<p>My DD (class of 2010) is the least math/science person around. Briliant writer and thinker, she just missed the math gene. She's got a D in chemistry for the 1st quarter at her prep school, B in precal and As in all the rest. </p>
<p>Should she drop Chemistry (it would be her 3rd science) and take it next year, when she won't be taking precal (her 3rd and final math- whew-)? This would leave her with 4 solids, 1 art elective and a 2 study halls. </p>
<p>My question- is it worse to look a bit like a slacker with better grades or hang in there, hurt the GPA (Chemistry will be a C for sure) but show determination and have a better Senior year?</p>
<p>My guess is that the withdrawal will show up on her transcripts anyway, perhaps with the first marking period grade as well, so I guess hiding is not necessarily an option.</p>
<p>My first conversation would be with her teacher, advisor, and college counselor all together at the same time. The collective wisdom of her performance and the placement expertise should come up with the correct solution. A good prep school will deal effectively with it. It is in their interest to make their students' matriculations as good as possible. It is their primary objective.</p>
<p>Is she in an honors Chem. class? Could she drop back to a regular Chem class? My non-Math S2 took reg. Chemistry soph. yr. instead of honors Chem. It worked out well for him..miraculously got a B in Chem.</p>
<p>My daughter and I both suffered through Chemistry. Can you get her a tutor? Colleges usually want three lab sciences and I think not having chem is significant. Talk to the teacher...is your daughter going to the teacher for extra help as often as she can?</p>
<p>I second PackMom's suggestion to drop back to regular Chemistry. When my D (who also didn't get the math gene) took Honors Alg II/Trig and failed the midterm after struggling mightily, she dropped to regular Algebra II and managed a B. She liked the teacher better, too. IMHO dropping a level will look better than dropping the class.</p>
<p>Also second the suggestions to talk to the teacher. And see about tutoring. Does her school have National Honor Society peer tutoring? That can help. Also, especially if you live near a college, you could get an undergrad chemistry major to tutor her. </p>
<p>And see how other kids are doing, too. It's possible the whole class is getting a lower grade now than they will at the end of the semester. </p>
<p>I think even if quarter grades show up on her transcript, colleges only look at semester grades. And one C isn't deadly, especially with weighting. Especially with honors and AP classes she could still get a very nice GPA, even with C's for both semesters. (My D got C's in both semesters of Functions - non-honors pre-cal - and still has a 3.9 unewighted, 4.2 weighted GPA).</p>
<p>What does your D want to do? And what do the teacher and guidance counselor (if the counselor is any good, which I'd guess s/he would be at a prep school) think would be best for her, both educationally and in terms of how it looks on applications?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately depending on your POV, all the classes are 'honors classes' so there is no lower level to drop to. </p>
<p>She has gotten peer tutoring, and paid tutoring, but it hasn't helped much, and every day she gets a little more behind. Add to that keeping up with precal (which requires a ton of work for her) and her other classes and ec's and it's getting to her.</p>
<p>We finally decided (dad and me) that it's her decision- she'll have to deal with the consequences. So much of this is personality. If it were me (and it was a long time ago..._) I'd be up every night all night because I'm so stubborn.</p>
<p>We're going to see if she can audit the course. That would be a nice solution.</p>
<p>I'm not a parent, but I did take Chem just last year.</p>
<p>I got B's in it all first semester, but got straight A's and scored well on a regional test 2nd semester. Sometimes it just takes a while to catch on.
