<p>mommusic - we just figured out S schedule for senior year - they register in the next few weeks. He will take:
AP Calculus AB
AP Physics B - dual credit with local university
AP Comp / Lit - dual credit with local university
AP European History - dual credit with local university (has AP US History this year and really enjoys the class and the teacher)
Advanced Theological seminar second semester (Catholic school - this meets one night a week for 3 hours)
Christian Service first semester - spend one period everyday volunteering at some organization/school in the community
Wind Ensemble Band</p>
<p>He will actually have two study halls one semester due to the evening class. Which will be great for getting all of his homework done. He hasnāt had a study hall in the first 3 years so this will be a nice change. They really discourage students from taking 4 APs but GC felt S would be able to handle the rigorous course load (especially with his strength in math / science). </p>
<p>S would love Military History or AP Statistics - unfortunately these arenāt an option at our school.</p>
<p>Just contacted his first college choice and they confirmed that the dual credit courses would transfer and matched them up to their courses for me. I canāt believe how much easier it was back in the mid-80ās when I went to college (of course I was first generation college student so my parents didnāt have a clue).</p>
<p>my kids (and I of course) have been thinking of next yearās courses, but the catalog doesnāt come out until beginning of Apr and there always are changes in electives, so it is a lot of speculation at this point. The school says it is going to do more individualized longer range course planning, and I want to get in there for frosh D2 to plan out her courses, I have some ideas of what I want to ask for.</p>
<p>mommusic, I hope the AP Latin Lit cancellation was not a surprise to your or your school, D1 is taking that this year because of the collegeboard news, and will take Vergil next year. We will have to see what school decides to offer post Vergil when D2 gets there. D1 pretty much knows what she wants to take next year as a Sr, and she mentioned it to the college counselor when she met with him last week and he cautioned her not to overload. Her advisor is the first approver of course selections and he loves her, so I donāt expect any problems except for scheduling. </p>
<p>FAP glad you had good weather for this visit and it makes me a little jealous. Can you put that 4.3 GPA in context for us who donāt follow the intricacies of the UC GPA? Is that out of something like a 5 or a 6? Thanks.</p>
<p>AP Calc AB (BC has AB as a prereq, I know that is not the case in many schools discussed here)
AP English Lit
AP Latin Vergil</p>
<h2>Chinese III</h2>
<h2>those are the top priorities and follow on in sequence shouldnāt be a problem. She also wants to take</h2>
<p>AP Stats - interested in Psych
Physics electives maybe 2 of 3 trimesters
audit Chorus - she did it this year on a policy change she pushed through.</p>
<p>Most kids take 5 or 6 classes with at least one of them being a non-core area. 3 H/APs is usually the max. I think she will have to push for the above schedule, her advisor would be ok with it but the administration will not initially.</p>
<p>I wish I could answer your questions about the average 4.3 GPA for current freshman UCLA class, but Iām not sure whether the tour guide meant the UC derived GPA or not. Iām going to guess he didnāt mean the UC derived GPA, since that is used to determine admissions. </p>
<p>In a brief nutshell, hereās how the UC derived GPA works. First, it only includes grades from sophomore and junior years. Second, it can be weighted, but only up to a total of 8 (I believe) weighted classes. Third, AP classes and some honors classes count for the weighting (all the public HS in CA have their classes reviewed and students can check on line to see if an honors class is allowed for weighted GPA or not.) Forth, non-academic classes do not count in the calculation (e.g. PE, student worker, etc.) (Once again, CA students can check this out on line.) Fifth, to be admitted, students must meet the A-G requirements (e.g. so many years worth of math, science, etc. etc.) </p>
<p>Oh, and the weighting is: A=5.00, B=4.00 and so on.</p>
<p>Other than deciding what English class heās taking senior year, I think my Sās schedule will look like this:</p>
<p>English TBD
Multivariable calculus (online class)
AP Chemistry
AP Econ/US Govt (one semester each, I believe)
Water polo/swim team</p>
<p>This is only five classes and the school day is six periods long. Whether he takes a sixth class or not is dependent on whether he carries forward with some work from a science lab we hope to get him hooked into over the summer. He has enough credits the HS accepted from previous summer classes that he doesnāt need the sixth class, and he might enjoy the flexibility come college application time. We just need to make sure he and the GC carefully describe whatās happening with the āfree time.ā</p>
<p>At S2ās school, full IB diploma candidates are automatically considered to be taking the āmost rigorousā schedule.</p>
<p>Next year (tentative):</p>
<p>HL Bio (double period)
HL Euro
HL English
AP BC Calc (will take IB SL Math exam)
IB Extended Essay (1st sem)/elective
AP Comparative Govāt/Comparative Religions (one sem each)</p>
<p>He would love to take more history - there are some region-specific courses that he might consider, but they arenāt honors and he is worried that they wonāt be challenging. Jumping into AP World second semester would be cool ā he has enough background that he can self-study what he doesnāt already have from 1st semester. Or, he may take weightlifting!</p>
<p>FindAPlace, S1 took one less class first semester senior year and was very glad he did so, as the science competition stuff, a school-related web design makeover and college applications really heated up. For that extra period, he was a TA for a AP Comp Sci class, which he loved doing. He decided to forego an advanced CS class because he wanted the teaching experience even more. S and the GC both described what he was doing, and I donāt think it hurt him at the schools that mattered to him. (it probably helped!)</p>
<p>When we took the UCLA tour a few years ago with my son, the 4.3 was the UC GPA on a 4.0 scale + weightings. It is not really a 5.0 scale because you can have only 8 semesters of weighted classes (essentially 2 year long classes in soph and junior years.) Since you will be taking probably 4-5 of your classes that count each year, then the max is probably around 4.5.</p>
