<p>She would still have 3 APs including Calculus BC… and this is bad? </p>
<p>I guess that just seems like plenty to me because we only have 5 classes all year long. Our kids can’t compete with kids who finish high school with 8 or 10 (or more!) APs. Three APs in jr. and sr. year has always been a pretty full load for us, esp. with the other required classes we need to fit in. I guess it’s all a matter of pespective, but it sounds like your D is a hard worker, and if she wants to step up to BC, I don’t think having “only 3” APs would be a bad thing. JMHO.</p>
<p>QM- I think either of those choices should be fine, esp since she won’t get the “impossible to get” most rigorous rating at your school.</p>
<p>Not to add another complicating wrinkle into the mix, but do you know if any of these options are things that are usually scheduled at the same time? So she could start in one of the AP Calcs and then switch to the other? No idea how big your school is or how easy this would be, and if you don’t want to deal with this level of postponing the final decision, feel free to ignore this post</p>
<p>If your daughter prefers math to history, and finds herself at the top of the class in all her math classes, then she should definitely take BC.</p>
<p>No, it’s not bad BengalMom, it’s crazy! But, unfortunately, in the arms race of admissions, this is what we’ve come to.</p>
<p>As far as scheduling, I believe there are only 2 BC classes, but there should be around 5 ABs (now this depends on enrollment so it is somewhat up in the air until the school year starts)</p>
<p>I’m of the opinion that she should take the classes she wants regardless of weight. I am glad that H hasn’t figured out yet that for the best combination of weight and high grades, D should not take any APs, but only Honors (same weight-easier class for the most part)</p>
<p>The good part is everything will be finalized on March 13. After that it will take an act of G-d to get D’s GC to change anything (of course, I have been known to accomplish the impossible for D before.)</p>
<p>mommusic, she does prefer math to history, and picks it up easily, but since she has such a hard time with test anxiety, her grades don’t always show it. On the other hand, she will probably get the same grades in BC as she would in AB.</p>
<p>My S took AP Euro, AP Calculus BC and AP Spanish Language as a sophomore, along with honors English, honors Chemistry and Team Aquatics. I’ll send you a PM on this.</p>
<p>OK, ladies, I struck a great deal with ds. It’s called Parental Prerogative. He will apply to one college simply because I want him to. He said as long as it uses the Common App – I didn’t know he knew what that was! – he was fine with it. Now, I’m not positive I’ll exercise my PP, but I like dreaming. :)</p>
<p>Obviously, I would only pick a place I think he would be really happy, and right now my choice is Carleton. He’d never apply on his own because it’s cold, but the more I learn about it the more I think it would be a great fit in every other regard, right down to the multitude of broomball teams. He spent some time this weekend reading a viewbook, most of which he tosses aside, so that was a good sign. He looked at one point and said, “Is this the school with all the broomball teams?” LOL</p>
<p>So, if you had a dream school for your child, which one would it be and why?</p>
<p>YDS, my dream school for S is Carnegie Mellon. I think, it might, academically, be the type of school that he will thrive in. However, because S knows about this, he is perversely ignoring the school.
