<p>D needs to make a senior schedule this week. She knows some of it but not all and I'm hoping for a little feedback from you guys so I can help her...we've already met with her principal and discussed it some but she is stuck.</p>
<p>She will, for sure, take AP Calc and AP Physics (C-mech) and AP Spanish 5. She will, for sure, take regular English and Econ. So that's 5 classes. She will take one study hall (her principal highly suggested she have one this year for physics). </p>
<p>She's already taken two AP History courses, AP English Lang and AP Chem. AP Bio at our school doesn't have a great teacher so she will not take it. She took "honors" Physics, Chem and Bio already. </p>
<p>She doesn't know what she wants to major in but she's a math/science kid so is considering engineering, pre-health, neuroscience, something along those lines.</p>
<p>Her indecision is about the one free slot. She can take AP Environmental Science, AP Stats, or a general intro to engineering course. Or have a late arrival/early release. Or a second study hall as a mentor to freshmen (for which she'd get credit). </p>
<p>I don't really know what to tell her to do. She'll be busy with apps and essays in the fall so I don't want her overloaded, and she is a fall varsity athlete as well. But she's always doubled on science.</p>
<p>What about something fun? something artsy or Cooking or whatever they have? AP Psychology? look at the electives…our high school has Anatomy, medical lab, stuff like that as well. If she is thinking about engineering then a Intro to Engineering class would be good.</p>
<p>Well - the mentor thing sounds good - if she’s into that kind of thing. Is she pretty well set for ECs, how’s her GPA so far and what kinds of colleges is she interested in?</p>
<p>Thank you bopper. Her social sciences will be Econ and Psych (i sem each).</p>
<p>NCalRent - 3.85UW, W- not sure they just started that this year. Over 4 anyway. Top 10%. “Most rigorous” checked no matter what she does with this option this year. Two sport athlete and other ECs…she hasn’t made an Oscar film or cured cancer but she is active and has plenty of years invested in what she loves. Plus NHS, Key Club blah blah. </p>
<p>No firm college list yet but Brown and Columbia would be the reachy-reaches and she has financial/academic safeties lined up. Neither AP Stats nor AP Enviro are supposed to be particularly hard and both are taught by good teachers. Enviro maybe a little more beloved.</p>
<p>Any of those options sound fine. I like the idea of her taking something fun. One son took Psych as a senior because he was just interested in it and had a great time. Loved it and aced it. Anything like that? Other son wanted to take cooking but it wouldn’t fit in schedule. Welding is a popular off beat choice here.</p>
<p>She’s actually planning on Psych already as her social science. Possible electives are Intro Engineering, and from our local CC (but taught at the HS) are Sociology, Medical Terminology, Intro Communications…all of which would probably interest her. </p>
<p>Of course Enviro or Stats are weighted, which could mean if she takes a regular course her rank might drop, but rank and weighting are new to the school this year so who knows.</p>
<p>Her principal did say that the most APs any student has ever taken is 9 (school makes it fairly hard to take APs). She has 4 after this year and 3 more next year for sure. And I don’t really think she needs to play that game, her guaranteed safeties are gpa and test score based and she has those already. </p>
<p>I agree but no. This year they started one 3 days a week before school, taught by a programmer parent, but that’s just this semester, right now. Nothing on the schedule for next year but i guess if this new one goes well they might add it. </p>
<p>There are some CAD courses but she didn’t seem that interested.</p>
<p>Doesn’t your school have an arts or tech requirement? Our school does - kids must take three arts or technical classes (semester long) to graduate. I’m always surprised when other schools don’t have this requirement. </p>
<p>Actually, I see no problem with her taking the extra study hall. Or something fun. Definitely NOT a heavy class.</p>
<p>Applying to colleges is stressful enough, and you say she is an athlete as well. I think you will have a greater level of sanity in your home this fall if you make the schedule somewhat lighter.***</p>
<p>BTW, I agree with those asking about an art requirement. If there’s any possibility of her attending a California UC or CSU as an OOS student, she will need a year in some form of the arts. I am sure other schools have this requirement as well.</p>
<p>*** note: I didn’t say you will be sane in your house this fall. I said “greater level”. I’m not sure any of us with seniors got through the fall completely sane. </p>
<p>I like the idea of a “fun” class… D’s school also has an art requirement; D took Art last year and really enjoyed the class to her surprise. Lots of kids take Digital Photography to meet the art requirement. </p>
<p>She has 6 years of orchestra (2 in HS), had to drop it this year to make room for a second science, so she actually has that covered. Though visual arts…she has never expressed an interest but that is something to look into. </p>
