school.</p>
<p>As for math, another option for the kids who have accelerated is the local community college. A few kids at our local HS max out their math opportunities by senior year and take dual-enrollment classes at the local CC (this applies to a local U if you are fortunate enough to live near one). Depending on where they go to college, those credits may transfer on. S’18 is on track to complete Calc BC in his Junior year and may consider this option depending on what he wants to do later.</p>
<p>@2014novamom–if the students take geometry in 8th grade, why are they not taking BC in 11th grade? Does the school require a year of AB before taking BC? Just curious. Our non-advanced track has students taking Alg 1 in 9th grade but a significant number take geometry, either accelerated or not, in 9th grade. A smaller number start Alg 2 in 9th grade, and if they stay on the honors track, they will land in Multi-variable in 12th grade.</p>
<p>I am amazed at the number of people who have good community colleges nearby. The math courses at our CC are almost remedial. </p>
<p>My son is applying to the local VAPA (visual and performing arts) HS tomorrow, the first day of applications. He is excited to be involved in theater and acting. He still has some other choices like magnets and our local HS too just in case he does not get in. Fun times.</p>
<p>Many do end up in Multi, but a significant number take AB first, then BC. At DS’s HS, kids typically carry 5 APs (or post-AP) senior year plus a required research lab project and a heavy load of ECs so some would like a slightly slower pace in at least one class. At the non-STEM high schools, these kids may have been good at math, but not interested enough to move at a faster pace. </p>
<p>My DD '18 would be in the latter category. She is taking Honors geometry now, for a high school grade and credit, and getting an A. She could theoretically end up in Multi fall senior year. BUT she doesn’t love math, and I can envision her putting it on the back burner to focus on other subjects and taking either AB or BC as a senior. </p>
<p>Based on the number of sections offered in the spring for the 8 post-AP math classes at DS '14’s school, I would estimate 40% of the senior class is enrolled in post-AP. By the way, just wanted to clarify that Multi is a semester class so kids actually start the year in Multi and finish in Diff Eq. 50% are in BC, and the majority of the balance is in AB. A very small fraction may have foregone math their senior year after taking AB or BC earlier and are enrolled in AP Stats. I don’t know how enrollment would shake out at local non-STEM schools.</p>
<p>@dadotwoboys Our high school’s curriculum is structured the same way. 2015 daughter is taking AP Calc BC this year, which is currently the highest math offered at her school. Her senior year math choices are to “step down” to AP Calc AB. I am lobbying for a Calc III section to be added, since son 2018’s class is on the same track to have a big portion of kids in the same boat. So far, no luck. Concurrent enrollment doesn’t work for us because the kids hate to miss out on their HS hours. It’s a good problem to have, I guess.</p>
<p>@helimom74 - The hours at the community college don’t count for HS hours? They do here and they transfer directly to a state university should they choose to attend. Good luck getting the Calc III section </p>
<p>@2014novamom - S’13 opted for AP Stats senior year following Calc BC junior year (a social science kind of guy - no STEM interest). But most of the STEM kids take the community college route for math. Hard to know yet with S’18. He’ll be spending a lot of time on music in HS (or at least that appears to be the path). Way too early to know if that is a career path, but it would impact his class decisions in later years. Plenty of time to work that out.</p>
<p>@liveonboca - good luck to your son with the VAPA audition.</p>
<p>@dadotwoboys - My apologies; my wording was poor. The concurrent university credits absolutely count in her HS. By “missing out” I meant the concurrent enrollment takes the place of her HS electives, and general high school experience-stuff.</p>
<p>Oh - that makes sense</p>
<p>I was hoping someone would start this thread! This is my first time through with my DS but I have been lurking on CC the last few months soaking up information. I am already intimidated by the lofty math and science classes some of your kids will be doing. DS will be doing plain ole regular vanilla Geometry next year. His strength is reading and writing but I am on pins and needles right now waiting for the course recommendations to come out for next year. He has had all A+s in MS English and Reading and his Explore scores were great in those areas but he had a low (for him) Fall MAP reading…I am nervous. </p>
<p>welcome little stitious. No feeling intimidated allowed. We’re all hear to learn and share a little. Our kids are all great and special and will all find there way, maybe with our help, maybe despite our help.</p>
<p>Welcome, @LittleStitious! What dadotwoboys said: no feeling intimidated allowed! One thing I like about this site is the parents and kids are not all cookie-cutters. Everyone is different, and the kids all have different strengths and weaknesses. All your boy needs to do is work on being the best LittleStitious son he can be, and it’ll be grand. Do you get to have input on what his freshman courses will be?</p>
