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My son will be coming to 11th grade next year and now we are looking at course selection. It seems that he has lot of AP courses as shown below. He is also supposed to take AP US history also but not sure if he can handle this much load.
Chemistry AP
Biology AP
Statistics AP
Physics AP
English AP
Spanish IV AP
Computer Science AP
We wanted to know if it is OK to take the AP US History in summer to get some relief in 11th grade?
Will your school allow this schedule PLUS AP US History? As others have mentioned most states require a Social Studies class. AP classes are generally not given in the summer.
How many classes does your school allow? I do not know of many schools that will allow a student to take 8 classes in one year.
Why would he be taking 3 different science classes plus Computer Science in one year? Has he fulfilled all of his other electives? What other science classes has he taken?
What does his math sequence look like? Colleges like to see students take Calculus. Has he already taken PreCaclulus and Calculus?
What else does this student do outside of class? My older son was a really good student and he took the following his junior year:
Honors English 3
AP US History
AP Chemistry
Honors Precalculus
Honors Spanish 3
Honors Constitutional Law
His senior year he took:
Honors English 4
AP Government
AP Physics
AP Calculus
Honors Spanish4
Honors Economics
His course load was considered very heavy since he also played on 4 different varsity teams. He got into several top colleges.
Last edited by Momma_bear; 11-27-2013 at 03:18 PM..
My son will be coming to 11th grade next year and now we are looking at course selection. It seems that he has lot of AP courses as shown below. He is also supposed to take AP US history also but not sure if he can handle this much load.
Chemistry AP
Biology AP
Statistics AP
Physics AP
English AP
Spanish IV AP
Computer Science AP
We wanted to know if it is OK to take the AP US History in summer to get some relief in 11th grade?
This schedule does not make sense.
AP Chem, AP Bio, and AP Physics are second year course, bio, chem and physics themselves are sequential courses. How did a student take 3 years of high school science before junior year?
AP Chem and AP Bio both require seperate lab periods. Same depending on which version of AP Physics.
Will your school allow this schedule PLUS AP US History? As others have mentioned most states require a Social Studies class. AP classes are generally not given in the summer.
How many classes does your school allow? I do not know of many schools that will allow a student to take 8 classes in one year.
Why would he be taking 3 different science classes plus Computer Science in one year? Has he fulfilled all of his other electives? What other science classes has he taken?
What does his math sequence look like? Colleges like to see students take Calculus. Has he already taken PreCaclulus and Calculus?
What else does this student do outside of class? My older son was a really good student and he took the following his junior year:
Honors English 3
AP US History
AP Chemistry
Honors Precalculus
Honors Spanish 3
Honors Constitutional Law
His senior year he took:
Honors English 4
AP Government
AP Physics
AP Calculus
Honors Spanish4
Honors Economics
His course load was considered very heavy since he also played on 4 different varsity teams. He got into several top colleges.
We dealt with this poster earlier this year with the same type of questions, only this time for a 10th grader. She tried to pass herself off as her son until one of the Mods caught her.
AP Chem, AP Bio, and AP Physics are second year course, bio, chem and physics themselves are sequential courses. How did a student take 3 years of high school science before junior year?
AP Chem and AP Bio both require seperate lab periods. Same depending on which version of AP Physics.
Most states also require a PE class.
What sort of schedule does this school have?
I agree that the schedule is nonsensical.
At my kids school students who take an accelerated science sequence starting in 8th grade can complete 3 years of HS science before junior year. I think that the local public schools have a similar program. However, most students do not take 3 science classes in one year because it is difficult to complete all of the lab requirements. At our school labs are done after school and all three AP courses require labs.
In my state students need 1/2 credit of PE which most kids take in the first few years.
At my kids school students who take an accelerated science sequence starting in 8th grade can complete 3 years of HS science before junior year. I think that the local public schools have a similar program. However, most students do not take 3 science classes in one year because it is difficult to complete all of the lab requirements. At our school labs are done after school and all three AP courses require labs.
In my state students need 1/2 credit of PE which most kids take in the first few years.
Ah, interesting. Here in NJ, kids need four years of PE and health.
The science thing really makes no sense, same for the weird AP classes that are not even real AP classes. Does AP mean the same commercial AP course everywhere in the US?
Ah, interesting. Here in NJ, kids need four years of PE and health.
The science thing really makes no sense, same for the weird AP classes that are not even real AP classes. Does AP mean the same commercial AP course everywhere in the US?
Four years of PE? Wow.
I thought AP was the same course throughout the entire US (run by College Board).
OMG! This is an absolute KILLER courseload. Are you for real, or are you making this up to get a point across? Unless the kid is a genius workaholic who is incredibly efficient, no way should he take this. What does his school guidance counselor say?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Momma_bear
Four years of PE? Wow.
I thought AP was the same course throughout the entire US (run by College Board).
I'm pretty sure that my state also has four years of Physical Education. If you are someone who intends to graduate early (which is not recommended as you can easily take classes directly from a University or college during your Junior or Senior year if you don't want to take AP classes) you have to double-up one year (usually by taking a classroom health class as well as a gym class the same semester/year)
It seems to me that your main objective is for your son to attend medical school.
Entrance to medical school is earned in college not high school. It is quite apparent that your son is on track to attend a fine university.
I would recommend that your son take AP US History (a state requirement for graduation) in place of one of the science classes. It is very likely that the university he attends will give him credit his passing score in APUSH that will meet a general education requirement for college graduation. This will free him up to take a science course in college.
In any event, as an AP teacher in a high performing high school, I would advise against such a schedule. Schedules like this lead to burn out and corner cutting. I have seen more than a few students -- whose parents push this kind of unrealistic workload and expectations on them -- end up getting caught cheating on a test or plagiarizing a paper resulting in a zero that brings their grade down to the dreaded "B." It also hurts on their counselor college recommendation, as that person must answer questions about academic honesty. I am not saying that your child will resort to such measures, but kids will often feel so trapped, they don't think they have any choice.
I also have had students who graduate in the middle of the pack end up at the state universities, flourish in college, and attend excellent law schools and medical schools. One such student is currently interviewing with dental schools for a position; among the schools on the list are University of Colorado and New York University - both top 25 programs in the US.
My son will be coming to 11th grade next year and now we are looking at course selection. It seems that he has lot of AP courses as shown below. He is also supposed to take AP US history also but not sure if he can handle this much load.
Chemistry AP
Biology AP
Statistics AP
Physics AP
English AP
Spanish IV AP
Computer Science AP
We wanted to know if it is OK to take the AP US History in summer to get some relief in 11th grade?
My son took AP history this year. Honestly, it is too much reading and it is a burden. He probably spends 45% or more of his time on that one class, while all of his other classes are AP or honors. He regrets taking it.
If he wants to do it, let him take a crack at it. Let him be the judge of the amount of stress he can take and let him learn his own lessons (good and/or bad) from his choices. He's 17, right?
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