I hope your son feels better (and tests negative) soon! At least he’s in a comfortable hotel until he does. That sucks about the labs. But I’m sure the teacher will have a plan to make up or waive the requirement.
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Ok, so last minute schedule issue. I dont know what S24 should do. He needs to take honors physics and thinks that an AP science class is a must, this is between Junior and senior year Junior schedule is APUSH and AP lang along with Honors precalc, italian 3 and orchestra along iwth a mandatory finance elective. He spends over 20 hours a week including a full weekend day in school for his music EC. I think that he should take AP environmental sciencethis year as his science which he would enjoy and easily get an A in and honors physics next year. He is concerned that if he does that colleges wont think he took most rigorous. His counselor will tell him to take the easier class because they are worried about burn out. Meeting is tomorrow!!
I would opt for honors Physics. It’s a core science so it would supersede Environmental Sci even if it is AP. Your counselor school report will tell colleges that Honors Physics is either the only option available or it’s a prerequisite for AP physics? Maybe? Honors Physics is so legit so I wouldn’t worry if it’s AP or not.
Honors Physics asa junior and an AP science as a senior, is what I would recommend. He can decide which AP for senior year at a much later date
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Thank you! The issue is not the AP vs Honors but that honors physics is actually an uknown in that the teachers are variable and it is unknown how he would do. It is a time suck and may be really hard. APES is much less of a variable with a known teacher and a not hard curriculum. He would take honors physics as a senior but would not get to take a core ap science. Is this a terrible plan?
I think as long as he takes Honors Physics senior year he is fine. My D24 is going to take as a senior. The Physics teachers are quite variable at her school too (2 great one and one horrible one).
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Depends where you are targeting, but anecdotally at our school and others in this area, moving Honors Physics to senior year to take a known easier science junior yr is not done by kids aiming for the most competitive/top 30 type schools. However, about half the school does Honors physics junior yr(and yes it is very hard),with APUsh and and the whole litany of difficult junior classes, so it may not correlate well to your school if very few kids take it. Talk to the college counselor about what the typical kid takes, among those who end up successful at the target schools . Then ask about the reaches. If your kid really doesnt want to take it then don’t push him, and whatever happens with colleges I am sure he will find many great fits! I always find these posts tough—asking should a kid take a known easier A and if it will affect rigor etc. IME, from both of mine and many peers, there is a group of kids who want and practically beg to take the hardest classes for the sake of the challenge even before they understand it might relate to college. If that is not your kid then certainly dont push them to be, but if it is your kid then let them do it! That type of kid thrives on hard challenging classes!
So his admissions are going to be guided by his EC and his transcript needs to be supportive but should not interfere. I am not sure what you are implying about kids who put off physics until their senior year but not every kid is going to do well in physics (I am a doctor and did not) and guiding the schedule to take everything that is suggested but also let them show their strengths seems reasonable. I am not sure what the right answer is for him. He will probably do well in both classes and enjoy them both but what the cost will be is not clear.
our counselor called them freshmen 2.0
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Is his EC strong enough and what he wants to do in college? If so, you might just need to check the boxes with a high enough GPA and 4 years of science. fwiw, my kid’s school sends a lot of athlete to Ivies and top LACs, and most of those kids take the bare minimum.
I think what 2devils is getting at about physics is admissions officers tend to like seeing physics more than APES. There is more than one way to do it, every HS is different, and every kid is different. It’s hard to offer advice in these situations.
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My D and I did something a little bit different this afternoon and checked out the technical HS. She wants to take 2 hours a semester next year of programing, design, and building (CC and welding). She’s definitely not the typical student, but the instructor was very encouraging.
Of course now the problem is how do we fit in all the other stuff?!?!?! 
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The current thought is that his EC is strong enough and will guide his college admissions. It is music not sports. The plan is to do both sciences but the order is the issue. He really wants to take Honors physics as a junior and then AP bio or chem as a senior but it seems like too much work and not sure if it is worth it. The guidance counselor will probably tell him to take college prep physics, she is always worried the kids are over extending!
