Agreed, @eh1234, let them be kids for this short period of their lives. They will have enough to worry about later on. My D has her hands in lots of little and big things and I’m letting her “drive the boat” when it comes to deciding if she wants to pursue them or not. She loves art, wants to learn guitar, is working toward her GS Gold Award, and is active in writing, newspaper, theater and scholastic bowl at school, all HER choice. As for classes, because of the Choir class, which she wants to continue all 4 years and the mandatory Theology class each year, AP’s will be few, probably only 1 Jr. year and 1 or 2 senior year and I’m totally fine with that. She is my 4th and to be honest, the AP’s my other two DC have taken were not all that helpful in reducing the college class load - I’m just going to let the chips fall where they may.
Great perspective, @ILMom13579 … I tend to get scared when I read the overachievers’ threads on this site. DD is in what she happily calls “stupid math” - the track for those who will not get to take Calculus in HS, unless she doubles up or takes a summer class. This is not because she’s stupid, but because we had her in a bad school in elementary and she essentially slept through fourth- and fifth-grade math and had a ton of catching up to do. She’s got As in Alg 1 this year, but isn’t on the fast track anymore. A STEM career is probably not in her future so I’m OK with that.
No such thing as “stupid math”-- all kids should achieve at their own pace. Similarly, kids who are ready for advanced math should have that available too (even without being labeled as overachievers, @gatormama! 
). S19 is taking AP Stats this year; it’s been easy for him. He will have AB Calc in 10th, BC Calc in 11th, and HL IB Math as a senior. This will work well for him. Our high school lets kids and parents make choices based on what they feel challenges them. S19 will have several APs next year. S13 and D16 also had several APs as sophomores and they ended up fine. Some of their friends had no APs, and they also ended up being accepted to good colleges and ended up fine too. Here’s to making great, informed, individualized choices for our kids. Hugs to all.
Not trying to denigrate anyone, including my DD. Hope it didn’t come off that way 
Not at all, @Gatormama. :x
Since we’re talking about math sequences, I could use some advice. I had planned for kiddo to take both Honors Geometry/Algebra 2 her sophomore year. Or take Honors Geometry this summer. I spoke with her beloved math teacher and this was her advice;
- Do Not take Geometry in the summer
- Take both Geometry and Algebra 2 sophomore year, but drop down to regular level. Honors moves too quickly and they’ve had lots of problems with the kids who’ve tried to take both and fallen behind.
This sounded fine to me until I did some GPA projections. (I know, I know !!) Taking 2 un-weighted classes could drop her GPA/Class rank to non auto-admit to our State Flagship. ( I cringe typing this … but maybe you guys can understand)
She also has long term health issues that have unfortunately been a burden this year. Plus she made the dance team(YAY!!) which is a much bigger time commitment than school soccer and the JV dance team… As of now she is just signed up for Honors Geometry next year. Taking the ACT junior year will be a problem. Are there any other pitfalls that await? Thank you in advance to my CC peeps!!
@2019hope - It sounds like you need to choose between a higher weighted GPA and her ability to take AP Calc as a senior?
Every school is different, but in my kid’s school, the regular and honors level math classes are so different that it would be very difficult to go from Algebra 2 to Honors Trig/Pre-Calc, and I’m not sure that regular pre-calc is enough preparation for AP Calc - the school finally figured that out and started offering a regular Calculus class. (My D16 is in regular pre-calc as a senior and there is no way she will place into the Calculus class that she needs for her major)
Maybe your D could split the difference and take regular Geometry and Honors Algebra 2 at the same time. She’ll likely be sufficiently prepared for Honors Pre-Calc and only take a GPA hit from one class.
How do you project final GPA in freshman year? I guess you just have to assume an A from your D in very class all throughout HS - my kids have not been so reliable on this front, haha.
@2019hope @eh1234 On GPA, in our school district, 4.0 rather than 5.0 for 2 semesters of 2 classes, 4 out of 36 or 39 credit hours (until Junior year when the GPAs are submitted in September of Senior year) would mean 0.10 to 0.11 drop in weighted GPA, which would affect the make or break for auto-admit.
