@JanieWalker Thanks, my son is doing AP Comp Sci A now and also had coding experience. I think he would have struggled with it if he did not have this as he is doing an online course and it is not too great. Has your daughter tried to do any of the USACO online competitions? She might like them.
Thanks again and good luck!!
@yearstogo, Shd did try USACO in December but did not feel prepared enough for the contest. She starts an online class geared toward USACO training tomorrow (not for school credit); sheâll try USACO again as a sophomore.
@homerdog, I apologize - thought I had responded to your AP class question but it looks like I didnât.
She takes AP classes from accredited/reputable online providers. They are not easy courses and she worked her buns off to get her A- last semester in her AP Chem class (first time she got less than an A in her life). Her AP Chem and AP Comp Sci courses
are through PA Homeschoolers, and next year her AP courses will be through PA Homeschoolers and CTY Online. They are rigorous, College Board approved, full credit, difficult courses. So she takes courses, she does not self-study.
PA Homeschoolers Online AP courses are for Homeschoolers only, but you could certainly see if your kid wants to do CTY Online AP courses (kids have to qualify through certain standardized test scores before they can enroll, though). There are other online AP providers out there too, but I can only vouch for the quality of CTY and PA Homeschoolers. Just as traditional schools differ in quality, so do online providers.
@JanieWalker DS was able to get to the Silver level but so far no luck making it to Gold. Which online course is your daughter using? I think DS could benefit from something. He likes Python best but is learning Java through AP Comp Sci A and hopes he will get to Gold via the knowledge gained but I am not so sure.
@yearstogo - That is fantastic about the Silver!! Dd also enjoys Python and had barely any Java before AP Comp Sci. She did the first USACO test (December) in Python but then switched halfway through to Java and then got frustrated. She feels she needs to know Java more before she tries again, and she wanted a course specific to USACO (she does best in a structured environment, so though there are free coding resources everywhere online, she prefers official classes). She will begin a Ktbyte course tomorrow - they offer USACO training at all levels. The website looks good and their kids win competitions, but we donât yet have any firsthand knowledge of it.
@yearstogo , @JanieWalker D21 is S L O W L Y working through AoPS Intermediate Algebra, when she has the time. She enjoys the challenge.
On other newsâŠD21 is my introverted one who has ZERO social media apps. Does not like to text or talk to people after she gets home from school. A real homebodyâŠWell, she got asked if she wanted to go the talent show and âhang outâ with a boy she has a silent (maybe not so) crush onâŠWow is all I can sayâŠDidnât see that coming. =D>
@BingeWatcher - woohoo! That is awesome! Keep us posted on the talent show experience!
@JanieWalker, I was just looking at the KTBYTE site and canât find how much those online courses cost. I was looking the Problem Solving with Java. Would love if D could carve out enough time for a class like this.
@JanieWalker That is interesting as son MUCH prefers Python but there are few of the programs in Python for him to look at in their tutorial so he has reluctantly began using Java more as there are a lot of codes out there for him to review if he cannot solve a program. Thanks for the name of the site, I will look into it.
@BingeWatcher, click on the orange enroll button for a class and you will see how much it is
@yearstogo, I have read there is a timing issue with Python in USACO so it is much better to use Java (or C++). Also, there are probably other online programs out there so you might find something you like better than Ktbyte (if you do, let me know!)
First semester grades in for DD with 4.0 and 4.344 weighted.
Missed a lot! Not sure what my S21 is taking next fall. Have got to get on this.
Hi, everyone! Iâve been reading through this thread, so thanks for all the helpful info and letting me enjoy the warmth and support vicariously 
We have a child graduating in '18 and another in '21, like many of you guys. They are both daughters and go to a big, competitive public HS where theyâre active in theater. Since I see many dancers here, they love tap dance/musical theater dance. Thatâs pretty much where the sister similarities end 
Looking forward to being part of the community!
Oops! Iâm so new to this that I canât get the years right. Thank goodness our oldest is '19, not '18. Yikes.
Hello, all. D made straight As for her first semester. She loves Debate " CX" and Academic Octathlon as her favorite classes. She is going to take Debate and Academic Decathlon all four years. She does not want to do the IB programâŠShe hears it is a TON of work. She is enjoying high school much more than her tiny all girls middle school so far. She likes to be anonymous and the school is sooo much larger than her middle school.