<p>Basically, you had better be darn close to straight As on a most rigorous schedule with high SAT/ACTs and excellent subject tests - and even then it is not a sure thing. I know of kids who got into Stanford that were denied UCLA and Berkeley.</p>
<p>AP Lit
AP Stats
AP US Gov / Honors Econ (1 semester each - state requirement)
Photography (art requirement for the UCs)
Science of some kind (tbd)
1 more class tbd on what electives make sense</p>
<p>Probably not quite as hard as this year - but certainly hard enough :)</p>
<p>S2 thoughts so far, but they will not āregisterā until probably March:
AP Physics
AP Calc BC
AP Stats
AP Lit
AP Psych
PE (1 semester)
needs one more class</p>
<p>He had always intended to take French through AP, but heās really hating this yearās Honors French IV (the teacher and syllabus, not necessarily the French language) and claims that thereās no way heāll go on with it next year. We shall see.</p>
<p>My sonās schedule is pretty set for next year -</p>
<p>AP English Literature
AP Calculus AB
AP Physics
AP Govt/AP Econ (one semester each)
Journalism (heās the sports editor this year, donāt know next year, hopefully editor)
Health (he hasnāt taken it yet - Uggh, one semester)
Football (fall)
and an off campus period one semester when football ends. :)</p>
<p>There are just not that many choices at my kidās school, which makes the process pretty simple. However, weāver heard a rumor that seniors may be able to take some of their classes at the local college (where I am a student until May!) Hopefully the GC will be able to clarify some of the āword on the streetā info that S comes home with.</p>
<p>The UC GPA is calculated on a 4.0 scale, with a max of 8 extra points for UC-approved AP and honors classes. This means the max GPA anyone could get is 4.5 (if I did the math correctly back when my '09 son was considering applying to UCs). UCLA and Berkeley are incredibly difficult to get into, and even more so this year due to the proposed reduction in admissions.</p>
<p>My 2010 son is planning his schedule now and it looks like it will be half-challenging and half-easy.</p>
<p>AP Calculus BC
AP Physics
Econ/civics (one semester each)
English
Ceramics (his art requirement)
golf (spring)</p>
<p>He refuses to take a 4th year of Spanish. Heāll get a free period which heāll most likely use to run to the grocery to buy food :)</p>
<p>hereās another question from the curiousā¦ for those of you who are listing a sport among the classes, is that taken as an actual class in that it shows up on the transcript? For a grade? My D is a 3 season varsity athlete, but that is after school and I donāt think of it as part of her class schedule. Not that she is a jock, her school requires sports for two of the three trimesters.</p>
<p>At my sonās high school, sports arenāt graded but they serve to meet the PE requirements that each student has in order to graduate. So kids who do sports can opt out of PE. Kids who do sports have their 7th period free so they can start practice before the school day officially ends.</p>
<p>Some of our sports are during the last period of the day, and some are a ninth-period, so after the regular school day. If you sign up for the class, either eighth- or ninth-period, you get PE credit. You donāt have to sign up for the class to be on the team, or be on the team if you sign up for the class. As a freshman, my son was on a sports team but didnāt take the class and therefore didnāt get PE credit. Our district requires three semesters of PE.</p>
<p>Our sports (varsity, not club) are graded and count as PEās. Iām not sure what the requirement is, but I know you have to have a certain amount to graduate.</p>
<p>My son has played football and lacrosse, but only football has counted because lacrosse is club. The football period depends on what team you are on. Varsity is last period of the day, JV is around lunch time and freshman is 1st period, but then all have after school practice.</p>
<p>vballmom: I thought I read where the UC reductions in admissions did not affect UCB or UCLA (or UCM and UCR, just the middle tier.) Was I mistaken? Things are so fluid in CA if you blink, youāve missed something!</p>
<p>jackief: Students on a sports team take 6th period as the team sport. The practices or games go on past sixth period until 5 pm for most sports, longer for others. Then of course, there are weekend tournaments, etc. This does appear on the transcript, is graded, and counts towards the PE requirement. It is not considered an academic class toward the UC derived GPA. Iāve never heard of any athlete who at least gives it a go not getting an A. :)</p>
<p>Our HS has a zero period as well, for students (some athletes) who want/need to take that extra academic class. You need to have a motivated student because itās early in the morning. My S preferred the option of spending some of his summer weeks in academic camp, for which he got math and science credits that show on his HS transcript (we got clearance that this was allowable at the HS before he signed up.) Some students use the summer to take an arts class to meet the UC requirement.</p>
<p>So interesting to learn about the differences in requirements/scheduling. Our district allows students to take a 10-period day (with a lunch) - and most competitive students take a minimum of a 9, and often a 10, period day full of AP and honors courses. Sports and clubs do not begin until all classes are over for the day. PE is required all 4 years (on an every other day basis, usually alternating with a science lab). Being on a sports team does not count towards the PE requirement.</p>
<p>FindAPlace - sounds like you had a nice visit to UCLA. What did your S think of it?</p>
<p>pugmadkate - sometimes simple is a good thing. At Dās school, the number of options can be a little overwhelming - and some of the options are just so appealing that I can understand why a student might pass on an extra AP in order to learn something completely new. Plus, it apparently makes it very hard to get that āmost rigorousā box checked on the counselorās report - and thatās a shame.</p>
<p>TEN periods a day? WITH a lunch? How long is the school day/periods? Is this a block schedule?</p>
<p>I think my S was suitably impressed with UCLA but finds it rather large, perhaps too much so for his tastes. We shall see as we get more into this.</p>