I agree with the others who have serious concerns about this schedule. Is there more background to explain why you were given this advice? Reading that a GC at a top boarding school in your state would advise this schedule is hard to comprehend.
You could have taken an honors or regular physics class somehow. In my opinion, that would have been a better choice than self study.
I think you should ditch the self study APsā¦at least most of them. It seems like you are trying to do the most APs you can find regardless of howā¦thatās pointless.
Rate my junior year schedule
In the final analysis, how we rate your schedule is immaterial; itās how how GC rates your schedule. And given what you have told us, your schedule would not be labeled as āmost demandingā and perhaps not even āvery demanding.ā That alone will eliminate many colleges, although there are likely still plenty of options.
While hindsight is 20/20, you would have been better off devoting extra time and effort finding physics resources than self studying APs. And Iām unsure why you think self studying Physics C is a valid plan when you had trouble with regular physics.
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Iāll echo everyone else - you need to add a science class if at all possible. Also, your self-study APs make little sense to me - you havenāt taken physics, but want to self-study AP Physics? Same with math - you havenāt completed pre-Calc yet, but want to self-study for calc BC concurrently? Youād be better off devoting your time to doing well in the classes you are taking in school than spending a lot of time studying for all these extra APs - for which you may not get much credit.
Realistically when college admissions looks at classes they get a list of classes and grades from schools. This doesnāt include AP test results. Those are loooked at after a student matriculates so a school can determine how to use the scores (varies school to school) but is not used in terms of admission. When a college/common app etc is asking about extra currucular they are not asking about self studying. Most likely your school has colleges visiting perhaps talk to some admissions people to help you understand self studying does not benefit you the way you may think it does.
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My school does not offer honors science classes besides Chemistry. They also donāt accept online courses, so I didnāt really have another option if I wanted to stay.
I got a 60 on my first test after corrections. There were other students that did worse than me, but stayed in the class. My GC and teacher were adamant that I should drop the course though.
No, they do not have AP English at my high school. Students can still sign up to take the AP exam, but the exam is never mentioned in class. I would also like to add that the curriculum is very different from a usual AP English Lang course, so we practically have to learn the material on our own.
Sorry to reply to your comment again, but I did not see your other questions. I have been at school for around eleven weeks now (I started on August 16th). I went to my guidance counselor at six weeks in the school year. They said I had missed the deadline to drop/add a course by a couple of days and they told me it would be impossible to catch up in AP science classes this late in the school year. I definitely take accountability for now being on top of the deadlines, but I had just had my first test in Physics and did not know my grade until a few days later. I went immediately after I got my grade back, but thereās nothing I could really do besides drop the course. I didnāt really want to at first, but he called me into his office multiple times to basically sign the papers.
I see. If possible, could you meet with your GC ASAP to discuss your college admission goals (and career goals, if known) and ask for feedback on helping you attain those goals or adjusting expectations, if needed?
Iām sure youāve noticed a common message in the feedback you are receiving on this forum. But we donāt know all the details so your GC is probably your best resource. Show the GC this thread and the concerns that have been brought up and have a serious conversation about your college application process. If your GC is not helpful (or advised you to self-study all those APs!), perhaps ask your parents if they would be willing to get you an independent college counselor. Typically private prep/boarding schools provide strong college counseling, but maybe this is a weak point at your school .
This is not meant to be all negative, and I applaud you for reaching out for other opinions. Perhaps I missed it, but did you mention your college goals? That will help with feedback. CC tends to assume everyone is looking for admission to the most elite colleges that expect the highest rigor, but if that isnāt your goal the feedback will be different. There are so many strong schools outside the T50!
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Are you saying that the only science classes this STEM school has are AP classes for your grade? Really?
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I agree. It sounds very strange. That is why I wondered if there was more to the story. I would have expected the recommendation to be dropping back to an honors (or even regular/CP) physics class, not foregoing any science for a year. My Dās school allowed this within the first six weeks and Iām sure would have worked with a student if that deadline was missed by a few daysā¦ but that was at our school. At eleven weeks in, Iām not sure what could be done nowā¦ especially given all the other restrictions the OP brought up (no CC or online courses?).
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This is a school that supposedly specializes in STEM, right. I just canāt imagine that itās OK to eliminate a science course entirely for the full year. And your self study AP courses donāt count, in my opinion.
Do the three AP science courses have labs? If not, itās my opinion you are wasting your time.
Itās probably too late now, but your time would better have been spent eliminating ALL of the self study AP courses and devoting time to that physics course you dropped instead. For a full year course, there had to be a lot more tests to bring that low first test grade up to Maybe a B average.
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Yes, I know itās strange.
Thatās really all there is to the story. I was considering talking to my guidance counselor again, but I doubt there is anything I could do now. I think my best bet is to leave the school and go to my home high school.
I would like to attend a T20 or even T50, but there are still other schools that I want to do more research about. Unfortunately, this situation is honestly discouraging me from pursuing those goals. Iām not too knowledgeable about colleges, so I think I should probably do more research before my senior year.
No reason to continue to worry about what you should have done. The question is what is your best path forward.
As everyone else has suggested in this thread, forget the self study AP courses. There are better things you should do as a Junior to improve your college profile (study for the SATs, focus on your interests outside of school (Your ECs/Volunteer work)ā¦
Next what are your options going forward. Kids all the time have scheduling issues in the end thereās no difference between taking a one lab science and one history course each year. Or taking 2 history courses Junior Year and 2 Lab Science courses Senior year (the end result is the same)
The other option would be to see if you could take a lab science over the summer? Maybe at your local college
Good luck
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Definitely talk to your guidance counselor. Thatās what they are there for! Forget any self study and focus on the classes you are in. As to leaving that school, I wouldnāt be so hasty - Iām sure your parents have already paid for the semester or the year so you should stick it out if that is the case. These schools tend to have a very solid College counseling and guidanceā¦ speak to your academic advisor and college counselor (go to the college counseling office if you donāt have an assigned counselor).
So Iām assuming you havenāt bought books or started studying for those self study APs right? That list was aspirational - not actual?
Focus on getting the best grades in the courses you are in right now, donāt worry about college rankings.
For science - you have taken: Bio and Chem already, so itās imperative you take physics next year.
Could you take physics at a community college over the summer and is that wise? That would show up on the HS transcript. Definitely need to take AP Calculus BC next year since many top colleges call out a high percentage of admitted students who took calculus.
Can you tell us your planned senior year schedule?