Anyone else worried about the shrinking acceptance rates at so many of the top 100 collegesâŠ? The admissions process seems to get crazier and crazier every year - great colleges that used to accept half their applicants now accept far fewer, many safeties are no longer safeties, and places like HYPâŠwell, ack. Itâs important for a kid to have a balanced list, yes - but then thereâs the so-called Tufts effect, even with safeties. I feel bad for kids today. They can be âperfectâ and still get shut out of everywhere they apply - even safeties that might assume they will go somewhere else. I know itâs too early to be worried about thisâŠI should probably stop reading the college acceptance threads.
Yes @Janiewalker we need to reassess when we are looking at our 2021 applicants as to what are truly is safety, match and reach schools.
My DD18 has a 35ACT, 4.0UW and 4.44W with 7AP classes and a good range of EC. Based on the type of school she wanted to attend she applied to seven schools. She was admitted to her 2 safeties Delaware and Clemson. The 2 that I believed were matches based on her numbers, naviance scattergraphs etc. were UVA and UNC. She was rejected at both. She is now waiting on the reaches, Vanderbilt, Princeton and Brown. We donât hold out much hope for any of the reaches in light of the rejections at UVA and UNC.
The hooks and the diversity (geography, students special interests etc) of student body that the top colleges are trying to create with their incoming classes, makes the raw numbers not mean as much as they used too.
@burghdad, my fingers are crossed for your daughter. She sounds like a fantastic student and I hope she gets great news from at least one of her reach schools. In the meantime, it is wonderful that your daughter does have two acceptances in hand. I have read of kids not getting into their safeties because, presumably, those safeties assumed they were being used as safeties. I think the take-home lesson from that is to have a few safeties that the kid would genuinely like to go to and then show those safeties a lot of love during the application process.
@JanieWalker yes the safetyâs need to one the kid is willing to too. We are in PA and Pitt and PSU would have been good safetyâs as well but daughter said she didnât want to go to ether so she did not apply. Actually I was going to make her apply to PSU honors but once she got into udel honors she asked if she she could skip applying to PSU.
She will get a great education and have a great experience at either udel or Clemson but she really liked uva and unc more so she was disappointed.
Of course for the parents the merit money is a nice bonus at those two schools. At all rest there will be no merit money.
Catching upâŠ
AP Art: @EastGrad That art sequence sounds cool. I donât think S21âs art program does any APs, but they do end up with a big portfolio.
AP Calc and AoPS: @JanieWalker and @yearstogo We also loved AoPS. My S17 used the AoPS Precalc book to double-up during Alg II and skipped the HS precalc course. So, his transcript looks like he went from Alg II to Calc BC. It was a good move for him. (But wouldnât be for S21.)
S17 also took 3 programming classes through AoPS during junior high. It was 2 Python classes and a Java class that covered more than the AP Comp Sci A class (there used to be a more advanced AP Comp Sci AB test). I donât think AoPS offers the Java class any longer, though.
S17 did USACO tests during high school and enjoyed them. Before that, he did Project Euler challenges. Those might be good if a kid isnât quite ready for USACO. And, they can be done whenever rather than waiting for a competition. I think he used Java for better speed on USACO, but I donât know for sure.
AP Chemistry: I think how difficult AP Chem is without a prior chemistry class really depends on the teacher. S17 took AP Chem without a prior chem course. The teacher said it would be fine if he just skimmed the first few chapters of an old textbook over the summer. So, if that is similar to your Sâs situation, it should be fine. But, I think our school was not that difficult as far as the AP Chem class, or at least as far as the lab writeup workload. He did get a 5 on the AP test.
Instead of AP Chem, S21 is taking the Honor Chemistry associated with the Art program heâs in. The class does get an honors point for the UC capped GPA, which most âhonorsâ classes donât. He didnât want to deal with convincing the Art program to let him take something different. And, since S21 goes to a school that is new to our family, we donât know how hard the AP Chem class is there. So, he will have 1 AP course but 3 honors points for the UC system.
Acceptance rates: Yes, it seems they are going nowhere but down. 
It seems like S21 will be looking at schools that were safeties for S17, so that helps. Unless he decides he wants to go to an art school with portfolio entry, in which case I have a lot to learn about how that works.