S21 Calc BC class was cancelled, not enough kids enrolled. He was put in Calc AB.
Do you think counselors say the class was not offered and that’s why the student didn’t take it?
You could check with them to be sure and if they won’t perhaps he could mention in under “other information” in the application?
Still waiting here for school to start on the 8th and nagging S21 and D23 to get their summer math work done and science projects started.
On the topic of DE… our school offers a few DE classes but mostly has AP and IB, and a lot of offerings in both. The DE classes we do have are kind of random - both kids did/are doing DE for precalculus. It’s the middle level in difficulty between “intensified” and “Algebra 3”. They just started offering that when S21 was a sophomore and I don’t know the reasoning behind it. He’s also taking a DE class this year in “geospatial tools and techniques”. That one is DE with JMU while all the other DE in the district is with the CC. Not sure what the history is on why that’s offered but I think S21 will like it. He’s always really liked data visualizations and has big maps all over his room. I think it might end up being an interesting direction for him to take.
Generally, the DE classes at our school are in the “Career and Technical” electives. He took audio-video production freshman year and that was a DE class. There’s a small project-based-learning/STEM school in our district that has all DE classes instead of AP/IB. Those students can graduate with an AA degree. Students at the other HS’s can take electives at that school in 11th-12th grade, which are mostly DE classes.
@Aguadecoco – At my S’s school I’d never trust the GC to remember to put that in the letter, esp. this year with all that’s going on. I’d add it under the Additional Info session.
@NateandAllisMom – I watched the webinar too and it was helpful. @kanfly – so great of you to share the notes for all!
Funny, until I read this thread I thought all DE involved leaving to go to a college campus. Here there are no DE courses on the high school campus - kids leave to go to the UofSC system campus nearby at various times of the day. S21 is taking a course there this fall. The rest of his schedule didn’t allow for a daytime course, but he had one that meets two evenings a week.
Ran into a neighbor walking this week whose son is a buddy of my S but a year older. He’s starting first-year engineering at Virginia Tech. He’s an introvert and reports it’s hard to meet people with all the restrictions. She sort of wonders if he should have deferred but she feels like given the somewhat academically sketchy end of last year, if he’d taken a gap year he would have been away from physics, calculus, etc. for about 1.5 years and she was worried he’d have a hard time re-engaging academically after such a long break. Interesting perspective I hadn’t thought of. Does seem like for some academic areas a break might be tougher than others. So, she’s glad he’s in school and thinks it was right decision even if the social aspect is not great and his courses are mainly online.
I know we’re all hoping all is back to ‘normal’ for Fall 2021, but a gap year has certainly crossed my mind for my S if it’s not. Since my S is engineering bound it was interesting to hear her perspective so thought I’d pass it on.
[That said, it seems there’s not so many pre-engineering kids in our Class of 2021 group. @NateandAllisMom, I know your S is CS. Any others? Roll call! 
]
Fort., we have a long time b4 having to make those decisions and I’m hopeful we’ll have better tests and/or a vaccine so that it’s a moot point!
If fall 2021 is like this then we are all have a lot more problems than just school. But, if it is, then D will take a gap year. Even if all classes are remote but kids are on campus, that could be a deal breaker. I’ll be curious to hear more stories this fall from freshmen and if they were able to meet friends but so far it’s not looking good. For those of us with older kids, we’ve seen what the first few weeks of college should look like and it’s a really special time. This year it stinks.
I would not worry about being away from academics for a year. Lots of these kids could likely use a break and I don’t think knowing how to learn goes away in 12 months. S19 is taking at least one semester off and I can’t imagine him losing his edge after taking a break.
I guess the bigger concern many have is what to do during a break. This year’s freshmen didn’t have a lot of time to figure it out but ours would. If it’s looking back in Feb for fall, I think we will start at least investigating options.
@AlmostThere2018 My D is interested in Physics/Math/Electrical Engineering/Neuroscience. She will be online full time this year at our local flagship as dual enrollment student. I can’t see her taking a gap year.
My friend’s son is doing a gap year working for Americorps. I’ve suggested to S21 that he consider applying after his college apps are done. Would be nice to have an option if things continue this way.
He’s not engineering but is planning on majoring in applied math or statistics so the time off could potentially be problematic but he also doesn’t like the idea of college the way it’s starting now. In a gap year I guess he’d just need to do some review to keep up familiarity with the high level math.
I’m not sure why you think your S would have to “keep up with high level math” or anyone thinks a STEM student couldn’t take a break. S19 is at an LAC but will be a math and physics major. The math he did as a freshman in the fall (Linear Algebra) looked absolutely nothing like any math he did prior to college. He didn’t need his Calc knowledge at all for that class or the Math Reasoning class that followed. Also, he’s been away from Calc now for 15 months and was able to help D21 with her AB Calc homework yesterday. Math knowledge doesn’t just disappear in such a short amount of time.
I guess I’m just saying that, if a gap is right for your student for other reasons, don’t let being STEM the thing that keeps them from making that decision.
@1Lotus – wow, your D is on her way! Good for her!
@JESmom – yes, I think it’s kid dependent. If a engineering/math kid has the discipline to review and refresh I think they’d be okay. If not, it could be a rough transition.
I have a friend whose kids did Americorps – his crew ended up clearing trails in national parks out west. Pretty cool gig for a city slicker!
@homerdog – I dunno. I think even some sharp kids could lose their edge in a gap year. Part of the equation depends on the quality of this year’s learning too, right? My S reported that in his online AP Physics they dove right in this week with an assignment due Tues and a test next week! That’s a good sign. On the downside, his teacher unfort. doesn’t have a great reputation. The school had a fantastic AP Physics teacher but he retired a couple years ago. My S and his buddies are going to have to do a lot of self and peer learning – the good thing is there’s lots of online resources to draw on. It’s considered the hardest class at his school. Fingers crossed.
