Like @payn4ward my S is finishing up Honors Algebra II now, will take honors pre-calc next, then Calc BC and AP Multivariable senior year. This is what the top math students do at our school.
Shoot! I wish our school has AP Multivariable. Our kids have to go from BC Calc to AP Stats. Maybe Iâll call the school and see if theyâve ever considered adding AP MultivariableâŠ
Ours doesnât have AP multivariable but does have Calculus III H for college credit, of which BC is a prerequisite.
Just checked with math chair. Apparently, we have a class called âMath Topicsâ that includes multivariable calc, differential equations, and linear algebra. 45 seniors in the class out of 700 kids. He said itâs the best option if kids looking to go into math intensive fields. Glad I read this thread and then got this info!
@awesomepolyglot - yeah, I spied on yâallâs thread a while back and you guys scare me 
No, D19 is not a math wiz. S23 might be; heâs more analytical.
On the subject of cratering freshmen, I cannot make D19 care, despite bribes, nagging, threats, yelling, punishments, ⊠She spent most of the weekend zoning out, despite telling me she was âstudying.â She went to a friendâs to study for about two hours. I doubt they did much studying. She had lax practice. But that was it. Most of the weekend was aimless screen time. And finals are a week away.
She simply doesnât have the fear of God yet about her future. While sheâs heard me harp constantly about how every grade is critical, itâs all hypothetical - thereâs no sense of reality.
She will likely do what I did, which is wake up about a year from now and go âOh shââŠâ
I worked my tail off the last two years of high school and pulled it together, but that was back in the Stone Age, when the competition was light and costs were cheap.
I quail at whatâs ahead for my kids, I really do.
Until I came to CC I did not realize that it wasnât standard to have AB first. I stopped taking math myself after Alg3/Trig, which was my sophomore year in HS and was enough to get me into my flagship. It is a regret to be honest but I did manage to get my diploma without taking a single math class, instead taking things like logic to fulfill those requirements. For our school, I suspect it is a few things. It may be AP test score boosting, it may be GPA boosting (assuming BC is more difficult thus gpaâs may slip for those not ready) or it may be a resource issue. The district clearly feels most kids should take AB as the highest level and thatâs what they are ready for.
On the tracks, in theory, at best youâll have only 30 kids qualified to take BC, maybe less. It would be 30 if all the kids qualified took math all the way though, and not all do. The kids that may take it came out of an self contained elementary program so were tracked in 1st grade or tested into that program before 5th, or petitioned and tested out of 7th grade math. The only way around that is if someone doubled up or took a summer course and in general the summer offerings are limited to the lower level math (Alg1, Geometry, maybe Alg2 but not sure) that are required for HS graduation and is intended to be remedial. I do know a few kids in S17âs year that did that but it was by doubling up freshman year with Geometry and Alg2. You could only really pull that off if you didnât do music or had already done at least 2 years of a FL so werenât taking a language . Otherwise, no room in the schedule for it. Seems risky to me though as I am seeing some colleges requiring that 3rd year of a language, youâd need to make sure the MS language grades were Aâs to be worth carrying over and in general, schools want to see you took language during HS and not just in MS. One of S17âs colleges requires 2 years of a FL in college unless you come in with a 4 on a FL AP or test out on their test, which assumes a minimum of 3 years.
At any rate, as a result, BC is not offered all years since not enough kids enroll or sometimes is offered at only one of the HSâs in the district and those kids have to drive to whichever one it is offered at. AP Stats is an option but it is often viewed as an option for kids who do not want to take Calc at all or as an alternative to pre-calc for some. Multivariable is not an option without petitioning for DE and thatâs a whole can of worms. The higher track kids at our school do not seem to take stats at all. It is a good point though. For most kids I think itâs a fine option. S19 has been bored out of his mind in Alg3 this year and we suspect that to continue in pre-calc next year. However, given the lack of work ethic elsewhere at times I do think an easy class in his case is not a bad thing.
It is a bit annoying though. We do not have an Honors math track in HS, zero âhonorsâ designated classes offered. So you can be on the highest track offered but it will not reflect any kind of honors designation on your transcript whereas all of our sciences and English tracks have honors options until you hit the AP level. On the flip side of that itâs either AP Calc ABâŠor no Calc at all. We do not weight so it doesnât matter from a gpa or rank standpoint (no rank either) but I do wonder if that hurts the look of the transcript to colleges.
We have a similar issue with Honors Chemistry. This year not enough kids enrolled for Honors Chem which meant the options were regular Chem or AP Chem. Basically the regular Chem and Honors Chem teachers have horrible reps and no one wants to take itâŠeven though many should/need to. However, you canât take AP Chem unless youâd taken regular or Honors first. I am praying enough kids registered for Honors Chem for next year so that S19 can take it. His back up plan, over regular Chem, is AP Physics (and then try again for honors chem the following year) and Iâd rather he wait to do that until after PreCalc. He does not do well in the mainstream classes, hence the issues in the regular World History right now.
For S19 though, as it looks like he will qualify for a PE waiver, he will likely use that extra slot senior year for AP CS instead of a multivariable option and I think for him, that will be the right choice.
Huh. I just happened to read this in our reg guide for PreCalc
To comply with legislative rules, only students in tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade may register for UW credit in UWHS courses. Students in ninth and tenth grade in these courses can earn high school credit but are not permitted to register for college credit.
