<p>My son took calculus, basically the equivalent of Calc AB, at a local city college this summer, but without credit (it was a free STEM program for city public school students). He wanted to take Calc BC in high school this year; he loves math and physics and he took the summer calculus class specifically to prepare himself for Calculus BC. He was shut out of the BC class since it was oversubscribed. He has three choices that we can see: First, he can take Calc AB again, which might look weird to colleges since he took calculus this past summer. Second, the Calc BC teacher said he could "audit" the BC class but the course would not appear on his transcript in any form, although he would be prepared for the AP test at the end of the year. Third, he could not take math. He can't take something outside of school due to sports/music/etc. There is just no time. He wants to both progress in math and not have something glitchy to explain away to colleges. Anyone have any suggestions for this unfortunate situation? I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!</p>
<p>I should have said, my son is a senior. </p>
<p>Audit BC, take the AP exam if he feels prepared. Simple solution.</p>
<p>…and maybe someone will drop out and he can get enrolled. Or can he take it at a Community COllege or something? (as long as you feel strongly that he will get a good grade).</p>
<p>^^Exactly. Also, if he audits he may be able to add the class if other students decide to drop in the first few weeks. Especially after the first exam. Not unheard of with high school seniors who all of a sudden realize they have too much on their plate with college apps, classes, sports, clubs, etc.</p>
<p>So it doesn’t matter that when colleges receive his fall transcript it will appear that he is not enrolled in math his senior year? </p>
<p>Yup. Audit, take the exam if he feels prepared. Sticking with it is evidence for schools that he is an engaged student seeking academic challenges, and can work in his favor. It would help if the GC mentions it in the rec. :)</p>
<p>Has your school started yet? If the calc teacher is OK with letting him audit the BC class, there is apparently enough chairs in the classroom, so why can’t he get a grade for it? Have you gone as far up the chain at school as possible?</p>
<p>I agree with the post above, if the teacher is on his side and he goes in auditing the class, he will be in line to add it if one of the current students drops it. I would also keep agitating for the school to just let him enroll. Perhaps if they have a hard limit in their computer enrollment system he could add it as Calc BC independent study instead of registering for the regular course number or something. </p>
<p>Our Calc BC class is actually 2 separate semesters–fall is approx equal to Calc AB and spring is the “C” part of Calc BC. Last night at Back-to-School Night, the teacher said that it is common for a number of seniors to not take the spring semester if they have acceptances in hand by then. Perhaps he can audit the fall semester and get transcript credit for spring, which should help with math placement in college. Anyway, talk to the GC about how many drops are usual, when they happen, and whether an auditing kid can add at that point.</p>
<p>The computer won’t let him enroll; it’s a hard limit. We’re a week into school and no one has dropped. I’ll ask about independent study. It’s a huge NYC High school so not sure how flexible they’ll be. I appreciate the advice. </p>
<p>Will his school put him down for a Math “independent study” for the semester? My S took Calc BC online (Thinkwell) and the school put it down as an independent study (which the GC can then explain on the GC form for college apps). I would imagine they could do something like that for your son where he “audits” the BC class and has it on his transcript as independent study.</p>
<p>Thanks. I will ask. </p>
<p>Yes, the GC will have to explain in his/her rec because otherwise no math will show up on the transcript. That’s particularly important if your S does not do well on the AP test and decides not to send the score.</p>
<p>His apps will have this covered because you can make sure that the GC LOR include the information about being locked out of math. And he can include it in the “additional information” part of the Common App.</p>
<p>How does the school decide who gets first dibs on the spots?</p>
<p>Try some well-known long distance learning program for high school classes. I believe Stanford (EPGY?) is one.</p>
<p>That way, you don’t have to worry about scheduling. And you could also audit the classes at your high school to get in-person instruction.</p>
<p>I have no idea how they decide. It’s very opaque. </p>
<p>I spoke with Guidance Counselor. Independent study is NOT an option at this high school. So if he “audited,” it would appear that he didn’t take math his senior year. And I’m not sure the guidance counselor would put a note about this since they wouldn’t approve of the auditing - there’s not supposed to be more than XX students in a class. If he took AB again, the GC could put a note in that he was shut out of BC. I hate to not have him take the higher level class just because of what it would like on his transcript, but at the same time, he’s telling colleges he wants to major in physics and is taking AP Physics -how can he not take math this year? What do you think? (by the way, not at all concerned whether he gets AP credit - that’s not the issue.) Thanks.</p>
<p>I think I’d look at a distance learning course. He could still audit the class if he felt it would help to see the teacher and have the interaction. But while he’s auditing I’d keep going up the ladder, sometimes if you push enough you can finally get to the person who can actually override silly rules.</p>
<p>Have him audit, do all the work, take all the tests,and ask the teacher to write a LOR for him. Help out the teacher by writing a sample one so that it’s very little work for him that emphasizes what he is doing. Also ask the Teacher and teh counselor to send a note with a proported grad again explaining the situation at the time transcripts are sent out. Again, write up a sample blurb for this overworked counselor, make it easy for these people. </p>
<p>I agree, have him take BC via audit, and take the AP exam. He can explain on his college apps that he was locked out of the course, but was able to audit it anyhow and plans to take the AP exam. I like @cptofthehouse 's idea of asking the math teacher to write a LOR. If the teacher agrees to that, it would corroborate his story and speak to his ability and also his drive to not just re-take a class he already did well in just to have math on his transcript. </p>
<p>I also agree with @mathmom that you may be able to eventually get him official permission to take the class and have it on his transcript. (And someone might eventually drop it.) But even if they don’t, as long as he’s doing the work and planning on taking the AP exam, and the teacher is willing to say he’s auditing and doing the work and doing great, that should be more than sufficient to satisfy any college.</p>