Be all and end all GPA. It is really Unfortunate situation for all our kids.
I would trust the teacher who teaches your child now and also knows how the school math program works. We moved between 9th and 10th grade with our D. She excelled at math in her old school so we put her in honors pre-calc. The GC told us that honors pre-calc was a very difficult class that only the very best math students take. D thought that sounded perfect. She crashed and burned and we are still paying the price in some ways.
S19 is now at the same school and signed up for honors pre-calc. I’m a bit nervous because our experience was so bad with D16, but his teacher recommended it and he really wants to do it. He is the kind of student who does much better when it is challenging than when it is easy while D16 thrives when she is at or near the top of the class.
@2019hope Given what @eh1234 says, I would ask the math teacher if regular geometry and regular algebra 2 would prepare her well for Honors Precalc (11th) and then AP Calculus (12th).
If not, staying in Honors Geometry (10th) > Honors Algebra 2 (11th) > Honors PreCalc (Senior) may be better path for GPA and for readiness for college calculus. my $.02
I really respect @mom23travelers, but here’s a different view: if you can find a great geometry class over the summer, it might be perfect for her. She can focus on one subject exclusively (and a bit intensively) and get it out of the way with less pressure than she faces during the school year. I think that if I could get real and specific info on the geometry teacher and knew that s/he was very good, I would go ahead with geometry over the summer. Also, I believe that thinking through whether certain choices will or won’t preclude your child from attending your flagship or making other decisions (etc.) is good planning.
I 100% agree with @EastGrad. I would rather my child do geometry through the summer than take geo/ALG 2 together or take ALG 2 in the summer.
And I understand the importance of rank (we are in Texas).
I think if your child is motivated that the weighted math class would be the way to go.
It kills me really, all this stress about the “right” set up of classes given such huge differentials in how each school weights, or doesn’t. Or ranks, or doesn’t. I can say from personal experience that I’d suggest avoiding an online geometry option. SD attempted that and just never got it done over the summer (which meant we were out the fee). Instead she took geometry alongside Calc AB her senior year and it worked out just fine.
I know times are different and it does depend on the major but this liberal arts grad did just fine at her very highly ranked competitive flagship…and didn’t take math past algebra 3/trig…,or sophomore year since I was on the advanced track.
Would I advise my kids to do that? No. Did it work out fine? Yes.
At the end of the day I want my kids to take classes that challenge them and interest them…but don’t kill them. I don’t believe in taking something just to check a box. It means (often) I keep my mouth shut if it isn’t what I think they should do but at the end of the day it’s their class to study for and their transcript, not mine.
I also believe kids need summer. A real summer. You don’t get that back later.
It is perhaps not fair for me to say. Our school does not weight and does not rank so I can afford my perspective. My S17’s GPA would be higher had he done less on the Honors and AP side of things. If that keeps him out of a school…by itself…it wasn’t the right school anyway.
Hi Everyone - Mom of a freshman here. Glad to board this fun bus full of enthusiastic parents. Can’t believe it is almost the end of freshman year , seems like the year went by too fast.
Thank you all so much! I cringe when I think of how much time I’ve spent wondering how best to game our school districts system. It’s embarrassing to admit…thank you all for providing a “safe place” to vent and seek advice!
So many good points all around! How does one go from regular Geometry/Algebra 2 to AP Calculus? My thoughts hadn’t reached that far, but that really does stand out as an obstacle- the two math tracks are miles apart.