So, which is it? Granted the credit really isnât worth much if it transfers, a gen ed or elective at best. But for the price itâs a cheap credit for filler if it does so seems worth it. Just emailed our GC to see which it is for 10th graders. Not that I would mind saving the enrollment feeâŠLOL!
Final grades are out. DS got all Aâs. They donât have â+â and â-â's. Really glad he got a 100 in Advanced Algebra II/Geometry. However not happy he ended up with a 90 in English. That easily could have been a
been a B⊠Iâm already worried about English next yearâŠ
@MichiganGeorgia That wouldâve been a B in SC until next year when grading scale changes.
Just a couple more thoughts on math sequences and courses.
My D15, who is not a math kid, loved AP stats. She considered it her easiest math class ever and got an A in the class easily and a 5 on the exam. But she said most of the math loving kids hated the class and struggled.
D16 took Calc AB last year and Calc BC. Even though she got a 4 on the AB exam she wanted a really solid foundation in Calc as she is headed into a Comp Sci major. Calc BC was still a challenge for her.
Also, for those of you whose schools donât offer BC or multi-variable I really wouldnât worry about it. The competitive colleges really do look carefully at what is offered at the school your kid graduates from. As long as they are taking the toughest courses available at their school and doing well that is ok.
@mom23travelers thatâs good to know about AP stats. My older son will be a senior next year, taking Honors Pre-Calc and AP Stats. He doesnât love math, but he is not bad at it. I was concerned AP stats might be very hard, but he needs to take a couple of APâs next year and that one made the most sense as he intends to be a business major.
Iâm going to have to look at the math offerings for son19 to make sure he is on the right path for engineering. And Iâll have to find some AP classes that will be of interest to him.
@awesomepolyglot Hopekid is in honors Alg 1. No advancement here. I struggled with a plan to have her take Alg 2 and Geometry at the same time, but finally decided just to let her go at her own pace. (Her teacher was clear and her 2nd semester Alg1 grades werenât A+, so thatâs that)
@MichiganGeorgia straight Aâs!!! Iâd take that! Who cares if itâs a 90âŠitâs an A. Plus, English teachers are the most mercurial graders. Next year could be a whole different story.
2 weeks of school left!!!
@2019hope My sonâs English teacher is the bain of his existence . He had to do an A-Z flip chart with words and illustrations for the book he just read. Unfortunately , none of the characters had an X-ray or played the xylophone .
@MichiganGeorgia Great job for S19 !
Here, A starts in 89.5, S17 has 89.6 in Spanish, A :D. He once got 89.3, B, coasting kid. 
I agree with @mom23travelers. Many AOs said if the AP classes, etc are not available at school, donât worry. They look at what is available at school and if the kids took the toughest courses available at their school.
@MichiganGeorgia if a freshman can figure out how to get all Aâs/A- for the year they are doing great. Congrats.
Son19 is usually an A student, but son17 is an A- student. Both good kids that are doing some fun things in school and enjoying themselves. Thatâs what itâs all about.
Speaking of funâŠDD got on the HS Dance Team for next year. $2100 before weâve bought the first mandatory fundraiser tickets. HopeDad was like " O.o " Thatâs also before weâve given the mandatory volunteer hours as parents. Yay!!! (Sheâs so happy⊠but $$$$$⊠and the volunteer hours ?!?)
@2019hope she better dance like crazy for $2100.00 ha.
We pay for silly things like club soccer, lax camps,etc. It seems like flushing a lot of $$, but we do it any way.
@2019hope congrats on the dance team!
Honestly I sometimes wonder if all the $$ weâve spent on extra curricular over the years is worth the hit to college savings it has meant in our house. I honestly think it is but as I crunch numbers for S17 and find his options limited/constrained by our donut-holeyness, it is frustrating.
We are still playing for club soccer in college for SD14 and this year alone I figure that S19 cost us about $8,500 for 2 different music lessons, 2 sports and a band trip to Ireland. S17 was a bit less at around $7,500. Only one music lesson for him, no sports (though there is a lot of little extra expenses for stage crew/drama) but he made up for it in camps/classes/test prep and test fees and of course the same band trip to Ireland.
And S17 wonders why I am saying ânoâ to the senior year drama trip to NYC!
@MichiganGeorgia Iâd take the 90 especially if it counts as a straight A and isnât weighted to the A- for the gpa. Iâd be thrilled with that report card.
@2019hope - Is there anyway that your school can make the dance team tax deductible? Our marching band boosters(Public school) has a federal tax ID. So the fees that the kids donât receive any goods from are tax deductible.
Here is what it says on our website.
"Thank you for contributing to the band program at XXX High School through the XXX Band Boosters. Contributions to this organisation are deductible on your tax return providing no goods or services have been received. This means payments made for fundraising items, All-State and District Honor Band, instrument or equipment rental, Marching Band meals, shoes, gloves, bags and other such items, are not deductible. Contributions to the general running of the Marching Band or Concert Band program however, are deductible.â
We get a statement from them with our contribution around tax time.
It might be work checking into.
I would be happy with the A if he didnât want to go to Georgia Tech like his oldest brother. Itâs getting increasingly difficult to get in there.
Well, the daughterâs final grades are in: One class flunked, but still a 3.45 overall. On the whole, given who she is, Iâll totally count that as a victory.