<p>My son is currently a junior. He is taking 4 APs and 3 Honors this year. He is planning to take 4 APs and 1 Honor in his senior year. As you can see, the number of the courses he is going to take is reduced, although the rigor is not. But, is this considered a kind of “senior slump”?</p>
<p>I have read some articles about senior slump. I have seen some examples about what it is. But none of those examples fits my son’s case. For instance, one example is a student takes 5 academic courses in junior year, but then he only takes 4 electives in senior year. This is an obvious case of senior slump. </p>
<p>Am I worried too much?</p>
<p>Yes. (to worrying too much)</p>
<p>Here’s a good benchmark:</p>
<p>If any of his classes have the letters AP, meaning “Advanced Placement,” in front of them…he’s probably not “slumping.”</p>
<p>There’s more to learning and way more to senior year than just taking classes. Is he “cutting back” on his number of honors courses so he can do something else? If so, that’s definitely a good idea and will help him in the long run. He won’t always be able to take a ton of difficult classes, so being able to focus part of his time on academics and still have some leftover so he can focus part of his time on other activities is a good skill to learn.</p>
<p>Give him a break! Sounds like a very high-achieving, bright, motivated kid that will do just fine for his senior year.</p>
<p>Is he dropping from 7 classes to 5 classes? If so, junior year did he take no lab sciences and is he taking two lab sciences senior year? If he is taking 4 APs and two of them are AP Bio or AP Physics or AP Chem he might not have room to take more classes because at many high schools those classes take up two periods so students have enough time to perform labs. If that is the case you really shouldn’t worry. If he is only taking five classes and cutting out of school to go home, I’d encourage him to take one or two random electives so it doesn’t seem like he’s slacking off too much.</p>
<p>4 AP classes doesn’t sound exactly like slump to me. I supposed the only danger is that the GC might not check off the “most demanding curriculum” box, though I tend to doubt it. A little free time to write better essays or get more involved in ECs is not necessarily a bad thing.</p>
<p>Quit worrying. He’ll have time to write killer essays for his college aps and do all of the application paperwork himself. He probably also has increased time commitments in ECs, maybe even holding leadership positions that will take additional time in his schedule. I hope he enjoys his senior year.</p>
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<p>most definitely :)</p>
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<p>that’s still pretty heavy. But it would still leave him enough time to fine-tune his essays, research colleges and scholarships, volunteer, participate in clubs, prepare for SATs/ACT, play sports, and most of all, enjoy his last year in high school.</p>
<p>Agree with everyone above. This is not slumpy. Relax.</p>
<p>I’d only worry if his grades tumbled, and then I would try not to as there is nothing you can do about it. Always remember that it is HIS life, you gave him the tools you could but he has to take the courses and do the work. Sounds like a solid load, no slacker. Relax and enjoy his final year at home- attend his events, enjoy being a HS parent.</p>