AP Gov/ AP Econ
AP Psychology
AP Calc
AP English
Track
EMT certification which is two periods
He has taken honors bio and chem which are lab classes. He is in regular physics this year which I don’t think is a lab class. His primary interest right now is business/economics/data science but he has not ruled out something in the health sciences, I think that should be clearer for him after completing the EMT class. Anyway — my concern is if he should be taking AP Bio instead of Paych. Is just two years of lab science going to be a problem or am I overthinking? He is applying to schools like Trinity U, Denison, Occidental, Lehigh. CMC as a Hail Mary.
He has taken 3 semesters of Spanish. Zero interest in any additional. Without getting into detail about the quality of teaching — he probably could learn more Spanish using DuoLingo.
As a senior, one thing to keep in mind is that if he’s applying to more than 5 colleges, college apps are the workload equivalent of another class or two!! I did not realize that when I made my class schedule and got a job
Has he met the graduation requirements for your district? Ours would not allow only 3 semesters of foreign language without a medical (or similar) waiver…
Yes! At the very least, get a rough draft of the common app essay done over the summer. I will say though, on August first, common app refreshes with the new year’s applications. Meaning the common app essay that never changes is the same, but colleges with supplemental essays may have new ones. So I wouldn’t recommend working on supplemental essays over the summer unless you know they will keep the same essay for the next school year.
My guess is they are on a semester system so 3 semesters is equal to 3 years at most schools?
OP my daughter is at Trinity and didn’t take a science at all senior year and she took environmental science junior year. She also only went through Spanish 3. I think in a perfect world bio would be better but I don’t think it’s a game changer for a lot of schools.
I’m sorry I meant three years of Spanish. Not three semesters. I believe only two years are required. This schedule would meet or exceed all graduation requirements for our state. Very sad our language program isn’t better, hopefully he will have a chance to strengthen his skills in college.
Our kids’ Spanish is terrible too. S25 is aiming for some top schools and also dropping it after this year. He doesn’t see the point in taking an AP class where he’ll do poorly on the test and not learn anything when he could be taking Stats instead.
Thank you, that is helpful to know. I am probably overthinking the science. He is doing a great job making up from a slowish high school start and now getting all A’s so I don’t want something as silly as his selection of schedule to give him issues. He also is very excited about Psych and I really want him to have some fun in his schedule too.
I can see all the class registrations at our private high school with 300 in our senior class. No senior is taking a foreign language. None, nada. 5 or 6 took AP Spanish as juniors. Kids go to all sorts of colleges, from state flagships to super-selective schools. Maybe because we are a boy’s school and many kids are STEM-oriented, but there is a general disdain for foreign languages.
However, I would be concerned with only 3 semesters of foreign language and not two full years.
Most of the kids applying to selective schools do take at least 3 years. And I was pretty comfortable with my S24 stopping after 3 years, especially as he was taking 5 AP courses senior year and doubling up in BC and Stats.
I absolutely would take a science course senior year, to me that is a no brainer. Can he take APES? Is your school offering AP Anatomy next year? I read it will be a new class.
My S24 went ED1 to Denison, we were also looking at Trinity (Conn) but not particularly impressed after a visit.
Edit: OP and I were talking about different Trinity’s!
Typically, the most competitive applicants complete four years of English and at least three years of mathematics, foreign language, science, and social studies during high school.
Occidental says:
We strongly recommend five academic subjects each year, including:
4 years of English/literature/composition
4 years of math
3-4 years of foreign language
3-4 years of science
3-4 years of social studies
All of this is subjective (at their level) and kids likely get in with less in some areas. My daughter got into W&L with two years of language. But - the school cancelled the third year and only two years were offered.
I guess - if you have a Trinity, Dennison, Occidental and Lehigh - if you add - just throwing out safe names - a Juniata or Kalamazoo or Allegheny, etc. in back up or other school that aligns with his overall portfolio, he’d be fine.
To what level? If he started in the beginner course and took regular high school courses (as opposed to college courses), that would only be level 1.5, which falls short of the level 2 (or higher) minimum that many colleges and universities require or recommend.
Is there a reason he doesn’t want to take AP Bio, or is he just trying to decide between them?
I would think Bio would be a better choice: it’s a lab science, it’s a relatively “higher rigor” AP, and it’s fairly likely to result in useful credits. My kid thought it had interesting content and did not have a crazy workload.
The reason he is not taking AP Bio is that he wants to get the EMT certification and also take psychology. He is really excited about psychology. There may be something else he isn’t telling me regarding AP Bio, the high school is having a tough time hiring and maintaining teachers so it could be things he’s heard about whomever is assigned to teach it next year. He goes to a small, rural public.