<p>I really appreciate the help, and the fact that no one yet has suggested she AP-it-all :)</p>
<p>What about using the “early release” to take an interesting science course at a local college?</p>
<p>Over the years, I’ve known a handful of high school students who have taken organic chemistry, molecular biology, or an introductory neuroscience course at a local college. Seemed like a reasonable choice for the ones who loved AP Chem or AP Bio…and wanted more when the high school had nothing else to offer.</p>
<p>College admissions committees, particularly the top-tier schools, tend to look favorably on this sort of thing. It shows that the student has initiative and isn’t afraid to go outside his/her comfort zone. It looks even better if the student can earn a great grade in the college class. Of course, your location will determine whether this is even an option.</p>
<p>Personally, for Ivy-level, I’d upgrade Eng to AP Lit. (Ivy level schools require a lot of writing, so might as well get really good at it.) Drop Econ. Drop Psych.</p>
<p>If leaning towards pre-health, I’d rec AP Bio over physics C (even with the less good teacher). (If leaning towards eng the the physical science makes sense.) AP Bio/Enviro is a reasonable double, since Enviro is a subset to Bio. </p>
<p>AP Stats is a great course, and much more valuable (IMO) than high school level Econ or psych. </p>
<p>Bartleby she already took a summer neuroscience course and did an independent study based on that in fall of 10th grade and that is on her HS transcript. She will do an epidemiology course this summer and will also do the work to get HS credit for it, that will be on next fall’s transcript.</p>
<p>bluebayou, she enjoyed Bio, but unfortunately the teacher who does AP Bio is not good and few kids pass the AP exam. She can take it as a frosh in college. Physics stays in because engineering is her other interest and Physics II is known at her school as the hardest course offered. </p>
<p>Econ/Psych are her alternatives to APUSH. She does not particularly enjoy English or History but has taken/is taking APs in both and again, the really good teacher does AP Lang and the one who does AP Lit isn’t very good. </p>
<p>So for reasons specific to her school, she’s settled on those choices.</p>
<p>It’s the AP Stats vs AP Environmental vs Intro engineering or mentoring/study hall or some other elective that she’s unsure about.</p>
<p>If she’s interested in engineering, I’d recommend the intro engineering course, unless the class or the teacher have bad reputations. Many students want to go into engineering without any clear idea of what engineering really is or of the breadth of the field, so it might be a good idea to give her some exposure to what it’s all about or help her figure out if she really wants to go down that route, especially since engineering students often have to hit the ground running. If the class or the teacher have a questionable reputation though, I’d hate for her to be turned off engineering early on because of a bad or boring teacher.</p>
<p>Other than that, I’d recommend AP Stat, because everyone should take a statistics course but I know many students don’t ever take one unless they’re </p>
<p>Absolutely the reason <em>I</em> would like her to take it. Better to find out now.</p>
<p>I personally loved Stats and it would be a nice complement to Econ, I think. I just don’t want her to load up on too many courses with tons of work if it will affect her grades and her ability to stay sane while playing vball 3+ hours a day and doing apps and essays and such.</p>
<p>Here is the course description for the Eng course:</p>
<p>Engineering Technology (515)
One semester </p>
<p>Engineering Technology is a half-year course that takes an in-depth look at various technological advancements of the 21st century. A main emphasis of the course is placed on the understanding of materials and processes. All forms of Engineering will be discussed, and the different levels of training that are required. The development of student skills will be placed on the following objectives:</p>
<ol>
<li>CADD/CAM (Computer Aided Design Drafting/Computer Aided Manufacturing). This will be achieved on the Technology Department’s computer and CNC metal lathe.</li>
<li>Electronics and robotics – Students will have hands-on exercises and kits to build.</li>
<li>Energy/Power methods will be explored.</li>
<li>Communication technologies will be discussed.</li>
<li>Consumer Awareness of current and future products on the market will be stressed.</li>
</ol>
<p>The course will include guest speakers, field trips to local engineering firms and a research project. The course should greatly benefit any students seeking an Engineering, Computer, Manufacturing or Design related degree.</p>
<p>It sounds like the Intro Engineering class would be really good for her, especially since she’s not sure what exactly she’d like to do yet. From your response though, it sounds like she might not be as excited about it. Is there a class that she’s leaning towards? If she has a preference, that should definitely take first priority.</p>
</p>