Hi @13street I’ve twin boys in the class of 2024. Sorry @momof2boys65–and yes, he will miss his brother!
Joining in from several other sub-boards. I have a D22 who will go to a local day school in our nearest city. She was WL at D20’s boarding school but the local option is excellent. Also have a S19 who is in public school and looking at colleges now.
Ok, I’m jumping in. I have a D who is class of 2022. I also have an S20, S26, and S29 (gosh I hope those dates are right-basically I have a 1st and 4th grader, too). We’ve had a rough year with S20 with mental health issues, but I think we are coming out of it ok, and we’ll be starting that college process very very soon. D22 is a different kid, VERY smart, but socially motivated (S20 likes video games). She is looking forward to high school for the social aspects and is planning her after school activities (Fall field hockey, Winter cheer, Spring Lax). She shadows a vet, is in the musical, and plays percussion in the band. All of which she may drop depending on her sport try-outs for high school. It’s going to be a wild ride with her! Of course, I didn’t expect my older S to give us such a scare this year, so I’ve kind of learned to just go with the flow and as long as the ball is in play it will all work out.
Wow @redfraggle you have an amazing D22. Looking forward to following her story.
It is nice to see this thread. D18 is off to St. Olaf next year, and we are thinking about where D22 might want to go in four years.
S18 has made his decision and will be off to school in the fall. S21 is next up. Luckily, he’s been on the campus tours with S18, so we’re ahead of the game in that regard.
Just realized I’m posting on the 2022 thread. Too much Easter candy this morning!
Old parent checking in! I have a D13 who is a college graduate and married, a D16 currently in her soph year of college, and then D22. My older two were homeschooled to varying degrees through high school, but the baby has been fully immersed in public school since fifth grade, and will attend a public high school next year.
I have D22 and l am looking forward to the small break I am going to take. Just finishing up with D18, who is set to decide between MIT and Duke, and man am I ready for a little time away from the process. 
Also had D15, so the process does seem to be getting easier. But, D22 is a much different child from her siblings. I am sure it will be a fun ride when we start everything. Fortunately, while looking for her older sisters she has gotten to tour a ton of colleges. I see her at a small college, as she is not a fan of crowds. But, on the flip side, she seem to have an interest in veterinary medicine and we have a great in state option in NC State.
Anyone else started looking at the high school courses, with an eye toward things like AP course?I’ve got an idea about the quantity of APs and which ones my son would like. But he’ll obviously make decisions about things as the years unfold. Still, I want to ensure we’re aware of what he needs to do for certain AP courses.
We’re trying to avoid the AP race. We’re planning on taking the same route as we did with our son (HS class 2016): none in freshman year, one in sophomore, two in junior year, and one in senior year. All other classes will be honors.
Not looking at AP courses yet. At this point we are simply trying to plan out courses so he’s able to fit in four years of orchestra, plus the new graduation requirements our state will have in place for students starting 9th grade in 2018-2019.
@Rivet2000 I’m thinking something similar with APs per year. 0 in 9th, 1 in 10th, 2 in 11th, 2 in 12th. Challenge is to see if these can be kept only STEM courses.
Maybe we will not need to be concerned with AP courses? Harvard will no longer give credit for AP/IB courses starting with the class of 2020. Maybe other schools will follow their lead?
Our HS is the same: 0 in 9th, 1 in 10th, 1 in 11th, but then ramped up a bit in 12th with 4-5. I thought our HS was a bit traditional in that sense, with most schools offering far more APs.
@OrangeFish A couple well known privates here in San Francisco have dropped AP courses. Doesn’t appear to have affected college placements for their students.
Two things to check/consider. The high school our D will be attending in the fall weights AP classes slightly more than honors classes. So, for her, taking a few APs will help in class ranking and weighted GPA (both of which are considered by many/most colleges). Also, AP’s are typically considered by many colleges when they look at course rigor.
I hate to think that it’s time for me to start doing this again, but here I am! I’ve got a D22 and a D18 who has just made it through this process (nice to see so many fellow 18ers in here!). These kids are similar in a lot of ways but also very different, and it really feels like starting from scratch! D22 is my baby and I’m looking forward to enjoying these 4 years with her before my nest is empty! :(( Just like when they were babies, it goes by so fast… My plan is to disappear from here for awhile to take a break from the madness and catch my breathe until late sophomore year.
But…
I’m interested in the class choice discussion because I really am starting from scratch. D18 is finishing up in an IB program in CA, this summer we move to TX where D22 will attend a school with AP… and PreAP which is weighted in the GPA the same as AP and presumably has a similar rigor. I feel a bit out of my depth trying to understand how to advise her on class selection. 1) I don’t really get how AP works, IB was pretty straightforward, you just follow a path laid out for you, pick your IB courses in Jr year but otherwise, not much to think about, seems like a lot more choices with AP/PreAP, 2) I am conflicted as to how much “rigor” this kid can handle especially with the upheaval of a move and a new school. I mean, I don’t want to shortchange her, she’s a good, conscientious student, but I also don’t want to overload her. I just have no real metric for how difficult these classes are really going to be for her.
An additional factor is that GPA and class rank are a huge deal in TX because of the way their public universities guarantee admissions. We’ve already decided that we are not going to bother trying to play the ranking game, but I don’t want to deliberately spike her either. I think our main goal is to make sure she has a nice balance, I just can’t figure out what that is. :-??
As far as AP and college, I think getting credit is nice, but the primary purpose of these classes is to show rigor in your course work and because AP is a relatively standardized curriculum, colleges know what is generally expected of kids who take those classes, even if there is a wide variation in terms of actual classroom experience.
@1822mom I’m trying to be conscious of not overwhelming my son early on. No APs 9th grade, 1 AP in 10th. I’m looking at courses that play more to his strengths (STEM classes, e.g. AP Statistics) while avoiding APs where he’s likely to find it really tough (e.g. AP US History). Of course, he’ll have a strong vote in what all he takes.
That was our approach with our S. In the end none of his APs were accepted at his chosen college, but then again that is not why he took them.