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I can’t remember his senior year schedule (don’t take AP English senior year if he’s taking AP English this year), but an option could be AP Bio junior year and AP Physics senior year.
Why I feel like this is ok because BIO is considered a CORE science that admissions value—Chem; Physics, Bio—vs AP ES.
Does he have an idea how much work is associated w/ AP English and APUSH classes? I know at our school AP English was less busy work than reg junior English. However, APUSH is notes-intensive like AP World.
The one watch out with ECs is unless they’re towards his major or unless it’s some state-level or some fancy orchestra (example only), I don’t think admissions treat them more than a check off the box EC. They help with essays if students choose to use ECs to add to the context. This helped me guide S21. His time was slightly short of USA Swimming AAAA standards so I knew he was not going to be recruited athlete. So I advised him to do enough to enjoy and gain experiences he wants from it. So senior year, he went down to high school swim and went down to 3 days a week of comp swim and didn’t go to every meet. Just enjoyed the sport.
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Just a few thoughts as the parent of a music performance major. We were in your shoes a few years ago, trying to balance the music commitment with the academic load and maximize options for college/conservatory choices.
This may be a question for his private music teacher, but if your son has good potential for acceptance for music and that is his goal, his audition prep and pre screening recordings will take up a huge part of his schedule. In general, most of Junior year will be spent on perfecting his repertoire, this can take 3 or more hours per day. Audition materials are due around the end of November of Senior year, so even more busy, depending on the number of applications he wants to submit. And hopefully, January and February of Senior year, he will be at live auditions, thus traveling and missing some school.
It is a busy and exciting time, but will can be quite challenging to maintain a heavy load of academic classes.
My son opted to lighten his academic load but maintain a challenging enough schedule to apply to university based music programs along with conservatories. Conservatory programs really base acceptance only on artistic talent. And even university based programs understand that the academic load need not be all AP with a high level musician. Good luck!!
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Thank you! This is really helpful. He is at that level. He is in one precollege now and is in the process of auditioning for another along with summer festivals and he just can’t imagine a heavier course load next year. He is not sure if he is going to do the BM music or a BA at a university based program but he will want to get a young arts and NYO audition done so he is concerned a hard schedule will be overwhelming. It is one of those things that there is no right or wrong answer until he is in it.
AP bio and APUSH is too much. His music is at that level, it will either be his major or he will have a music supplement that will be a spike.
Thank you all for the advice. It is so interesting how everyone does it differently. I guess S and the guidance counselor will figure it out tomorrow and he will live with what they decide. If they decide on physics our school does have a non honors class that he can always drop to if the class is too much of a time or mental power drain. At this point maintaining his level of music and continuing to improve is much more important than one more honors or AP class or a B or 2 on the transcript. The truth of the matter is the decision is really not that important in the long run. His next two auditions (in a month and three months), that is a different story, ha!
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Then I would take regular science. There’s nothing wrong with reg science if his passion is in music and that’s what he wants to pursue in college.
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So he met with the counselor, two minute meeting, she signed off on the teacher recommendations so he is taking AP lang, APUSH, Honors Italian 3, Honors Precalculus, Honors orchestra, and Honors physics! We will see how it goes!!! Thanks for all of the advice.
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Really? That’s surprising because most top schools AO know the schools in their area. I’d be very surprised if kids taking the “bare minimum” were accepted over kids taking a stronger course load at the same HS. Seems like lots of people on the thread forego tough classes for a high GPA.
At our school, that would not have favorable results. You’d be at lower bottom of your class with a high GPA. The GPA would push you up slightly but since it’s so competitive, the kids taking all honors and APs would push your results way back down. I’d guess with a near perfect GPA and little rigor you might end up in the 50-70% category.
Any other parents in this 2024 thread where rigor is as important as GPA?