No, I donāt see them in the list as well as in my kidās school website. I think the other option is doing at local community college. Not sure if it is a good idea to send a 9th grader there yet. I might wait till the summer of 9th grade, that is when GPA counts for UC and the kid is ready for it.
Then, it may mean your school is on the side of the ā9ā since there are no UC Honors classes. (Heāll be judged in comparison to his classmates and what the school offers.) Makes it a bit easier.
The GC should be able to tell you more about what is considered the āmost rigorous checkā for this school, what is A-G approved, A-G honors approved, etc.
I agree, sending a 9th grader to CC is too early, even if heās eager to learn, and as I said, for the 1st class pick the easiest, most fun, least rigorous class offered so that he learns the pace, approach, format, etc. without too much pressure (there are usually lists you can find online) and gets ready for the rest (+ enjoys his summer!!! Very important!)
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I went to this country after high school. Was attending community college, straight 4.0.
I got admitted to multiple UC (but not LA and Berkeley) and a state school.
I chose state school because no one in my family can help me drive to a UC school. And I donāt have money to rent a place. It was my 2nd year in this country, didnāt know how to work with grant and aid yet.
But that state school was a shock because my GPA drop to 3.5. No, they are totally different level, specifically from my personal experience. When I got to grad school, it is also a level higher. So I am sure they are not the same.
I used to work 2 jobs for 40+ hours too but I did it in survival mode. Now, I donāt think my kid has to work for a living, he can focus more !
California CCs are very very good, but indeed theyāre not the same as 4-year colleges. And within the category ā4-year collegesā there are differences, too. Not just in academic quality but also in terms of āfitā, environmentā¦
BOOKS for you if you want to read on the topic of college admissions:
I think someone upthread recommended āAdMission Possibleā. āThe College solutionā is old but contains lots of practical, usable info. Finally Who you are is not who youāll be; The Gatekeepers, and āwho gets in and whyā all bring various perspectives, especially wrt private colleges.
For your son: Cal Newportās āHow to be a straight A studentā is another good one about ādoing HS wellā in the US.
Your public library may have them.
For you now (and your son later): The website ācolleges that change livesā is also interesting because itāll expose you to excellent colleges you may not have heard of and theyāre different enough that you can probably understand āfitā (āfitā isnāt a bit issue for UCs but it does matter for selective private universities).
There are plenty of colleges where your kiddo will thrive and do well. Pleaseā¦donāt fret. Not every kid in CA goes to a school with a bunch of AP courses and many of those kids are still successful college applicants.
What Iām saying isā¦.your son doesnāt have to attend UCLA or another top college to become a very successful adult with a good career.
As noted above, the community college to four year college path in CA is a very good oneā¦and also can save you some money!
@Gumbymom do the Cal States have the same high school course requirements as UCLA and the like.
@MYOS1634 thank you !!!
They have the same general minimum high school course requirements (āa-gā), though with some differences in the details. See
https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/csu-uc-a-g-comparison-matrix.pdf
Note that most UCs are competitive enough that going beyond the minimum is likely to help (or avoid hurting) in admissions. Going beyond the minimum is also helpful in other ways, regardless of its effect on admissions. For example, stopping math at geometry and algebra 2 meets the minimum, but can require the student to take precalculus in college, potentially delaying graduation or consuming schedule space that could otherwise be used for electives.
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They are designed to be at different levels. They are also designed so you can move from one level to another. All I was pointing out to you is that you donāt have to enter the system at the top. You can try to, but if that doesnāt work you have another chance if that is what you want. And the system is a lot more competitive now than when you went through it. So try not to compare your experiences to what your son will encounter.
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I guess Iām asking about that GPA calculation using AP courses. Do the Cal States do that too?
This parent is honing in on the UCs, and worrying about this. Doesnāt this student have the potential to get accepted to a CA public university without all this worry?
The CSU (except CPSLO) HS GPA recalculation is the same as the weighted-capped UC HS GPA recalculation, except for the double counting of college courses by CSU but not UC. I.e. high school AP courses are treated the same.
Having been to the parent part of orientation there and then a couple of local (not Santa Barbara) events for parents (happy hour and small dinner), there are some really nice people working at UCSB.
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Personally, I would not consider sending a 9th grader to a college class. Only if it was his idea. Take 1 or 2 APs sophomore year and see how he handles those. If your school has some dual enrollment classes with a local college, such as calculus, those can be useful senior year. Our kid did DE for calculus and got credit for the first 4 math classes at UCLA. The teacher in HS was super good, so he had no problem picking up the next classes in the math sequence.
