<p>Another thing that hasn’t been mentioned is that fall of senior year is BUSY with non-school stuff, namely college applications and visits. I agree, taking 5 AP’s vs 3 or 4 is not going to make a difference in getting accepted or not as long as the GC still marks that she took the most rigorous schedule. If the GC is any good, she/he will. Have your D meet with the GC and find out how that is handled. Also keep in mind that being a legacy really doesn’t seem to matter as much any more so don’t “count” on that admissions boost.</p>
<p>Our kids have 5 AP’s right now, but AP Psych and AP Econ are “lite” and really aren’t all that much work. BC Calc is work but not overly so day to day. They do spend extra time with study groups before tests though. AP Lit is a lot of time but not “hard”. They read a lot of novels and write a lot of papers. I would say that fall semester of their senior year has been their busiest for homework in all their school years. It’s slacked off some now though. They had all their apps done and in early Sept and while they grumbled about it at the time, they were really glad they weren’t trying to get their apps in and trying to study for mid-terms.</p>
<p>Rolling into the end of their senior year, they are ready to be done :D. They didn’t listen to my advice to save a couple PE classes for the end of senior year, and are now wishing they would have :D. They will live though.</p>
<p>I would drop AP Chem. Keep the sport. The AP Latin may free up time in her college schedule if they require a foreign language so look into that. If she can take the SAT II in Latin this year and score well, she may not need to take it next year, but I would keep it personally. Also be aware that at that caliber of school, many won’t take AP credits for classes in her major so taking the classes is great for admissions, just don’t bank on them helping with getting through college faster. Also keep in mind that there are 100’s of kids that get into lottery schools that only have 5 AP’s total or even none as their schools don’t offer them.</p>
<p>Get as many visits done after swimming and through the summer that you can and get essays written for apps ASAP, August or whenever the prompts are released.</p>
<p>I would slide some of the work from next year into the summer. The common application opens in August. Finish it before school starts. (She can always edit and update it later.) Read the novels for AP Lit over the summer. Take a look at the curriculum of at least one of the STEM classes over the summer. She can use MIT’s OpenCourseWare or other free online resources to do this. These actions will make senior year much easier.</p>
<p>I would go ahead and sign up for the 5 AP’s now. Chances are that her guidance counselor will arrange her schedule to ease up if she second-guesses in August, but they wouldn’t let her change from 4 up to 5. That’s just a conjecture based on personal experience.</p>
<p>As for getting into a “lottery school,” I would think spending the time to do something original and outstanding in her area of greatest interest would be a far better use of time than making everything more challenging in a “standard” way.</p>
<p>Fall of senior year is crazy. Not just college apps, but we found that there are a zillion other things – our school has a senior performance requirements, senior pictures, all kinds of stuff for seniors in the yearbooks, etc. </p>
<p>My kid goes to a school that does not allow APs until the kids are seniors, and then they can take TWO of them. We put about 5% of the senior class into “lottery schools” every year. My own senior D was accepted EA to U of Chicago this year without a single AP to her credit, although she is in two this year (she does have a few college courses from summer programs).</p>
<p>There is a certain point where the AP load just doesn’t matter in admissions. Really, your D should take at most 4 APs next year (3 would probably be fine, especially if she is taking honors Physics along with them).</p>
<p>I think most colleges still want BWRKs and look for them. Saying they want kids that cure a cancer or negotiate peace talks is a cop out for not applying. A kid needs to have a level of passion for life that is visible on an application. I see some kids whose passion is for getting into an Ivy. Without proper guidance, they check off a long list of to-dos to pad a resume. I like kids that are passionate and self motivated and are problem solvers. Those kids end up at all kinds of schools as well as the Ivies. </p>
<p>Bottom line, we can strategize how many APs to take or whether to do a sport but none of it is worth it without the inner drive to pursue and be the best you can be at it for the sake of it, not the resume.</p>
<p>She needs to power down immediately. A high schooler should not be that stressed. Keep the sports for health benefits and accept the occassional B. My opinion is based on the fact that life will only become that much tougher (as you know). She needs to save her strength for when she really needs it (marriage, job, children). BTW 10 years after college no one will care where went to school.</p>
<p>He goes to a small school, so some of what he signed up for he could not get. In the end, he has 4 core academic course, required “easier” courses he had put off taking and an open class that is not graded which he focuses on his topic of choice. This is NOT a study hall.</p>
<p>Compared to junior year, the stress difference has been a very positive difference. Junior year was so bad, I had him see a counselor outside of school. Lack of sleep and stress were really taking a toll and we saw major personality changes. </p>