A lot of students in my class had tutors. I actually tutor a girl in Chem now and it's very helpful for her. </p>
<p>Knowing how well those two things, just the effect of time and that of tutoring, have helped myself and others, I wouldn't even consider dropping the course until fully exhausting those two options (well maybe not fully exhausting time). Also, as a parent, I wouldn't press to hard for a child to drop a course if it seemed the child didn't want too. My mother begs me all the time to drop Calc BC for AB and to take BC next year (I too am not wired for math. I've always had B's in the subject with A's in everything else until that Chemistry 1st semester B) and it just makes me more determined to stay in it.</p>
<p>Umm...no offense, but you aren't exactly in a comparable situation to my DD. She isn't passing the course...you did. I wouldn't call getting a "B" reason to drop the course. If you want to expound on your Chemistry achievements, I'm sure there's a better forum for that somewhere else.</p>
<p>My younger son struggled with honors Chem. We should have gotten out of the class. The C+ stayed a C+ all year. (Strangely he loved physics the next year.) The only good thing is that he took it as a freshman so I hope it will get forgiven more. My inclination is to let her drop it. Is there something she could take up second semester to fill up the hole in her schedule?</p>
<p>I would go directly to the Director of Studies at her prep school and see what they can work out. Perhaps she can audit, perhaps they have another option that will work.</p>
<p>What does your D want to do? If she drops the class, she should have a plan in place for next year. Would the situation be any different by delaying taking it? Maybe she will be happier gutting it out even if it means getting a C in the class, because then she will be through with chemistry forever. That's what my D decided to do last year when she was in danger of failing Functions (her school's name for non-honors Pre-Cal). She did fail the midterm, but wound up with a C both semesters. The reward was that was her 4th and last year of math, and now she is happily taking classes that are a better fit, including 3 APS and 1 college class.</p>
<p>If she needs that lab science, and it sounds like she does, her choice is gut it out now or wait until next year. </p>
<p>If she does drop Chemistry, what about taking a community college class? I don't think two study halls would look bad if she has 5 hs classes and one cc class. Plus the cc credits should be transferable when she goes to college.</p>
<p>Definitely talk to the teacher, the head of the science department, Director of Studies, anyone who could work out something.</p>
<p>I second the person who gave the heads up about the need for three lab sciences as a requirement for admission at many schools.</p>
<p>Often they will not count earth science in the total, so she will need biology, physics, chemistry, or two of the three plus a second year of science with a prerequisite (ie, Biology and then AP Biology -- but perhaps they have something like Forensics which has bio as a prereq).</p>
<p>The guidance at your daughter's school should be able to advise you on what will work.</p>
<p>There was an article in our local paper just this week about the reappearance of Physical Science in high schools. The article noted that many kids were reluctant to take Chemistry and that Physical Science would provide the needed credit. One school that was cited had more students in Physical Science than Chem/Physics combined. </p>
<p>My non-math oriented S2 took Honors Bio., Reg. Chem, Honors Bio.II, and Honors Earth and Environmental Sci.</p>
<p>"If you want to expound on your Chemistry achievements, I'm sure there's a better forum for that somewhere else."</p>
<p>Wow! Harsh! I am a little surprised at the tenor of your (the OP's) response to Millancad. You asked for help and Millancad seemed to be trying to help. Not to mention that her response was little diff't from the horn tooting you did in posts 1 and 6. Sometimes it does take time and does get easier by 2nd semester. </p>
<p>You haven't mentioned whether you've talked to the chem teacher, school, etc. I know in my D's physics and chem classes (also a prep school) everyone looked like they were failing for most of the year but all was curved at the end. Get the teacher's impression as to whether she is making careless mistakes or just doesn't get it and have him/her suggest ways to improve. Find out if anyone in the history of the school ever got a D in the class.... </p>
<p>Or, she can drop the class (if she can do so without penalty or a W) and take it next year when she has fewer pressure-filled classes. Four "solids" and an art class this year doesn't look like a slacker. Maybe 2nd semester there's a 1/2 year elective she can take? Auditing the class does what? Not sure that counts as "taking" a class in the eyes of the colleges - will it show up as an audit on her transcript? Does she audit this year and then take it next year? If she takes it next year it's her 1st semester grade that the colleges will first see..... Looks to me like you need to get a lot more info from the the teacher AND the college counselor. Good luck!</p>
<p>Slightly off topic, but is it really true that schools demand chemistry, physics and bio? My D is weaker in science and math than the humanities. She took Biology in ninth grade, then Marine Bio in tenth so her math could catch up to be ready for chem. She is now in Algebra 2 and Chemistry and doing fine. But her teachers feel that she won't do well in Physics (although working at grade level in non honors courses she has earned no lower than an A including this year's first grading period in science) and are suggesting she doesn't take Physics. She may take an extra English or History next year instead, areas in which she excels and loves. She is interested in pursuing theatre in college, so it's not like she's going to need the science for her major. But I am interested in what others have to say about this. Also, for the original OP, is there any way for your D to change teachers? Sometimes just a different approach can help.</p>
<p>My DD took AP physics under the impression she had to take it for the toughest curriculum and somewhat to prove a girl could succeed. She had plenty of science, including pre-lim physics, and she should have just dropped it and enjoyed her senior year more.</p>
<p>If you are looking at Ivy's that one class is not likely to make or break it.
For most schools she likely has enough science to cover the requirements, your DD is not math/science, she would be better served to pursue in depth something about which she is passionate and in which she is interested</p>
<p>I must emphasize that it is not only Ivies that have these science requirements. I know because we recently visited a state university and during our visit, we learned of the need for three lab sciences, excluding Earth Science. So, if my d had not taken three sciences including Physics, she would not be able to attend this university. </p>
<p>Applicants will definitely limit their options if they do not take the full course of college prep science.</p>