I think I showed my hand to early. :)</p>
<p>Well, I am pleasantly suprised. I was double checking the family calender against my calendar when I noticed that the SAT test was crossed out for this weekend. Turns out my S and my DH got together and decided that the May date would work out better for S and S took care of it (with DH paying, of course.) Could it be that I am no longer the only one in this house who has noticed that time is, indeed, passing? </p>
<p>Let’s see, dream school for S…right now I’d go with Vassar or Princeton. Vassar because of the atmosphere of the campus, student body and traditions. Princeton because he is considering Religous Studies and I think he would thrive in that enviroment. They are not a match financially, so it’s not a question of him not wanting to apply. I’ve just never brought them to his attention. That’s why the budget lady (me) does the research/sorts the mail (with S’s permission) and then passes on suggestions to S.</p>
<p>I just realized none of my 4 kids has ever had a problem with scheduling HS courses, and they have taken very odd combinations, and at grade levels that are not usual. (Freshman AP CS, Sopho AP Latin.)</p>
<p>There is something to be said for a large enough HS that there is more than one section of most everything. Every year I hold my breath, thinking this kid won’t get what he wants, and so far, so good. They must be scheduling geniuses at our school!</p>
<p>Senior year I don’t anticipate a problem anyway. :)</p>
<p>pugmadkate–If DH and S ever did anything like that I would fall over in a faint! And probably accuse H of messing up the schedule by not telling me.</p>
<p>Oh, you’ve picked a fun topic that should generate lots of posts.</p>
<p>My dream school for S would have been MIT. (My DH went to grad school there.) I was very impressed with their web site’s section on admissions, which includes updated blogs from actual students, to give an idea of the vibe. However, my H provided S with an assessment of what it’s like at such a tech powerhouse and my S decided that kind of place would not be a good fit for him. Plus, at this point he’s very California centric.</p>
<p>S prefers a more “middle of the road school” with good academics in his planned major. By middle of the road he means not so blindingly focused on math/science. So his uber-reach will be Stanford. He’s also liking Berkeley (we’ll have to see how reachable this is after the economic shake down of this year.) In fact, he said if he was admitted to both Berkeley and USC (where DH works) he might have a tough time choosing. He’s well aware, after watching some of his senior friends this year, that Stanford is a moon shot.</p>
<p>He’s taking the SAT for the first time this Saturday so it’s still an open question as to what are matches and safeties, which need to be added to this list.</p>
<p>I wish senior year scheduling were more of a settled issue here but things will come to a head this week.</p>
<p>It all centers on whether they’ve found enough students (20-25) who intend to take AP Chem. If not, then S has been wavering between AP Stats OR Psychology/Sociology (one semester each.) He’s adament from what he’s heard that he’s not taking AP Bio.</p>
<p>Yup, looks kind of odd. However, he will be taking the on line class in multivariable calculus and already has enough science credits (including summer classes), so …</p>
<p>By the time he graduates, he’ll have had two college level math classes (not counting AP Calc), 3 honors classes, and either 8-9 AP classes depending on whether he takes AP Stats or not.</p>
<p>I really don’t care and frankly, he’s earned himself an easier class if he ends up with Psych/Soc.</p>
<p>I have no Dream School for D. Whatever she dreams is fine with me. My dream is to have her accepted at her dreams AND getting enough money that I can afford it.</p>
<p>I’m not even talking about money. Ds needs a lot of bucks regardless of where he goes.</p>
<p>OK, another topic: Ds has saved for two years and is going to Europe on a spring break trip. The sponsors said it is legal at his age to drink wine at dinner, and that if we were OK with that we had to let them know. I said, sure. We are not parents who allow drinking in the home, but, to me, it’s part of immersing himself in the culture, just as much as later, longer dinners and the like. Would any of you balk at it? I know and trust the lead teacher.</p>
<p>It is indeed more the cultural norm in Europe. Hopefully, you know your D better than others to make an assessment. </p>
<p>If my S were in the same circumstances, I’d give him the green light after having a brief conversation (since he’s heard it before) about alcohols effects. I’d ask him to commit to no more than 2 modest sized glasses of wine and it needs to be with the meal.</p>
<p>Kudos to your D’s saving plan. My S has been squirelling away cash for these years as well and has almost $4,000 so he too, could consider such a trip. I haven’t heard him mention anything of the kind, though. Perhaps he will once he’s a senior if such an opportunity presents himself. I know he could easily get an invite to England from some kids he met on an Egyptian excursion we took last summer, or perhaps to Spain to visit his first grade teacher (who he saw again in 7th grade when we took him on his first overseas trip.)</p>
<p>My Dream School for D is wherever she really wants to go. At the moment she’s in love with Northeastern, but that could change at any time. She’s only a junior, we’ve got a lot more looking to do.</p>
<p>CD, I was kind of surprised that the sponsor would allow drinking, too, but, like I said, I trust him (the sponsor and ds). In the 8-10 trips he’s organized to Europe, he said that the only time he had trouble was the first trip, so I’m guessing he’s learned a thing or two about how to make sure it’s not a problem. Because we’re pretty uptight as parents, I think being able to use the “cultural” excuse to let him have a drink or two would probably be a good thing for him. And, yes, we’ll have ANOTHER talk about alcohol. He’s a skinny kid so I might limit him to one drink!</p>
<p>I would let D drink. When we have wine at home with dinner (rare occurrence-think Thanksgiving or Passover), both of my girls are allowed to drink (and the little one is 10). I know I’m a bad mommy. ;)</p>
He’s a skinny kid so I might limit him to one drink!</p>