<p>Thanks for the warm welcome HeliMom and dadtotwo!<br>
Heli: no, as far as I know, parents get no input on freshman courses. </p>
<p>Freshman Info Night last night. 2018 son was delighted to learn orchestra will satisfy the 1-year P.E. requirement. It seems weird to me that this would be considered P.E., but if it saves me from hearing grouching about it, I am 100% for it.</p>
<p>Hello fellow parents of class of 2018! Very excited to find this thread. I have DD1(class of 2018) and she was just offered course sheet. DD1 is a brilliant student academically but mediocre in athletics. However, she has been playing tennis for a while and wanted to try out for tennis all along. Her 9th grade course sheet offers athletics as a double block and a bunch of electives in different fields. If she picks athletics, she will not have enough credits to do any of the offered electives. She hasn’t decided what she wants to choose career wise and therefore wants to try out biomed and business courses as electives and see what she likes. She may make it to Jr Varsity but she may not be one of their best players and neither is she very passionate about being one. What is the time commitment in being on a sports team specially in Jr year with all the AP courses and when playing in Varsity team( we are looking at the long term commitment here if she decides on the athletics). How important is being on a school team for college admissions? She still wants to continue playing tennis outside of high school and can she put this as an EC when applying for colleges? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I think the sports commitment will vary from sport to sport, and from school to school. </p>
<p>My DS '14 plays two varsity sports, and has since sophomore year. He has a very rigorous course load which this year includes 5 APs, one honors, and a senior research lab that requires a year end presentation to a panel. He goes to a magnet school which has a longer school day than the other public schools, with a 35 minute commute each way. Sports practices typically run 2.5 hours every day plus games. On game days he does not get home until 10:00 or so, depending on where the game is. Our school does not offer an athletics course, so all practices and games are on top of a full 7-period academic load. </p>
<p>All that background was just to say that his BEST grades always comes in the marking periods where he plays a sport. He is forced to manage his time, plus he just seems to have more energy at those times. This seems to be more the rule than the exception from what other parents say. I know the same holds true for my DD '18, in that she is much more productive when her sports are in season as well.</p>
<p>I think it does depend on the HS and sport what the time commitment is, so each of our individual experiences should all be taken with a grain of salt. That said, S’13 played 4 years of varsity tennis (and participated In some other activities) and did not find the commitment too burdensome, even when taking a load of AP classes.</p>
<p>As for the importance of athletics to colleges, I think colleges in general are looking to get a sense of who the kid is as a person and what they may contribute to the campus community. Being involved in a sport shows schools a variety of positive attributes like that the student can manage time, work in a team , compete, focus, show passion and commitment, etc. Of course, this can be shown through a variety of activities (band, drama, debate, student government and so on) and need not be limited to activities through the school. My sense is that the schools want to see the student become involved in whatever they love and to do it with passion. I also think they know that a 9th grader is just figuring out what they like and that participating in a variety of things at the start of HS and then narrowing down and getting more deeply involved over time (by taking on leadership roles and so on) is a natural progression. In other words, no penalty for trying something out and then not doing it all four years so long as the student has made time for doing the few things they really love doing.</p>
<p>But I don’t work for a college admissions office, so this is just my opinion as an observer.</p>
<p>For those of you looking at Math options, I feel we’re very backward when I look at the regular sequence for our state: Algebra in 9th, Geometry in 10th, Algebra 2-Trig in 11th and Pre-Calc in 12th. Advanced students can take 9th grade Algebra in 8th and if they pass a state test at the end of the year most high schools will put them in Geometry in 9th so that they can do Calc in 12th–that’s what D '15 did.
S’18 is currently taking 9th grade Algebra but his HS will only put students in Geometry if they take a school placement test–it’s given a few days after the state 9th grade Algebra test so hopefully he’ll be prepared to take the placement test. On the other hand Math is not his strongest subject so if he doesn’t pass the school’s test I’ll have to tell myself that maybe he’ll be better off just retaking Algebra and being on the same level as most of the kids in his school? It’s a competitive college prep school and maybe being in Geometry will be additional pressure. </p>