<p>The lighter load has also permitted him time to complete applications (college and scholarship) and do overnight visits at colleges on his list. He could NEVER have done the overnights if he had 5 APs plus and honors class this year.</p>
<p>His counselor still marked his “box” as most rigorous schedule.</p>
<p>I think your key will be how to keep counselor marking the Common App box as rigorous while limiting the APs</p>
<p>EDIT TO ADD - My S finally has what I consider a “normal” HS social life this year and I am thrilled. Prior to this year, all his social interactions were EC based.</p>
<p>Baystater: I feel your pain. Spykid faces the same situation next year. At her school, one must take honors classes before AP, so once you get to senior year, that’s all that’s available if you’re an honors track kind of kid. </p>
<p>Fall semester was bordering on crazy, with APUSH, junior thesis and EC’s. We told her she in summer she had to drop one thing, so she chose to stop competing in a very time consuming lifetime sport. She still participates but no longer has the demanding work out and travel schedule. This has helped a great deal.</p>
<p>Spykid has another sport, but luckily it’s in the spring. Don’t know what we’re going to do next fall, though. Your post has made me rethink her plan for next year - five AP’s. I think I’m going to drop a line to her GC.</p>
<p>ETA: MadAboutx – I have to agree with Neuroticparent. It’s ridiculous what today’s students have to do and “show” to get into colleges that in our day solid B students were handily admitted. It’s a college arms race. And so much of it is propelled by big money & the economic downturn.</p>
<p>:Collegeboard is allegedly a nonprofit but I question that. What do they “do” for teens other than create a level of stress?
:Colleges overspent on facilities and researchers. They were counting on endowments to allow them to build shrines to alumni and aquatic centers. After the crash, they’re left with limited funds so up goes the tuition.
:Vocational school rarely exist anymore so young people, even those not interested in college, enroll because what are they going to do? In our rural area adults work jobs normally reserved for teens.
: And finally many colleges, engage in shameless marketing to increase app numbers, so they can deny more kids. Which begins the feeding frenzy of EC’s, volunteer work and yes, curing cancer.
Rant over :)</p>
<p>The “Dream” rarely turns out to be a dream…the sport may seem like a burden because she has too much on her plate but the sport should be a social and physical outlet if she cuts back on the APs…kids get very little credit for them and many have to retake them in college anyways if it is a major requirement. People need a balance and one or two more APs will not make a difference in her ability to get into a college. Her SATs are in the top 2-3% and her grades are outstanding.</p>
<p>Colleges don’t care about zillions of APs - 3 to 4 are plenty. Your daughter has her ducks lined up collegewise, and now needs to be a kid. She will have plenty of chances to take hard courses, but will never again have the opportunity to be a senior on a high school team.</p>
<p>As a current, extremely sleep-deprived senior, I recommend that she reduce her course-load. At this point last year I signed myself up for way more work than there are hours in the day to complete, and I thoroughly regret that now. Have her calculate exactly how much time she will spend doing homework for each course, and if that load is viable–it probably won’t be–then go ahead with it. If not, cut some courses. The reason I ended up doing more than I could handle is because I didn’t know what to say no to and just did everything. I love all of my classes but recently I’ve realized that you just can’t have it all. Sleep and time with friends is important too. </p>
<p>At this point my course load together with my extracurriculars is simply way too much for me. I still get all A-s but I do so sleeping maybe 4-5 hours a night, on a good night. And the quality of my sleep isn’t even that great because I’m constantly stressing about upcoming assignments. </p>
<p>I’d recommend cutting a class over a sport she enjoys, simply because it’s also necessary to have an outlet. When you’re stuck inside over books all day, everyday, you become vulnerable to depression and in my experience, a sort of academic weariness. Even my favorite classes have become less interesting to me because I’m just so tired all the time.</p>
<p>Thank you all once again for the replies and PMs (which evidently I can’t reply to yet–not enough posts)!</p>
<p>She has decided to drop AP Chem and keep up with the swimming. I think it’ll be a good compromise. It was very helpful for her to see other perspectives on course load and the need to take time to have some fun senior year. </p>
<p>Thanks again for your thoughtful input. We both appreciate it!</p>
<p>I hate to see a kid give up a sport for any reason, they will be old and grown up for far too long as it is. Enjoy the fun of a HS team, my oldest gave up her sports senior year, she said she regretted it afterwards, it is something you can not recapture at any other time in your life.</p>
<p>Echoing what CT1417 said and just an FYI to the OP:
Some unis are not giving “college credit” for APs. At Yale, “college credit” is not awarded. Instead a student can choose to start at a higher level class, or not.</p>