I normally force her to do my home-made math class in the summer. It’s kind of a drag for everyone. I’ve heard about a really good summer program at one of the local tutoring places. I think I’d like to enroll her in that and just argue all summer like we always do. That would be especially helpful summer before Junior year to go through the Alg 2 curriculum. It might eliminate 85% of my ACT concerns…
We’re in Texas - it’s all about class rank. thank you all for the excellent advice and understanding!!! :x
@2019hope: our middle and high school track (before we moved to Common Core Math): Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre Calculus, AB Calculus, BC Calculus. (Pre Calc includes Trigonometry). ETA: for those doing IB Math Options, usually it’s PreCalc (Soph), IB Standard Level Math (Junior), and AB or BC Calc (Senior) OR AB Calc (Soph), BC Calc (Junior), and IB Higher Level Math (Senior).
I’d like to weigh in on “gaming” the system. I don’t consider planning ahead and determining what is a logical sequence of classes and determining what class is most appropriate for your child to take to help raise their GPA and rank as gaming .My kids do not take online or summer classes, but they do take advantage of weighted classes that are appropriate for their skill level. I have never requested a higher level course than was recommended, but I have requested an Honors level course in lieu of the recommended AP course if I felt that there was a possibility that my son would not do as well as he should and tank his GPA. We don’t live in Texas but my state offers generous lottery funded scholarships with the highest being 7500.00 a year if a student is ranked in the top 6% of their class, has a 3.5 GPA and at least a 28 on the ACT or 1200 on the SAT. For students that aren’t in the top 6% must have a 32 ACT or 1400 SAT. So it is advantageous to plan well. The next level of scholarship drops to 5000.00 a year . So by not planning ahead, you could possibly be leaving 10,000.00 on the table. This strategy served my DS16 well. He qualified for the highest level state scholarship, a 2500.00 enhancement sophomore through senior year. His high stats made him very competitive for school based scholarships , and he will be attending his dream school in the fall with nearly a full ride. We’re hoping the same strategy works for our youngest son ( on track so far) , but if not at least DS16 's college education funds has made it a little easier to fund younger brother.
I agree, @carolinamom2boys. In fact, I feel that the research and sharing all of us do on CC is part of knowing the system well enough to make sure we don’t miss opportunities. Congrats to your DS16.
@2019hope Our instate schools offer very little guaranteed merit and the schools that do are scores and GPA based . Generally speaking nothing kicks in until a 30 ACT and a minimum of a 3.5. I’ve been surprised to see some automatic merit at OOS schools at stats far lower but admit that I wonder…for those that talk about rank as a metric, I am not sure if that means my kids are automatically not considered or what.
Still, from a pure classmate competitiveness standpoint I am very glad we do not rank. I can tell you this though, a 28 ACT and an GPA of 3.5 would definitely not be top 6% at our school. Maybe top 10% but I’d suspect it’s lower than that, somewhere between 10-20. It is interesting though. It didn’t occur to me that stats that low would get any merit awards and now that we are moving forward with lists and such for my S17, it has become clear that a slight bump in his GPA and an bigger bump on the ACT will open up more monies for him and he will be working towards that. I am hoping that AP world will not be the GPA killer for S19 that it was for S17. He was determined to take it though and I pick my battles.
As for the math track question, here, geometry is considered a bit of a standalone class.
Typical progression would be
Alg 1
Geometry
Alg 2
Pre Calc
Calc AB
Calc BC
A very small amount of kids start Alg 1 in 7th grade. Those kids will make it through the full progression and can do it in order. However, they(or anyone) could take Geometry at any time. It could be taken the same time as Alg1 or 2 or later, as long as it is taken before graduation. I don’t recommend taking it the same time as Calc and I will say that not taking earlier it hurt SD on the ACT. That said, both Alg classes and Geometry are offered over the summer for kids who are behind or want to get ahead but not double up during the school year.
So, your super advanced (about 30 kids) will get all the way to Calc BC. Standard advanced to Calc AB. Mainstream classes to PreCalc. Only Alg 1/2 and Geometry are required to graduate.
Our school doesn’t require Calc AB as a prerequisite for Calc BC. A typical progression at my son’s school is Algebra 1 in 8th, Geometry in 9th, Algebra 2 in 10th , pre-Calc in 11 and Calc AB or BC in Sr year.