S21 has no interest in taking AP classes. He’s in all honors classes now and is doing well, but has no interest in increasing an already busy schedule or taking on the added stress, pressure and workload of APs.
Part of me is frustrated that he’s not challenging himself more, but the other part me is proud that he’s not falling in into the trap of trying to keep up with the jones. He’s in a very competitive environment (almost 60% take AP courses) and these kids already put soooooo much pressure on themselves. It’s actually kind of sad. Plus the honors classes are preparing him well anyway.
In any event, he could end up regretting this decision when he starts applying to very competitive schools, though I suspect he’ll be content with being a very good student at less prestigious school as he’s not a name brand kind. Good for him I say, though I’m sure I’ll need to remind myself of that a few times over the next two years.
@eb23282 You may have seen the interesting discussion over on the Class of 2019 board about the value of AP’s. It varies widely in both initial cost and return. I’d encourage anyone on this board to take a look at that as our 2021ers have time to plan ahead and adjust their schedules to what truly works best for them.
@eb23282 my d is the same. She goes to a very high pressure school and puts so much pressure on herself. We’re trying to find a balance between the right level of APs and mental health! I also think mine would be happier as the “bigger fish in a smaller pond” but time will tell!
@eb23282 we struggle with the healthy mental health also. It’s heart breaking for me to see her struggle with her depression or anxiety over what seems so minor and probably is but at their age it means the world to them. Our HS does a college tour they can go on in Junior year. They visit 3 or 4 different kinds of colleges. Big, small, private, public. They stay in dorms and get a feel for the different types of schools. D wants to go on this so it will help her narrow down the schools she wants to look at.
Looking for some guidance from others who have older already in college age children.
D is working on her schedule for next year. A friend told me that we should look at college requirements for admissions in the program she wants, even in some of the schools she is interested in. I am having trouble finding this, has anybody done this before that can provide me with some guidance or what to search to find what I am looking for?
@AndreaLynn Not sure what you mean. Colleges don’t really have requirements that have to be met in high school in order to be accepted. Most like to see four years of the five core classes (math, science with 2 lab, English, social studies, and foreign language). The U of California schools do have a requirement for some sort of art/music class as well I believe.
There is also a site Collegedata.com where you can search every school and if you click the admissions tab for the school it will give the school’s required HS courses.
They are pretty much standard and similar to what @homerdog set forth above
As to a college having different requirements for a particular specific program the school offers, I think you would just have to reach out to the school.
@AndreaLynn Almost all of the school see looked at for D19 had their recommended high school classes somewhere on their admissions pages.
We had an eventful vacation with D19 ending up in the hospital in Boston for 5 days last week with pneumonia and the flu. DH, D21 and S23 flew home last Wednesday like we had originally planned but D19 and I did not get home until late Sunday. Sunday was D21’s 16th birthday so I did not get to celebrate with her as much as I would have liked.
Yesterday was the first day back at school and she got to skip two classes to go get her license! Today I finally booked her birthday present. She did not want a party, instead we are heading up to universal Orlando over MLK weekend with 4 of her best friends.
Twin B very disappointed in a couple of finals grades. Thought they studied well, but apparently not well enough. Upset that those tests will bring down grades. Also upset that twin A did better. I tried to discuss and suggest modifications for studying (outlining every couple weeks so there’s not so much at the end), but to no avail. Twin B is now commenting that they are just not smart.
S21 was a great distraction though, having come home with a whopping 2.7 gpa from first semester. But, he made lots of friends, which is the most important thing in college, according to him. He’s now in danger of losing his scholarship.
@havenoidea oh man, it’s bad enough when they compare themselves to friends, but must be so hard to compare yourself to your twin. I’m sorry, hope it gets better for twin B. Good luck to S21, hope no scholarships are lost.
For the high school classes required by colleges, take a look at the common data set for each college. Section C5 contains a list of required and recommended courses.
@momtogkc So sorry to hear of your D19’s illness, but glad that she is recovered enough to look forward to a celebratory trip with friends. Hope you have a great time.
@havenoidea Sibling rivalry can be tough; I imagine it’s magnified for twins! Hope that Twin B figures out what he or she needs to do to boost self esteem. I imagine that each has their particular areas of strength. Maybe focusing on those unique positives will improve morale? As for your college-aged son, I hope he understands the gravity of the situation and ups his game in the spring! Hang in there!
@andrealynn google “common data set” “school name”. The results should return a link to a .pdf for the school. Open that link and scroll to section C5. Note that not all schools report a common data set.
Class rank was released today…S21 is 295 out of 1161…made the top 25% but not going to lie, I was hoping for a closer to 15%…he slacked off last semester and he knows it lol. This semester he has PreAp Chem, PreAp Alg 2, AP World History and Band (our school district does accelerated block scheduling so only 4 classes a term). If he stays within top 25% and meets Texas A&M’s SAT/ACT requirements (minimum 1300 Math + Reading with at least 600 in each and ACT composite of 30 with at least a 27 in math & English) he’ll be an auto admit, so that’s where focus will be…he’s got major test taking anxiety but we’ve started him in private SAT tutoring from this month so I think he can do it…he’s a smart kid and we are incredibly proud of him.
@Momof3B I’m sorry he wasn’t higher in the rank. There is still time, maybe he will move up. He had excellent scores, I’m sure he will be just fine.
We don’t get ranking until next year. It’s so competitive in D grade it’s insane. We are hoping for top 10% but honestly i don’t think she will make it. She is loading up on college and AP classes next year beachside we have weighted averages. It’s the only way to get high on the list.
@momof3B I wish schools would move away from ranking; it puts so much stress on the students, especially in a state like TX where it matters so much for admissions. I hope your son meets his targets by the time it matters. He sounds like a great kid.
DH, D21 and S23 flew home last Wednesday like we had originally planned but D19 and I did not get home until late Sunday. Sunday was D21’s 16th birthday so I did not get to celebrate with her as much as I would have liked.