<p>Our S will be a sophomore in the fall. He has always been academically challenged and done very well. He did very well in his freshmen year with a GPA of around 4.3. He has already done 3 APs as a freshman.</p>
<p>He suddenly does not want to take challenging courses as he sees no value in them. He wants to have an easy curriculum - ‘maybe add a few Honors classes - no APs’ and just go the state univ with minimal effort. He had started high school with plans of going to a top school.</p>
<p>Does not want to participate in any of the academic extracurricular activities ( science bowl, quiz bowl etc) that he was very good at because he does not see any value in them and feels he will get into the state univ without those activities. </p>
<p>Plays tennis on the JV team but does not want to put in the effort to get on the Varsity team.</p>
<p>Played violin and was in the Symphony for 3 years. He did not go for the audition this year but was still invited back - he does not want to continue because his teacher is a tough taskmaster!!!</p>
<p>All he wants to do is watch sports on TV. We are considering cutting our cable connection if things dont change.</p>
<p>How do we make him see the value in pushing himself and motivating him to excel.</p>
<p>Are there any statistics on the average salaries of graduates from specific schools ? Ivies vs. other top school vs other average ranked schools.</p>
<p>3APs as a freshman is too much! no wonder he is rebelling against so much pressure.
By summer’s end, he may feel less exhausted and more willing to take more challenging classes, but if so, I would limit the number of APs he takes. If he takes another AP in the next 4 years, he will have taken as many as most other students. Harvard gives credit for only 4 APs anyway (though the score must be a 5).
There are alternative possibilities to consider:1.depression. If his exhaustion is so encompassing, perhaps there is some medical reason for it, and he should be checked by a specialist.
2. he is looking ahead and worried about college, given the financial difficulties. Have you been telling him about your tight financial situation (if that is the case)? Perhaps deciding to take it easy is his way of abandoning his dreams of attending a reach school.
3. He may be going through a difficult phase and this may be his way of rebelling.</p>
<p>What is his social life like at school ? Has he started to hang around some new friends? I would bet that he is under pressure to be cool and “act” less smart by others kids at school. It’s hard to fight that kind of of pressure to conform in HS . But you should tell him that it gets easier to be yourself as time goes on . He shouldn’t change who he is and
Sabotage where he may wish to go to for college in order to fit in now .</p>
<p>IBfootballer - he chose the courses he wanted to take. In fact when he did not get into an Honors class due to a clerical error, he was very upset and kept following up with the teacher till he was accepted.</p>
<p>We feel the problem is that he has seen seniors from his school who were on an academic track similar to his get into top schools and is scared that he will not make it.</p>
<p>We are trying to explain that till he tries he will not know and even if he does not make it despite his best effort, it will be fine - unfortunately he seems to have just switched off!!!</p>
<p>Chocolate25 - yes , thats another approach we are taking. We have told him that its fine to take an easy course load - just pick some activity that makes him happy and stick with it. </p>
<p>I did not know about the 4 AP credit limit. Is there a place where I can get info on the AP credit limits of colleges ?
Does it matter what subjects they have a 5 in for the AP exam ? If his interest is in Science / math will it matter if he has 5 in AP History or English ?</p>
<p>We will talk to him about the alternate possibilities you have suggested and see if there is a problem that we were unaware of. Thx.</p>
<p>Each college handles AP credit differently. Some give credit for 3s,4s, and 5s, some only for 4s and 5s, and Harvard only for 5s. As well, what APs they give credit for varies. Some demand that the APs be distributed across humanities and math/science, others do not. Finally, no matter how many APs a student racks up, many LACs just do not give credit for them. Instead, students are allowed to use their AP credits to place out of some introductory classes. Compare Harvard and Williams, for example: Here is a link to Harvard’s document:
[Advanced</a> Standing: General Information](<a href=“http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~advising/advanced/general.html#3]Advanced”>http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~advising/advanced/general.html#3)</p>
<p>And here is an excerpt from the Williams website:
</p>
<p>You can see that while Williams is more generous in accepting scores of 4s, it does not allow for acceleration (3 years instead of 4) while Harvard does. so no blanket statement can be made.</p>
<p>Even if his interest is in science/math, 5s in English or History can only help. They cannot hurt. I am just thinking that if he continues to take 3APs per year, that would be 12. While I know some students who have taken more, I know even more students who have taken less and yet gotten into very good colleges.</p>
<p>Your suggestion is excellent. Maybe he is just exhausted and needs a break.</p>
<p>He has always been self motivated though he hates to admit it. He took his first AP in 8th grade - self studied it.
He took AP Bio in school in 9th grade and self studied AP WH in 9th grade because his school did not offer it and he loves history .
Maybe his current outburst is just exhaustion. I think we need to ignore his outburst and revisit his course selection just before school starts with an option to go for a lower level course if he is not comfortable. </p>
<p>I’m going to be a junior in HS, and like your son I watch A LOT of TV (my mom is starting to threaten the same things as you… lol. I watch even more now that schools out)</p>
<p>You should tell him that you aren’t going to let him do the things he likes (tv, etc.) unless he is somewhat dedicated to his schoolwork. (it may seem harsh, but that’s what my mom would probably do) I gaurantee you, once people start talking about colleges and how many APs they are taking, etc. he will feel left out, and confused. He’ll wonder why he didn’t challenge himself more.</p>
<p>Also, if he has older siblings, ask them if you can have them talk to him about colleges, etc.
(Personally, I want to do as well as my brother, or better… I guess it’s just that sibling rivalry thing.)</p>
<p>Im not a parent, but, IMO, you need to relax a bit. He says he wants to take a few honors classes, but mostly regular. To me, this doesn’t sound like a slacker! Maybe he wants to have fun next year, and be able to pursue some of his interests outside of academics. If he says he doesn’t want to do quizbowl, science bowl, etc, then I don’t think you should push him to - if he was really excited and passionate about those activites, he would want to continue them. Just let him have fun and be happy! Also, I don’t see whats wrong with him going to a state school. There are many excellent state schools where you can get a great education! And, who knows. He could still get into that prestigious school he had dreamed about without taking a billion AP’s next year :)</p>