I was having a conversation with my daughter (High school class of 2012) the other night and she was reflecting on her High School classes. She said she was so happy that she took AP Environmental Science (as her AP science class - instead of chem, bio, or physics) because she learned so much. She feels it taught her a lot about how the world works which she still finds useful many years later. It was obviously not the popular decision when she made it (against the common opinion - that you can’t get into a good college only taking an “AP lite” science class ).
She also took an introduction to economics elective class (not AP level - that wasn’t offered). She really enjoyed it and ended up an econ major.
So what class did your kid take in HS that they now reflect on as useful or meaningful?
Public Speaking
Foreign Language (we travel)
Bio - good to know how the body/earth works
Med school lad also needed all the “usual” to prepare him well for undergrad to then get into med school. But outside of academic life, the three I listed are the ones that come to mind.
If they’d had it a financial course would have been useful too. Our school offers one now - they didn’t then. (We taught our kids personal finance outside of school.)
For my 24 year old, her schedule got messed up sophomore year so she took honors accounting as an elective, she’s a CPA. My 22 year old absolutely loved AP macro and micro, he majored in finance. One of my high school seniors took AP stat as an elective sophomore year and it was her favorite class, she wants to go into actuarial science.
My daughter, now a college grad, uses the fundamentals she learned in that class every day at work. She has even said the same. My son is also glad he took that class, though he hated it and didn’t do great in the class itself. He said in high school that because he took AP Stats, he was able to excel in his sports medicine class, and now in college, he has used his stats knowledge for other classes. He has just been offered a summer internship, partly because he has good knowledge of stats.
I am always mystified as to why AP Stats is regarded as not so impressive and easy by both students and some CC users. The skills students learn are versatile and relevant to so many different college courses and jobs.
My oldest had an IEP and struggled to pass high school. He was able to take a Leadership course which helped him with social cues and social anxiety. He took a Culinary course. And also a Financial Independence course.
Hes 19 and living with friends, paying (most of his rent and bills) and finding his way.
For my kids, it was any class in which they had to write papers. The high school did an excellent job teaching them how to write. When they got to college, they had no problem with all the reports while a lot of their classmates struggled with them.
for my youngest, AP Bio, which he was discouraged from taking and AP Comp Science. Set him on his college path. I would have to ask the other two, as not as clear with them. I also think the HS junior LA class that required a 20-page research paper was very useful to all of the students. Really taught them to research and write effectively (although I was very annoyed at the teacher my youngest had who did not give him effective feedback).
Probably because it is often chosen by math-hating students who get off of the main math track after algebra 2, or as a math filler course for top math students who have exhausted the precalculus / calculus path, rather than as a potentially very useful elective course taken in addition to the main math track courses (precalculus, and calculus if the student gets there).
But note that students who take or will take calculus may want (or be required for their majors) to take calculus-based statistics in college instead.
My daughter also took AP Stats (along with AP Calc). She enjoyed it and it prepared her for the many Statistics classes she took in college (as a Math/Econ major). Another unpopular choice which was helpful.
I get your point, but for my two kids, those scenarios don’t apply. Son was far better at math than daughter. He struggled like crazy with the class itself and said it was more like an English class than a math class, which is probably not wrong. He had to study harder than he ever did before or since to get a 4 on the test.
Daughter took to the class like a duck to water, and while good at math, she isn’t a mathy person. She still worked really hard in the class. Neither of my kids would say it’s easy.
I’ll be interested to see what my son says about calc-based stats, which he will have to take next year.
My math loving kids loved stat (well, except one of my seniors who decided not to do any of the summer work, fortunately his twin got him back on track).
For our son, in addition to daily use of his math and writing skills in his job, the two speed reading courses he took in high school were gold. He doesn’t read for pleasure; he reads to consume information. These courses and his subsequent years of practice with this skill enable him to process and retain large amounts of information quickly. Speed reading was probably the most useful skill he took to college.
AP Language Arts. The peer review process made D a better writer and editor while weekly timed writings taught her to write well under pressure. Although D is a natural sciences major, the ability to write clear and concise lab reports is useful. I agree with other posters that effective communication is an important life skill.
My younger D was able to take Latin as an elective for two years in addition to her regular language requirements. She says it was incredibly helpful in many ways.
My daughter took 4 years of Latin and she would agree it has been helpful with vocabulary. Speech/debate also very helpful for both her public speaking EC’s and interviewing skills.
My daughter will go into STEM, but this was an incredibly useful subject for her as it enabled her to be able to put some of the current political shenanigans/crises in historical context. We had many dinner table conversations connecting events of the day to prior historical moments. Kudos to all those who put this curriculum together.