@AlmostThere2018 Well, maybe it’s just more of a “losing motivation” issue if some kids take a gap year but that could go for any major, STEM or not. I’m just saying that STEM kids aren’t going to just lose what they learned in high school in a short 12 months. I agree that having a rigorous senior year will help so that, if they take a gap, it’s truly just 12 months off and the break doesn’t include a senior year that was too easy.
Lots and lots of kids report that they feel fresh and ready to go back to the grind of school after a gap year. One needs to know their student though and think about whether the break would be healthy or problematic.
DS is definitely a STEM kid but I would hesitate to define him until he has been at uni for a year or two. Probably not medicine or engineering and he says there are so many going into CS that he feels the field is saturated already (not sure if that may change or not). He is at USACO Gold level and likes programming so maybe that will change, hard to say.
I spoke to him about a gap year and he is not interested at all. He has always done lots of math competitions and I do not think he would want to go a year without math.
Re: gap year. Foreign language proficiency may take a big hit. D21 was all set to take AP Spanish last year but the one class conflicted with her AP chem class so she couldn’t take it. There’s no way she could take it now and she’s worried she will have to start with pretty basic Spanish in college.
My good friend dropped off her D20 at Temple this week. Her original dorm where she would have been in a triple was reassigned as isolation quarters so she is in a brand new 3B, 2Ba apartment with the same roommates, at the cost of a triple! I don’t think I had a living space as nice until I was in my late 20s. Silver lining I guess?
I am on the absolutely NO gap year bandwagon (if there is one). My daughter has been in class exactly one week (all remote) and is absolutely buzzing with life these days. Cheerful, talkative, working on college apps happily, etc. She’s learning some math program/website for her math class and it sounds like it’s not the easiest or most intuitive program, but she’s just gleefully figuring it out, which is so nice to observe.
I’m not kidding you when I say that she said two or three weeks ago - I need to be back in school. I can’t even remember why I liked Chemistry anymore.
She’s not the type to research or delve into subjects on her own (she’s more of a classic Netflix, tiktok in her free time kid) and not using her brain, coupled with social restrictions, just made her into mush. I’d rather have her learn online from our home or a dorm than question herself again come the next year.
@homerdog – Agree it’s about motivation not cognitive ability, per se, but I also know from my professional world that math competencies have particularly short half lives in our brains. There’s a lot of research out there about this, and this is why kids who don’t take math their senior year in HS, for example, are more likely struggle in math in college. [Some states only require 3 maths to graduate and in the world outside of CC that’s all some kids take!]. This doesn’t hold to the same extent in other academic subject areas, i.e., a gap in course taking has less impact on future academic success in that same discipline.
Anyway, with math you can get what you learned back, but you have to work at it, as you said. Unfort., some 18 and 19 year olds – even academically strong kids – won’t realize that until it’s they are suddenly in academic trouble, esp. if they’re in a program with high expectations. Many can course correct, of course, but often with rough sledding!
My son would not take a gap yr. since there would be nothing for him to do.
We don’t know anyone from our school taking a gap yr, some kids decided to go to CC or the local directional instead of whatever school they originally planned on, but taking a gap is just not something people around here consider.
I agree that a gap isn’t the right move for everyone of course. But, for example, if foreign language is important than there couldn’t be a better way to dive into that than to go live in a country that speaks that language for nine months.
We have to consider the cost of college and decide if fall 2021 at full pay is worth it. If waiting one year and finding something gratifying to do will mean D’s freshman year will be on campus in fall 2022 with no masks and in-person classes, I think she has to consider her other options. I know some will say “well, we won’t know if 2022 will be any better” and I agree that we will have to make the fall 2021 decision with whatever info is available at the time.
I agree with @3kids2dogs that being engaged is so important and D is having the same reaction over here to being back to school. So much more energized and ready to tackle the day. But she’s here with friends and trying to make senior year into something different but special. That’s different than being on a campus with a virus and no good way to make friends and/or taking remote class…or God forbid, taking college class from home as a freshman. You can’t get a crummy college freshman year back. Just talk to those UNC kids who got to be there for ten days and are now back home. I’m watching how the LACs do this fall. So curious what those freshmen think of their fall.
@homerdog – yep, totally agree about the social stuff. My D18 said her friends really feel for the first-years on her campus.
My S also gravitates to Netflix and Tik Tok, lol, and might assume he’d be more fine getting back to academics than he is. So I do worry about a gap for him . I mean, ultimately, I think he’d be fine but I’d worry.
Would be tough call. Here’s hoping we don’t have to make this decision!!
Glad your D and @3kids2dogs’s D are more energized being back at school!
@AlmostThere2018 D plans to major in EE, CompE or EE/CS combo. No gap here. For one thing the 3 schools she is applying to for their huge auto merit will not allow deferral and get the same merit package.
She had her first week of fully in-person classes this week. It went well. No issues. Fell asleep at 6 pm last night and woke up this morning. Getting back in the swing is exhausting.
Ugh- if we have to face the same decision as class of 2020, I don’t know what we’d do. It would actually be very hard for D18 to finish up, if her classes were online. I’d love for them to take a gap year together and travel or get seasonal jobs at a resort, but if Covid is keeping classes online, then traveling/finding a job would be difficult as well.
It’s different to send a kid back to school, who has set roommates and friends already established. D18’s dorm room is an apartment and they have so many things to do that are outside and mask mandated that she is having a similar experience as other years.
Being a freshman stuck in a small dorm room with a stranger that you might not get along with would be awful.