At this point, I think the decision isn’t whether your son should do FL at the magnet school (seems you’ve basically decided against that) and more what kind of high school experience you and he are envisioning.
I’m going to push against the idea that your son needs to take the absolutely most challenging classes offered the same way most everyone else at the magnet school chooses.
I think there can be real value in not following the exact same path as everyone else. If your son wants to take freshman year a bit easier (doing health/PE, etc) as his two ‘extra classes’ - go for it. If taking the absolutely most packed schedule wouldn’t allow him to do the other activities to the level he desires, don’t do that.
Just be aware of what he and you are choosing with these decisions. Will he spend the 4 years of high school pursuing his own interests to his highest level, or will he coast along on the basic schedule provided by the school as a template. Does he want to schedule in the ability to swerve and explore…or is he laser focused right now?
Ultimately, even excellent students with a packed schedule at selective magnets are most likely to hear “no” from Princeton, GA Tech, insert-name-of-other highly selective schools. Instead of worrying overly much in 7th grade whether he’ll have the most rigor check mark on his counselor application - I think his and your time is best spent figuring out what classes, activities and exploration most fulfill his natural curiosity and drive.
ETA: This is one of those times I highly recommend watching the documentary “Try Harder”
Yes. in 11th and 12th, I think they still take 4 STEM classes, but they have more choices, so a kid who is really into CS could take two of those, or something. And there is more choice of which science, which computer course. Our district only requires 3 years of history, so they could take an extra STEM elective or a different course senior year. Also, if they’ve finished the art/PE/health requirements, and the FL requirements then they can use their Jr or Senior electives more freely. The magnet is in a comprehensive high school, so there are lots of choices.
Well, this option:
Is the option I proposed in the original post that everyone said was a bad one, but that I’m still kind of attached to. I’m a little confused how it’s being proposed here as an alternative.
I feel like with this kid, he doesn’t need the message that he must do more than everyone else. He already pushes himself to play at the highest level, do math at the highest level etc . . . I think that if goes to the most challenging school in our are (if he gets in) and then takes a really challenging program that is not quite as challenging as a few other students? I’m good with that, especially with heavy extracurriculars like soccer and Mandarin.
So far, other than the schools that have given non answers (e.g. UVA’s “call us”) every school has replied has said that they count outside classes whether they are on a separate transcript or the same one, and with the outside language his program would be at the most challenging level. But even if it wasn’t, I think that telling a kid who is jumping through almost every hoop by his own motivation to drop things he loves to jump through more hoops seems wrong.
Seems like a reasonable option to me, if the logistics (e.g. commuting, being an extra class beyond 8 classes plus sports) work out, and it is from an actual high school or college. Perhaps others were under the impression that it would not be from an actual high school or college, or that the student would take no foreign language beyond the middle school year 2 course?
It would probably be virtual, the Hopkins and Stanford options are. Both are accredited as high schools, and affiliated with college, although CTY @ Hopkins doesn’t have any full time students.
The MIT website lists CTY as something they suggest to interested students, so I’m taking that to mean they’ll accept it. (Their response was to go look at the website).
Will the school allow your son to have a study hall if they are doing language outside school? I’d be very concerned about the workload of carrying a full load and doing soccer and Mandarin. My D went to a STEM focused HS and the workload was staggering. Having a study hall could be very helpful with an outside class.
He really wants the art. He really wants the STEM school. He really wants Mandarin. He really wants to continue his sport(s). He really wants to go to a top college.
And he really doesn’t seem to want to take a foreign language at whatever high school he ends up attending.
It is not hard to understand wanting to continue the preferred foreign language even if it means taking it through an outside high school or college because the main high school does not offer it.
I’m thinking, though, that the kid and/or the parent is seriously underestimating the workload involved in 8 courses plus mandarin plus soccer. The magnet school will be a lot more intense than 7th grade.
I tend to agree with you, but I think it just depends on his goals. If his goal is to get into an Ivy League school he might improve his chances with switching to another language in high school. For my kids they did not want to go to an Ivy, as in actively did not want that pressure — which was great because that was not in the cards anyway. But there were some schools that I thought might’ve been a little reachy/targetty that could have been good choices but they weren’t into it and ended up on the paths they needed to be on.
It sounds like your kid is a great student and I’m sure he will have many options.
One thing that I don’t think has been mentioned is that a few schools — and I believe Georgia Tech is one — count computer programming classes as foreign language!
Georgia Tech told me that they only require 2 years, and that the middle school classes meet the requirement, but that additional classes outside school “can only help his application”.
To be clear, he’s 12. He doesn’t have strong opinions on where he wants to go to school, and when he does offer opinions they’re things like “I want to go where Uncle Horatio went because he’s so cool.” or “I want to go to school near a mountain so I can snowboard”. I want to keep his options open, until he’s older. So, if we’re making decisions, one factor is how things might look to colleges down the road. But it’s not the only factor. His happiness is a bigger factor, and art is part of that.
As you note he is 12. You dont know whether he will play soccer in 2 years ( boys grow at different rates) or whether he will adjust smoothly to the social and academic challenges of any high school he attends. High school, anywhere, is very different than 7th grade. He may even decide to drop art; few kids at 18 are pursuing their 12 year old passion. I think most posters are saying to keep his options open and be prepared to switch mid-stream as his interests change and do not get too caught up in the prestige college rat race.
Most posters seem to be saying to drop Mandarin out of his options. Right now, the student is interested in math, science, Mandarin, art, and soccer, so the choices seem to be to schedule a heavy load to stay in all of them, or drop one or more of these interests.
But most people seem to be saying to drop Mandarin and pick up a new language. Which is almost as heavy a load, but without the art. The art isn’t going to be what brings him down.
Of course, we might need to readjust. But we still need to make decisions about whether or not to try, and if so what that would look like.