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Not what you want to hear but, i guess iād coach him to broaden his perspective really try to enjoy high school. With an admit rate around 14%, UCLA isnt a realistic target for most kids. The admit rate is just 38% even for those with a 4.2+ UCGPA - thatās worse than a coin-toss. The UCs used to share a a lot more info on the profile of their admitted freshmen (admit rate by # of a-g course, AP courses, etc.) so you are flying a little more blind than we were on what really makes the difference.
For all the UCs, GPA is the most important criteria, so have him take classes where you think he can earn an A. IMHO lots of kids have their transcripts ruined by too much course rigor. For all of the UCs, a relatively easy 4.1 beats a really hard 3.9. For most kids, more 2-3 AP/honors classes at a time is a lot of extra work, is really stressful and really eats into the fun they should be having with their friends and ECs.
The good news is that CA -and more broadly the west has lots of excellent more accessible and affordable options. In the real world, there are a lot more successful, happy people that didnāt go to UCLA than those that did.
My kids went to a pretty big high school, it was a big adjustment both socially and academically. As a freshman, he should take what you both feel is a a manageable load and see what happens. Have him get/stay involved in the things he likes - and try something new. If he can manage all As, kick it up a little the next year, rinse and repeat. If not, heāll be like the 86% of us for whom UCLA isnāt a fit but, again, thatās not a bad thing. A miserable, stressed, and angry kid chasing an unrealistic goal, thatās a bad thing (and way too common). As the grown up, you need to walk the fine line of being realistic while not dashing his dreams.
Good luck
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We really did not try to game the system, in terms of having our kids take classes that werenāt the most rigorous ones offered, in an attempt to goose their unweighted GPA. I told the kids that they should take the most rigorous classes offered because they had the ability to do so, and would get the most out of their high school education if they took the most challenging classes. Mostly, they did.
You say that your son does very well, and is not challenged in school. For this reason alone, he should be moved into the most challenging levels available to him.
And with all the talk about how many AP classes can kids stuff into their transcript, so as to get into the top UC schools, since they donāt look at SAT/ACT anymore, this is all the more reason (unfortunately) to have him put in the work to get a fantastic score on the PSAT, so as to make National Merit. He will probably take a 9th grade and a 10th grade dry-run PSAT through his school. I honestly think you are doing the right thing to have him prep now for this, so that youāll get an idea of whether itās at all possible for him, based upon how he does on the 9th and 10th grade practice PSATs.
It seems peculiarly ironic that the UC system should have gone test-blind, and hence triggered this absurd frenzy of kids trying desperately to prove that theyāre top of the heap, beyond getting 4.0s with tons of AP and dual enrollment classes. It puts even more pressure on them, in terms of academic competition.
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@NCalRent Thank you, I definitely introduce him to other UC to set a realistic goal. For now, it is so hard to know where the kids stand. My kig got A+ but his load is light, so do the rest of the kids I know (friendās kids, his friendsā¦) The probably water-down the curriculumns due to covid. I heard things get real at 11th grade but I really donāt know. His school cancelled PSAT for freshman, I might have to make him take a practice to know where he stands.
Some of my co-workerās kids end up in UC Santa Cruz, I think it is amazing as well because it is closer to us (northern CA). I havenāt asked what loaded of work they took to get there.
My kid also go to a big high school, a ā10ā as well, coming from a tiny private middle where everyone knows each others. But he adjusts well. Making new friends, keep the old. In the other hand, he has so much free time, and recently ask me if I can raise the āexpectationā on him. Last month, he dropped out a 2-days afterschool center (we enrolled because the school let him skipped a math class and we were worried), saying that there is nothing benefit him there, and it will save $ with him self-study.
Finger cross, I never want to overload my kid and make his life miserable, but I donāt want to keep the expectation low for him as well. Finding the right balance is still my question 
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@parentologist yes give them the courage to take the AP classes. But leave it up to them if they want to do it.
We are talking to the counselor and taking PSAT practice.
Hopefully I know where his level is and how to helping moving forward. Thank you.
I checked and realize that my kid hs has no honor class that is not an AP.
I am thinking of using CC now. Kid takes CC class in at the summer of 9th grade is scary. But Iāll see if it is possible by preparing him for now. I am thinking of Math 3 as he is currently taking math 2.
