Our updates: went to LA for spring break, DD LOVED UCLA, didn’t like Occidental at all. I was a little surprised. Did some great sightseeing too.
We are working through course selection now like everyone else - she had one AP this year (WHAP) and she wants to take SIX next year - AP Lang, Calc AB, Physics 1, Chemistry, APUSH and AP statistics. Stats is her elective. She has two periods of health science practicum as well. I suggested non-AP physics and USH but she says the physics teacher is bad and the APUSH course is much better. Many of her friends are doing the same thing. I’m conflicted. I know she can handle it but it sure seems like a lot. On the other hand the AP classes are much more intellectually stimulating at her school and the hours of workload are reportedly similar, but the AP classes have more independent work. We had a big discussion about mental health, time management, exercise. We shall see.
@mm5678 D and I had the talk about mental health. She has a hard time knowing what to do with herself if she is not studying. She is planning on taking AP: Lang, Calc BC, Physics 1, Chem, and Seminar. She took APUSH this to give herself some breathing room in 11th. She will not take a SS in 11th grade. D goes to a Title 1 school and there is a big difference in the kids in the AP/IB classes vs on level or Honors.
There’s no comparison between workload for AP/honors and regular classes here. D21 has a solid four hours of homework a night with one AP, three honors, and two regular level classes. When S19 was in all honors and AP, he would get home from running, eat dinner, and work until 12:30. And his phone was in the kitchen the whole time while he was in our office working. He wasn’t wasting any time. My husband and I would be downstairs most nights until he finished. It was brutal. Not healthy but he trudged through.
So, for a student in school during regular hours (day 7:45-3:00) and with ECs, it’s reallg hard to get the work done. I pick D21 up at school to get her home faster than the bus. She gets home around 3:20. Homework until 5:00. Then she gets dressed for ballet and eats dinner. Back home at 9:30 and usually finishes homework by 11:30. This is Mon-Thurs.
Ballet on Friday night and seven hours on Sat. Homework is saved for Sunday. It’s a grind. So far she’s holding up ok.
@mm5678 and @BingeWatcher my D21 is also taking AP Physics 1 and AP Calc BC (along with AP US Govt, two dual credits each semester, and two elective classes). She hasn’t had physics at all before, but I’ve been told AP Physics 1 is fine as a first physics course if a kid is motivated. I am still a bit nervous for her though. Maybe we can commiserate.
@mm5678 and @BingeWatcher Wow, AP Physics 1 and AP Chemistry at the same time. That’s a lot, especially with 4 or 5 (!) other APs. They are done with foreign language?
@JanieWalker, yes AP Physics 1 should be fine as a first physics course.
@mm5678 I’ll chime in too about taking AP Chem and AP Physics at the same time - that might be brutal. AP Chem kicked my daughter’s butt. She took it in 9th grade and it was the most difficult class she had ever taken. She got an A, but barely. Got a 4 on the AP exam (and she was thrilled) and a 740 on the SAT2 Chem test after that AP Chem course. I think if she had tried to do it with another science course, her head would have exploded. Some kids can handle and thrive with two AP lab sciences at the same time though (along with other APs), so I lift my glass to your daughter.
FWIW, AP English Language takes a ton of time with all the essays, and I hear APUSH is time consuming as well (D21 hasn’t taken APUSH but is in AP English Language right now).
I knew posting her schedule would generate a lot of comments, believe me I’m concerned too. That being said, all juniors need to take Physics so we’re stuck there. And she loves chemistry and wants to major in Chem in college. She had two science classes in 9th grade (pre-AP bio and Integrated Physics and Chemistry) and that Physics/Chem class was her favorite. All very foreign to me, I was a bio major and took my med school pre-req Physics as a summer course at my local state school because I knew I couldn’t hack regular college physics where I was in college.
I’ve tried to nudge towards magnet USH but she wants the extra stimulation and discussion of the AP level. She took a few magnet level classes last year and struggled during group projects - the kids in her group were just not as motivated and she wound up doing most of the work to keep her grades up. She’s done with foreign language as she got HS credit for Spanish 1 and is in pre-AP Spanish 3 now. She decided the AP Spanish class was definitely not worth it and so that’s where stats comes in.
Haven’t posted in a while, just trying to keep our heads above water. Right in the middle of planning D21 Sweet 16 and competition season is in full swing!
D decided on her schedule for next year, APUSH, AP Comp Science (I forget which one), SUPA Chem which is Syracuse University Chemistry, College Calc, then English and physics honors. We thought 4 AP/college level courses was a good fit for her and her schedule. I think I am finally getting her to understand that there are very good colleges with higher than 10% acceptance rates and that 95-100 GPA is great. The pushing to be over the 100 mark has been causing her anxiety to come back. She is nervous for her first ever AP exam, but has been studying hard already.
I’m finding this board very helpful and insightful, so thank you all
@mm5678 I always say that each school is different as is each student. I’m sure your D will go just fine! It’s hard to compare schedules on here because even AP classes are different at each school so we are comparing apples to oranges.
@mm5678 I hope you don’t stop posting about your kid’s schedule and plans, and I hope I did not come across as negative. I didn’t mean to and I apologize if I did. I used to be very hesitant to post what my kids are doing (especially my youngest, who is a Davidson’s Young Scholar) because it would seem to strangers that their schedules and classes and ECs and lives in general were crazy and/or that I am a Tiger Mom. We homeschool (online and soon dual credit courses) so my kids can take classes at their levels of ability in each subject, and so that they can pursue their ECs during the day M-F at times. My oldest took two AP courses last year as a 9th grader, including AP Chem, and only on CC can I say that without getting completely smacked down by other parents who insist I must be pushing her (I never post anything about their academics on FB or other social media platforms). I’m not - she already had high school chem and bio while in middle school through our state’s public virtual charter so AP Chem or AP Bio was the next logical choice (she did not want to take physics last year). The class (AP Chem) was the first class that ever really made her sweat. It was good for her. It truly kicked her butt and made her find ways to manage her time in ways she never had to worry about before. She pulled off straight As (just barely) doing seven and a half credits and kept up with her ECs and volunteering and part-time job etc, and it gave her confidence that she can handle the brutally hard stuff with the right amount of time management. She did slip up with her timing one month when a cute boy came into her life (sigh), but she got back on track when she realized her grades would take a hit if she didn’t get her head out of the dreamy clouds.
All that being said, had she taken two science courses with labs at the same time, I am not sure she could have pulled it off without getting at least one or two or three Bs. Which is not a bad thing at all, unless you are my D21 who thrives on competition (within herself) and seems to love and relish stress (my D23 has a completely opposite personality and does not want to burn the candle at both ends, no way no how).
Your own daughter is of course not my kid, and she may thrive and shine with that schedule because that is what may work very well for her. Which of course you already know, and I apologize again if I came across as negative or judgmental. That was not my intent.
Holy Smokes Ya’ll. D takes the unprepped SAT 1-2 yearly, this is part of our prep. She will prep in the summer with prep material. Well she got her March 9th SAT results just now: 1590!!! missed one is Grammar. Nov test was 1510 790/720. Guess she is through taking SAT