Sophomore daughter is potentially interested in Neuroscience is trying to choose courses for junior year. So far, she is a straight A student and works hard. School allows a maximum of 4 APs junior year and she would like to take 4, but hesitant about the workload. So far she plans to take the following:
AP Calc AB
AP Biology
AP Research (in AP Seminar now so this is required)
Honors English (afraid to take AP Lang out of fear of getting a B because of teacher)
US History (no honors available, only AP and she is not interested)
Theology (required course)
She is debating between the following courses as her 4th AP:
AP Spanish Language and Culture (she is currently in Spanish 3 Honors and the school says the pathway is AP Spanish next, but she could technically take Spanish IV next year. They do not offer Spanish IV Honors). Is AP Spanish incredibly hard??
AP Environmental Science (is this a ton of memorization like AP Bio?)
AP Comp Sci A (not AP Comp Sci Principles which she says is the easier course?)
Would truly appreciate some input. Although she is very self-motivated, she claims that she wants the least amount of “stress” next year because she plans to juggle her varsity sport, her club team and significant volunteer work. She is not planning to apply to any Ivies but wants to attend a “top UC” or potentially out of state schools. I value mental health and do not want her to be excessively stressed.
Your daughter sounds similar to mine but interest is genetics not neuroscience. Here are her plans to take 4 APs, and balance ECs and mental health Looking at two of our state flagships plus probably a number of LACs that offer merit.
AP Calc AB
AP Latin (similar to your daughter, going straight from 3 to AP)
AP Physics 1 (saving bio for 12th. Physics 1 is sometimes considered easier than Physics C but is appropriate for kids looking at natural sciences rather than engineering)
AP English (she is in Honors English 10 but her teacher calls it pre-AP as he assumes these kids are all going to AP next year and teaches in a way that preps them)
Honors US History (this is where she is choosing balance rather than a 5th AP)
Honors Chorus (music and theater are her love. This is a nonnegotiable for her)
Theology (required)
There’s a discussion on courses in the Parents of 2028 sub forum, I’m on my phone but can’t tell where you’ve nested this.
Is there a specific type of college she’s shooting for? Are you able and willing to find that potential choice, even if it’s $90k plus per year - plus grad school?
Most kids don’t need to go bonkers with rigor - to the point that it overwhelms them. That’s a choice and not necessarily a good one. What you described, including Calc AB in 11th grade, is very rigorous as it is.
FWIW, AP lang and comp really really helped my D in both standardized test taking but also with her writing. For my STEM kid, that was her most useful non STEM AP in HS. I’d consider that as the 4th AP.
Re-reading. So she gets a B if she does. So what ? Kids don’t go to the tippy top colleges with a B? And if they don’t go to tippy top, they still go to college and in the end, given her major likely grad school and if she goes to the workforce, she and not the school name will be far more important.
Take the right courses. Don’t avoid courses out of fear.
Given her goals, I think pushing the rigor is worthwhile. If she pushed and gets a B or 2 she is reaching into these schools. Similarly, if she does not take the hard classes, she is reaching into them still. Take a shot. Good options will still be there with a couple of Bs. Make sure she knows that all she needs is a 90%. Set the goals so they are attainable and keep the stress to a minimum.
I think the “safest” choice, in the sense it is a choice the most colleges would understand and value, would be to take AP Spanish. Not so much because it is the AP as because that is what the school pathway says, and that is one class each in each of the five core areas.
I don’t think it is an inherent problem to do Honors English and regular US History. I don’t know what Honors English at her school is like, though, and I would think carefully about whether I was developing the reading and writing skills I would eventually want to have for college.
They do sound similar! At my daughter’s school, AP Bio is 11th grade and AP Chem is 12th grade. AP Physics is apparently what is taken in 12th grade instead of AP Chem. Honors Chorus sounds amazing! I would LOVE to see the discussion on courses but can’t seem to find it!
Interesting. At D’s school 9th is regular or honors bio. 10th is regular or honors chem. 11th and 12th go from there, but obviously want to get physics in somewhere if she wants to major in sciences.
She can do Ap Stats Senior year. I assume she’s in pre calc now so she’s very advanced.
Take the right classes for her. She has limits. Guess what, if she doesn’t go UC, like won’t end. Stressing out in hopes of an unknown isn’t good. . Lots of great schools out there.
Looks like AP Spanish is just the next level in the honors sequence for Spanish. So if she is not finding Spanish 3 honors too difficult, continuing the sequence makes sense.
AP CS principles, if taught well, is likely to be more useful to a non-CS major. It is also not generally considered a difficult course. AP CS A is mostly of interest to CS majors. https://cs10.org/ would be a college course that was one of the models for AP CS principles.
How did she get placed on the +2 math track (two grade levels ahead of the normal sequence)?
Neuroscience majors in college likely require single variable calculus and statistics, so they would not require the level of academic strength in math that majors like math, statistics, physics, or various kinds of engineering would.
I just checked at WashU for fun. Their Biology Major with Neuroscience Specialization requires through Calc 2 (basically BC), and then you can do either Calc 3 (MVC) or one of a couple Stats classes. It also requires the intro Calc-based Physics sequence.
Personally, I don’t see a problem with this student doing Calc AB (basically Calc 1) and Calc BC one year at a time in HS.