Summer Courses at Community College

<p>I am going to be a junior the following school year but I am looking to take courses at my local community college (mountain san antonio college), they count these courses as if they are APs since you get college credits. My question is if I take PHYS1 and HIST1 (US History) at the community college in the summer because the teachers at my high school are notorious for their horrible teaching skills, will it look good or bad to colleges? From what I can tell there are two aspects to this:
-student who wants to learn more, wants challenges
-student who is a lazy, wants to lighten course load for junior year.</p>

<p>Both which applies to me as of now, of course I still have time to change it. Classes that are set in stone for my junior year are:
-AP Calc AB
-English 3 Honors
-Spanish 3</p>

<p>As you can see, I have 3 empty classes. I am looking to take a ROP class, it will be from 3pm-5pm, outside of school hours, and it isn't an 'intense' enough of a class to replace US History and Physics. What classes should/can I fill the empty spots with, if you are in my situation.</p>

<p>My subjects of liking are business, technology, criminal justice. I have already taken Computer Science A, the teacher was nonexistant for that class in a teaching sense. AB has the same teacher, should I consider the class even though the teacher completely sucks? Here is the jist of her RMT(ratemyteacher) comments:
-nice lady.laid back class.absolutely no teaching skills
-very nice but is a HORRIBLE teacher
-well she is the sweetest teacher in the world but damn she cannot teach!!!!
I assume you get the idea. Another class I can consider is Advanced Tech Lab or CADD since I have taken the prerequisites.</p>

<p>All comments and ideas are welcomed. No matter what the class. Even though this is my first post, I can tell CD is a very warm and professional forum. Thank you.</p>

<p>maybe another science, like AP Chem, AP Bio or AP Environmental, or a first year course in another language, like French. If you feel up to the challenge, you could take AP Stats along with Calc AB.</p>

<p>Well, I really can't tell you what classes to take, but I do know that taking classes at a community college over the summer will not look bad to colleges. I really don't know where the idea came from that one needs to take a freakishly large number of AP's to get into a "good" college. Just take the number of AP classes that you are comfortable with and try pick subjects you have some interest in- it makes learning it a lot easier and more interesting.</p>

<p>A freakishly large number of APs is what gets you into a good UC, berkeley/LA/etc. The classes I am going to take at the community college is to avoid the awful teachers. Physics is the worst subject at our school, Walnut High(~70% asian?). And in order to keep up with everyone here, APs and honors are a must. I am pretty far behind the 'regulars' there, I had a mid B in my Precalc Honors class and I was ranked 35/40. This is after first semester.</p>

<p>Another problem I can see coming is if I take classes such as Physics and US History at the community college, which are condensed into 18 week, 2.5 hour long classes for 3-4 days a week, is that learning it too fast won't be enough time to absorb all the information. I am sure a coupe of prep books after/during the class will help with the SAT subject tests.</p>

<p>Then what type of advice are you looking for? You seem to have a pretty good idea of what you want to do, so why even ask?</p>

<p>I am basically surveying how colleges will percieve such a situation, and which classes I can fill the empty spots with.</p>

<p>Any other opinions out there? Thanks.</p>

<p>why not take AP Calculus BC junior year?</p>

<p>Calc AB is a prerequisite for BC, is this just my school or all? Logically thinking it should be..</p>

<p>
[quote]
Calc AB is a prerequisite for BC, is this just my school or all? Logically thinking it should be..

[/quote]

No... 2/3 of Calc BC is the same as AB... only 1/3 is new stuff...</p>

<p>Calc AB mostly convers integral calc while Calc BC covers intergral and differential calc...</p>

<p>^ And if you take BC you get an AB subscore anyway.</p>

<p>Calc AB = Differential Calc (~1 quarter of college calc)
Calc BC = Differential and Integral Calc (~2 quarters of college calc)</p>

<p>at my hs, we have to take calc ab, then bc. i havent heard of anyone skipping ab, and go directly to bc.</p>

<p>anyone go thru this system or know more about the community college idea or what classes i can take?</p>

<p>my school doesnt have psychology or statistics. econ and ap gov are for seniors only. I will see if i can bend the rules :D.</p>

<p>go to community college during summer.
it will look good.
fill your schedule with an appropriate class.
i say AP Bio or AP Human Geography, or both.
and to your calc AB statement, my school has the same policy.
Honors Alg 2(get an A, skip Pre Cal)
PreCalc>AP Calc AB>AP Calc BC>Differential Equations, if you take that road
or PreCalc>AP Stats</p>