My kids’ school only had a 5 period day. Their school has three semesters a year, and each core class only takes two of the three semesters to finish (except Calculus which runs all three only if you want to take the AP test.) The school doesn’t do AP either.
Both of my kids averaged 4 classes a term. They are both advanced in math so their 5th class is an off campus college math class (for three years for the oldest, two for the youngest.)
Oldest kid was a TA probably four or five times in the last three years, and always for the Calculus class. When the teacher would have a sub, he’d often just teach the class since the subs couldn’t.
They also have often had at least one or two art classes a term for senior year. They are simply out of or nearly out of science, English and history classes. For third term this year, my youngest will likely only have two classes (one that is required to graduate.) Since they require three classes as a minimum, the school will “register” him at the school for his off campus college class just to keep him enrolled.
Oldest kid is on a full ride. Youngest kid won’t cost us much either. They’ve found their fit and they aren’t going to be at Ivies for undergrad. Oldest kid had great scores and straight As, but that only gets you to the interview for the scholarship he ended up getting - the rest of it was all about him and what sort of a person he developed into. The flexibility that the school afforded him in his schedule to not be overburdened and instead allowed him to explore himself.
Not having been exposed to APs at our school, I don’t quite get the idea of taking a huge load of APs for two or three years. Seems painful.
@Parentof2014grad I’m looking into taking AP Econ my senior year, either instead of TA or by taking Spanish over the summer to clear up a period in my schedule. The trouble is, I’m not sure if my school allows me to take AP Gov (which I am committed to taking) along with AP Econ. If this is not allowed, I would have to find a different AP class to take if I wanted to maintain the same number of rigorous courses. That leaves my options at AP Bio, Chem, or Physics, APHUG, or Honors Physio. AP Bio and Chem are an average of 2.5 hours of work a night, and GCs strongly recommend we only take them if we plan to pursue a major where those would be beneficial (I do not plan on that). AP Physics, which you may or may not have concluded depending on if you’ve seen other posts in this thread, is not an option for me because I despise math (and will already be in AP Calc the same year) and have 0 interest in the class – I’d be miserable taking it. APHUG is new to my school this year and had a low turn out of students, so it may be cut off by the time my senior year rolls around. Honors Physio is hardly rigorous at my school, and again, I’d be miserable in the class. That leaves AP Econ if my school allows, or a non-academic elective if my school does not. All of the non-academics at my school are classes like art, design, ceramics, photography, etc. If I wind up going the non-academic route, I’d much prefer to TA than any of the above because it better suits my interests. If you had a child in my situation, who cannot take AP Econ because the school doesn’t allow it, and is not interested in any of the other academic electives because they don’t match their career interests, would you suggest they go with a non-academic class that does match what they’re interested in, or take a class they have no desire to do (with no opportunity to transfer out into a different class later on) just for the sake of learning it?
If you want to be a competitive applicant, then yes, you might have to take something that you don’t feel like taking. Which Calc are you planning to take. If it’s AB, know that it’s only one semester of college math, spread out over an entire year of HS. My D skipped AB and took both BC and Stats her senior year. She wanted stats, and took BC also since Stats with no Calc is not considered rigorous by some. She also TA’d but it was not a class and was not on her transcript but just listed as yet another EC since that is what it really is. She did this while carrying 5 APs and 1 honors class that year.
You seem torn between wanting to take what you want to take and also wanting to show rigor. I think you need to decide which one is more important to YOU and go with that. There are consequences to either choice, just as there are benefits. But I think it’s pretty clear that you can’t have both. You can’t convince some of us that your original idea is rigorous enough to be accepted to UCLA, but even if you could it wouldn’t matter since none of the people here who are trying to help you are the ones who will be reading that application and choosing whether to accept you or not.
@MamaBear16 I’d most likely take BC rather than AB, but it does depend on how well I do in Pre-Calc Honors. I guess my biggest struggle with rigor/my interests is that by taking classes I’m interested in, I’d feel more prepared for college because I’ll go into it having a much more laid out idea of what career I want to pursue, and what major best suits me. If I take rigorous classes that I know I’m not interested in, like AP Physics for example, it might help me get into a more competitive school, but I’d be lost once I got there – because that class in high school would’ve done nothing to help me choose my path.
That makes sense. See how you do and then decide. I understand that it’s a complicated decision. Can you talk to the counselor at your school and see what it takes for them to check the “most rigorous” schedule box?
@MamaBear16 All students meet with their counselors towards the end of this month/start of February to pick courses for next year and discuss any concerns/questions/etc. I most definitely plan to ask my GC what it will take for that ‘most rigorous’ box to be checked. As of right now, I know that my school makes us sign a contract for Honors/AP courses stating that we recognize they’re difficult classes and can’t transfer out of them later on – that contract advises no more than 2 APs per year due to them all being rigorous at my school. However, I’m nearly certain my school doesn’t feel that 2 APs is the most rigorous route possible and that anything over 2 is too difficult, but it would differ with each counselor.
@socalkid1 “If you had a child in my situation, who cannot take AP Econ because the school doesn’t allow it, and is not interested in any of the other academic electives because they don’t match their career interests, would you suggest they go with a non-academic class that does match what they’re interested in, or take a class they have no desire to do (with no opportunity to transfer out into a different class later on) just for the sake of learning it?”
Good question. I would advise my child that it depends on how much they care about getting into a selective college.
