Senior yr classes - what to do

Parent Cafe
1

<p>My son is on a trimester AB block schedule and here is how his year looks.</p>

<p>1st trimester 2nd trimester 3rd trimester
Spanish IV Spanish IV Spanish IV
Calculus Calculus Calculus
Chem II Chem II Chem II
AP English AP English AP English
Band Band Band
Select Choir Select Choir Select Choir
Sociology (Ind. Study) Psychology<br>
Science Seminar Computer Programming
Study Hall</p>

<p>There are four periods of 90 minutes each day. 1st trimester Sociology and Science Seminar are the same period because neither teacher was available at the time study hall is scheduled. He could take classes at a local college or community college, but not as his schedule currently stands. I was hoping he could take a college class or two at night, but with rehearsals and other EC's there is no time. My question is: Should he drop some of his high school classes to take a college class or stay with things the way they are? I ask because I am not sure he will be seen as taking advantage of all the challenging classes that he could. We do have a local college that is also on a trimester and it would appear that he could fit in a class third trimester, but the way the schedule is there is not a free period at the same time every day.</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>I'm a big fan of four full years of each academic discipline for kids targeting highly selective schools. Thus, I'd consider dropping Soc, Psych, Science Seminar and Computer Programming to pickup a history (Euro, US?) at the juco; unless he already has four full years of history. (Not a fan of Soc and Psych at the HS level since they tend to be extremely rudimentary.)</p>

3

<p>He has had Geography, World History, U.S. History, Government and Economics. in high school and that is all they offer. The Soc and Science Seminar are last period and that is good, but the other course he would have to drop at that time on the alternate days is Chem II. Otherwise, the study hall is 1st period and the other 1st period class is Select Choir, which I know he wants to keep.</p>

4

<p>IF he's happy with his schedule, why change it? It looks good to me...</p>

5

<p>I think you (and hopefully so is he) are right to question whether he should take these 8 classes or cut some and take a college class. Sometimes more is better, but sometimes fewer courses with higher difficulty is better. This is especially true for senior year classes, as schools are generally looking for it to be harder than junior year. My d went through this decision a year ago, and ended up taking 2 college classes senior year in addition to her 3 sr year AP classes. The rest of her h.s schedule was electives she had to take (i.e., leadership, theater).</p>

<p>The answer for his decision on the sr year courses should be completely based on what the colleges he's applying to look at on gpa and senior year courses. In some cases, the college is measuring the number of honors/ap classes taken, (like cal and ucla). In that case, it really isn't necessary to have so many courses as you have listed 8, and I wonder if it wouldn't be better if the independent studies courses were replaced with another ap or college course. It also depends on what ap/honors courses have been already taken in other years.</p>

<p>This is really one to ask the school guidance counselor (if he/she is familar with the schools your s is applying to). </p>

<p>Also, another factor to consider is that if your s is aiming for a highly selective college and has high class rank, his rank might fall with the schedule as it is now if gpa is weighted for honors/ap classes. Other kids may take 5 classes, but all aps, and their gpa would be higher. (I'm assuming the psych, sociology, and chem II aren't weighted classes). Again, looking at his list of dream/match/safety schools will be the key to deciding if this is important for him.</p>

<p>At my d's school, aps and college courses placed on the transcript were weighted in the gpa. Electives like band, choir, leadership, etc., were for the most part, not listed in academic gpa, and therefore didn't directly affect class rank. To make this decision, I would look at what in fact is included in gpa. Its very possible to take psych and sociology at the local community college, and theoretically, they would be treated as ap courses for the transcript. Even if they are not on the h.s. transcript, we sent a seperate college transcript to each school our d applied to.</p>

<p>Lastly, I would ask s to think about the possibility of burnout in the Spring with 8 classes. Senioritis was widespread at d's h.s. Its not a great move drop anything at end of first semester during sr year, and kids that we know who have dropped courses had to write their colleges to let them know. Great kids struggle with senioritis (mine did and she loves school.)</p>

<p>If he is applying in cali, I can give you some specifics on both uc's and private schools my d applied to and what they required.</p>

6

<p>theocmom: Unfortunately, there are no AP classes offered at our hs other than the English (this is the first year for that and I am not sure it is really AP or just an honors type course...he goes to a hs that is not very interested in these things). As it stands now, he only has six classes in the spring including band and choir so that is a pretty light load. Most of his classes will not be too challenging for him. He is and has always taken the most challenging course offered in his HS, (usually 8 classes, no study halls and early bird PE) I guess my question is - is that good enough? Unfortunately, I do not see how to add any college courses from a scheduling point of view. Maybe I am just whining about the fact that I wish things could be better for him. </p>

<p>He has not honed his college list down much yet but at the moment it includes: Grinnell, University of Chicago, Wash U., Northwestern, and possibly Princeton and Harvard. He is applying to Az State and U of AZ mostly because of the good aid for National Merit Scholars.</p>

7

<p>iaquilter-</p>

<p>I understand. Yes, its a different situation from most schools without aps. I have sent you a pm with info from last year.</p>

8

<p>My S decided he would use his senior year to take philosophy, photography and art classes, he loved it, found out he could draw, and it didn't hurt his college applications, and he got into his first choice school (he did take AP's, however, finishing AP Calc BC as a sophomore). Most schools simply want the student to take the most challenging courses available to them and to be well rounded. Stanford has stated publicly it is no longer giving extra weight to AP courses. Doing what one enjoys is important and may even make for a better application. (A little aside, his school requires all students to take at least one vocational course, he took auto shop, which turned out to be a great course. Everything doesn't have to be AP.)</p>