Thanks for helping 
If your kidās HS has no āUC approvedā honors class, then he needs way fewer than those who have loads of them. So, goal for UCLA could be 8 to 9 APās/DE, total. Thatās 1 AP sophomore year, 3 APs junior year, 4 APās senior year, 1-2 DE. NO NEED to take a DE class this summer.
For UCSC, fewer than that.
Your son may be bored because heās only taking 5 classes and only 4 academic classes. As a rule of thumb, 5 academic classes and 6 classes a year should be the ānormā. (Some kids take more but itās not ānormalā - if heās really complaining about the slow pace, see if there is an accelerated or honors version of the classes heās in, even if they donāt ācountā for UCs, or see if itās possible for him to take more classes a semester).
Can you two look at the HS catalog, see if thereās a semester class heās interested in and that he could take in the Spring? For instance, sometimes, sociology or psychology are offered as semester-long electives. They do count as A-G classes.
You might also want him to see if thereās a foreign language that goes to AP (ie., AP Spanish, AP Frenchā¦) No matter what, do make sure Viet goes through level 4.
However IF and only IF you were to look for a class to take DE this summer, it should NOT be a core class and certainly not math. Your son is already on an accelerated path in math. He could try to take Algebra2 alongside Geometry if heās bored in math (not sure itās possible that late into the term, request a meeting with GC, to explain your son is bored in school and needs more academic challenge, that heās at the point heās trying to self study more advanced algebra, so can he take a semester-long social science or elective class this Spring and double up with Algebra2 starting now?)
But summer DE classes cover 1 year of HS level material in 6 weeks (a āregularā DE class will cover 1 year of HS content in 4 months). Itās not recommended for anything sequential or that heād take a second level of in HS. IF you want to try DE, pick a class everyone knows is super easy (āhistory of TVā or such: educational, because you do learn a lot, the topic being a great entryway into contemporary social and cultural history, but not followed by anything in HS so if he canāt keep up with the super fast pace itās not a problem - and itāll count for the A-G and āUC approvedā classes. EVERY college has 3 or 4 classes known to be easy. Theyāre favored by students who need to balance out their schedule when theyāre taking a known super hard class. Figure out what they are at your CC. But even the āsuper easyā CC classes will move very fast, require lots of pages of reading, etc.)
A good idea for your son is to take him on short trips over the next two years, visiting colleges + the area/town theyāre in. If youāre in Northern California, start with Sacramento State, then Humboldt, Sonoma State, and Chico. (Sacramento State is very urban, Humboldt is coastal and isolated but in a beautiful area, Sonoma and Chico are more residential with good dorms and honors collegesā¦) Does he have preferences? Can he figure out what he likes - environment, vibe, size, urban v.costal, residential v.commuterā¦ Add Southern Oregon University, UC Davis, UCSC, St Maryās of California. DO NOT start with his āfavoriteā colleges but rather with colleges heās never heard of, so that he can start with a blank slate there - do specify youāre not visiting because you want him to attend but rather so that he makes an opinion about what he likes in a college. You do not want him to fixate on a specific, high-status university, so keep UCLA and Stanford and Pomona or HarveyMudd for Spring Break junior year 
:D.
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I will offer a different opinion on college visits. I wouldnāt do a more than 1 or 2 prior to junior year. If you are in the Bay Area part of NorCal, visit UCSC for a nice day trip and hop on BART to visit Berkeley. 2 very different experiences. If you are north of the Bay Area, check out Davis and one of the CSUs as suggested. By spring of junior year, youāll know how heās done in some AP classes, the PSAT, and possibly how he compares to classmates. Then youāll have a better idea of the type of schools he should target and can make some visits during spring break week. For your son, maybe a spring trip to the SoCal UCs would be good since you can do day trips to NorCal schools. While UC Riverside might not be as desirable of a location as the other SoCal schools, itās probably worth looking into for a premed student.
a sound approach but, remember, flexibility is your friend and that there a lots of paths to becoming a happy, successful adult.
I agree that visits can be over=done and that its probably a good idea to skip elite schools. Before Jr year, 3-4 is probably plenty. One small private, a college town, a big public, and perhaps one other. It gives you something specific to talk about when narrowing his choices. We are also in Nor Cal, Davis, Chico, UOP, Sac and Sonoma are pretty easy day trips and illustrate the variety of possible college experience well enough for a 15 year old.
If he has a cousin family friend in college, have him shadow for a day or two - even if its not someplace you can see him going. The experience will be invaluable.
As others note, once heās got more of a track record, you can help steer him someplace you can both be excited about.
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