I really don’t know. I know at least three who had full scholarships. Guess that points out that not all the best students at the private were from high income parents. Just smart kids. I think “keeping up with the Joneses” is a non-issue. Also the guidance counselor was a true jewel who met with every student and actually gave real guidance.
Note that some need-based aid only colleges describe their financial aid as “scholarship”.
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Unless you are in Texas and looking at state schools, you are not disadvantaged by going to a competitive high school.
Great point. He does love it. We really have done very little to push him ahead. He does not have to work at it. It just comes easily to him.
I just spoke to the Option C school. While they offer dual enrollment, the classes are not in-person. Students attend online. They also offer an option for online courses through Freedom Learning, but I’m not thrilled with online courses in high school. Feels like a grind.
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Lexington High School has many high-performing math students who take classes at Boston-area colleges (Harvard, MIT, and BU, to my knowledge) after they max out at Lexington. At Lexington, the lack of courses offered after Calc BC is deceptive… The same is true at other similar high schools in the area.
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Yes, and the availability of outside instruction is one reason why it’s not necessary to choose a high school that has courses that go beyond BC Calculus. My child also took a year’s worth of courses at Harvard’s Extension School.
But separately, I see zero benefit in college admissions from more than a year beyond BC. My child was one of the top few hundred math kids nationwide, and he knew everyone at that level and stronger in the Boston area, and a good fraction of those nationwide (everyone keeps running into each other at various competitions). They way these students showed their math talent to colleges was through the AMC/USAMO exams, or through math research, not by taking differential equations in high school. I think a key reason why is that for students at this level, differential equations was not going to be challenging, whereas the AMC exams were, by design.
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(I have not read the last 60 posts in this thread.)
If concerned about lack of challenging math courses, some of the elite New England boarding schools have an agreement with MIT regarding dual enrollment. Not sure if still accurate as I have not checked in the last few years.
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Why though? At my high school, the acceptance rate for top universities is often lower than the national average. And that’s after everyone has a painful, grindy 4 years building up their application.
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Attending a less academically demanding/grinding HS can be fine (college adcoms will like seeing “max rigor, new HS for us, showed initiative in pursuing personal academic interests”), as long as the student can follow his interest in math.
All,
Updating course availability to include Dual Credit courses. Dual credit are taught in the high school by high school teachers, but approved by a local university for college credit and scored on 5.0 scale. Including this, Options B and C are much closer together. Option A is still well beyond both.
Option A
- AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, DC Multivariate Calc, AP Stats
- AP Chem, AP Physics I, AP Physics C
- AP LangComp, AP LitComp
- AP Comp Sci
- AP US History, DC European History, DC US Gov
- AP Macroenconomics, AP Microeconomics
- AP French (Other languages offered, but he is in French now)
- STEM Academy offered
Option B
- AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC
- No AP or DC Sciences
- AP LangComp, AP LitComp
- AP US History, AP Government
- No AP or DC Languages (French through French III)
- STEM Academy offered
Option C
- DC Calc I
- AP Bio, DC Chem
- No AP or DC English
- AP US History, AP World History, AP Government
- No AP Languages (French through French IV)
Is it fair to assume that most advanced math students will skip from Honors Pre-Calc to AP Calc BC (not bothering with AP Calc AB)? It seems like a waste a semester to take both in series since BC covers all the material from AB in the first semester. Thanks.
Some schools consider AB level 1 and BC as level2 then starts where AB ended, that’s the “AB-BC as levels” model.
Some schools consider it’s EITHER AB (as a slower calculus course) OR BC (including all material from AB and BC in 1 year, as a more accelerated calculus course). That’s the “AB or BC” model.
For a kid who loves math and is doing well, in the 2nd model, they’d take BC. But in the 1st model they’d have to take AB first and BC second.
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@CO_Dad Ask for the college acceptance/matriculation list for each school. You might be able to find it online. Each high school’s college admissions office has access to the scattergrams from whichever college platform they use (Naviance, Scior, Maia Learning). Scattergrams is a graph with that tracks that particular school’s admissions data for each college (GPA, Test Score) for each graduating year or years, generally tracking the last 5 years of its students. There are some private schools that offer very few APs, or if so, do not teach to the tests, so students have few APs compared to public school students. Yet these privates place over 20 percent of its graduating classes into the most selective undergraduate institutions year after year.
Also, some privates will allow students to study for and take APs on their own, even if AP class is not officially offered. IMO, that accommodation is important.
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This was our school - you wouldn’t take both Calc AB/BC. That said, others on here have shown different experiences. So it may be school to school, how they work.
But if your son is in BC next year or even 11th - then what.
I’d imagine each school will have an option beyond - even off campus.
If you’re not getting good "advising’ or frankly salesmanship from a private school on how to make it work for your student, that would be a concern (sounds like school C).
Either way, it sounds like a college class will be in order the final year or two years.
Some of course might - for example if you took (if allowed) AB and then BC as some on here do - then in 12th grade - some will take AP stats - but that’s a downgrade for your son although if he’s going to be a social science major, not a bad thing. But it doesn’t continue his trajectory.
So if he’s truly math gifted, there will be a path.
But I do agree and would have concerns if the school is not prepared to show you how or to assist you in achieving that path.
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Looks like A has generally more advanced offerings, while B and C could be more limiting for the student in math and other subjects.
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I guess my question is what does the four-year math plan for your kid look like at each option? I do believe in trying to maintain continuity over all four years if possible, and in keeping it at least somewhat interesting and challenging.
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Assume kid does not attend elite college. Which high school experience, valued as that alone, are you most satisfied with?
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*colleges use your SAT in the context of what your school’s average scores are
Great Question. I’ll include science as well.
Option A
Math
- 10th AP Calc AB
- 11th AP Calc BC
- 12th DC MV Calc
Science
- 10th AP Chem
- 11th AP Physics I
- 12th AP Physics C
Option B
Math
- 10th AP Calc AB
- 11th AP Calc BC
- 12th MV Calc (online)
Science
- 10th AP Chem (online)
- 11th AP Physics I (online)
- 12th AP Physics C (online)
Option C
Math
- 10th DC Calc
- 11th AP Calc BC (online)
- 12th MV Calc (online)
Science
- 10th DC Chem
- 11th AP Physics I (online)
- 12th AP Physics C (online)
As you can see, the classes are pretty much the same, but Options B and C include a lot of online coursework.