@chzbrgr – out of curiosity, how would most people define selective colleges? I know that UCLA, UCB, USC are selective, and obviously all of the ivy leagues are highly selective (I don’t wish to attend one, but I’m just using it as an example). I’m assuming when most people consider a college selective, they consider it so because of the low acceptance rate by %. So what percent acceptance rate (I know this is worded strangely, but I hope it makes sense) do most people believe makes a college selective?
@socalkid1 There are various definitions floating around, but each of UCLA/UCB/USC is extremely selective. To be harsh, I think you can basically forget about attending any of those three without the most rigorous course load. Anywhere that takes less than half of its applicants is kind of selective, I think. In any other area of life you wouldn’t consider 1 in 2 good odds.
@chzbrgr - one thing I’ve noticed living in California is that all UCs are generally seen as better schools than all of the CSUs, except possibly Cal Poly SLO. People say that CSUs are relatively easy to get into. I don’t know if you’re from California or are familiar at all with their universities – but CSUs are not viewed as competitive/selective, and aren’t regarded as highly as UCs, so then how come schools like CSULB have a lower acceptance rate than some of the UCs, and a nearly equal one to UCSD? Again, I have no idea if you’re at all familiar with California schools, but I thought it’s worth a shot to ask.
@socalkid1 That’s not just the way people generally see it, that’s basically the way the system was intended (UC/CSU/CC). But that was decades ago and things have changed as time has gone on, the population has increased, and people have voted not to pay taxes.
I think you need to have a serious talk with your counselor about whether you’ll even be competitive for most of the CSUs with the schedule you suggest.
@chzbrgr I talked to my counselor a few months ago and presented to her this very similar course plan, but with AP Stats instead of Calc. She believed nearly all CSUs, with the exception of SLO, can be regarded as safety schools for me. I trust her opinion as she has 3 kids, 1 out of college, 1 finishing up, and 1 a high school senior, and she’s aware of the current competition levels of California schools. I talked to another GC at my school for a second opinion, she agreed.
If I had a child who lacked a natural intellectual curiosity, as evidenced by no desire to learn about academic topics unrelated to their potential career, I’d probably not advise them to apply to highly selective colleges.
In HS my kids took courses such as AP Spanish Literature and AP Art History, and did so with no expectation of utilizing that knowledge in their careers.
To turn the question around, if my child was asking my advice for getting into a competitive, “prestigious” college, I’d advise them to take the most rigorous course load they could handle.
I believe you get a “bump” to your local CSU, so if that is one of the tougher ones to get into then that can help. I’m in CA and I agree that with the exception of CP most CSUs are considered below the UCs, although I do think there is a strong overlap in the SDSU and UCSC range.
Acceptance rates aren’t the only way to determine selectivity. Two schools can have a similar acceptance rate but when you look closely at grades and test scores you can find that there is a wide variation. Some schools are just more self-selective and get only tippy top applicants to begin with. UCs often get some lower stats applicants who just “check the box” for top campuses since they are all on the same app.
You can find sorts by Most, Highly and Selective in most of the usual college guide books. Plus score rages, etc.
Yes, the UCs are the premiers in CA- and the US- along with Stanford, Caltech, and some of the LACs. If you get a college guide, eg, Fiske, you will learn much about various colleges. You can look at the UC and CSU info online.
Getting admitted is different than rising in your one hs. It may help to see it not as like transferring to a better hs, but a giant leap to college. Many kids just focus on being admitted, while the colleges look at the chance you’ll thrive there, over the four years. And that’s per their views, how they define success. The a-g are just a start, a sort of minimum guide.
@MamaBear16 I know that the college you went to being a factor employers consider before hiring you depends on the career field and job itself. When it comes to graduate school, is your undergrad school a large factor in acceptance? I have some CSUs in mind that I’d be very happy at for a bachelors degree, but I would definitely want to go to a UC for my masters - if I went to a CSU as an undergrad, does it hurt my chances of being accepted to a UC?
Have you looked at the CSU admit guidelines? Many have “impacted majors” and many kids who apply can’t get into those. That can drive down the admit % at a place like LB. You need to be sure you are as fully informed as you can be. From the source, the horse’s mouth, the colleges, themselves. And that you can truly afford them. Run the NPCs.
There’s nothing wrong with the better CSUs. And if you’re thinking education, state certification is usually the first expectation, not prestige of the college. In something like psych, grad school can depend on how well you did, your research interests and recs.
I’m sorry, I don’t know enough about that to give advice. I do know that plenty of kids go on from a CSU to a UC for their later degrees, so I don’t think it’s unusual. If you want to go to grad school, you need to do very well in college. Think about that when choosing your college. If most of the admitted students are capable of carrying a heavier load than you are then it might not be the right place for you. Some kids enter college better prepared than others, and that can affect the curve and thus your grades. It’s not just about the name of the college - you need to find a place where you can fit in and thrive.
Almost everyone on CC says that their particular HS is very rigorous, but unless it’s one that is known nationally for that, it’s probably not. There are few public HSs in CA that are well known for the competitiveness of the class (you can usually see them stand out when looking at the published lists of NMSF each year - instead of having 0-10 kids, they have a long, long list of kids who made the cut). Just to put it into perspective, those kids are applying to UCLA and UCB (along with some Ivies, MIT, great LACs, etc.) The competition out there is tough and it’s good to make yourself as competitive an applicant as you can, without crossing that fine line into overload, burnout, or unhappiness.
@lookingforward – I have started looking into impacted campuses and majors, as well as the separate criteria for those schools. If, for example, psychology is an impacted major at a certain CSU campus, is psychology also likely an impacted minor, or do minors never face impaction? (I know that may seem like a ridiculous question, but I’m fairly new to the ins and outs/details of college courses.)