<p>Folks: A course selection question.
According to Silverturtle on CC, AP environmental science, AP Human Geography and AP Psychology are “sissy” AP courses and can be self taught to get a 5 in the AP exam. Are these courses “poor” choices as compared to AP Physics and AP Chemistry and AP European History on a 12th grade course load?
In other words if all the above were available to a student and because the student was more passionate about the “sissy” courses as opposed to the “tough and hard” AP courses, would it hurt for the student to have taken the sissy ones?
In other words are all AP’s equal when a college admissions professional looks at course load?
I understand that there are many other factors that play a role. What is the students GPA?, what was the rigor of courses in 9, 10 and 11. What scores in standardized tests, what EC, etc., etc.,
But if all things were equal and if a highly selective college was looking at 2 applicants who were equally accomplished, but one took the so called “sissy” AP courses and the other took the “tough and hard” AP courses, would they favor the later over the former or is this just a myth?</p>
<p>Oh thanks for bringing up Curmudgeon! For those who are new to CC and want to know why I enjoy this forum please read <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/385663-moving-story.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/385663-moving-story.html</a>
It is spread over a few posts in the thread. Hands down the BEST cc thread ever. This is the story of Curmudgeon moving his D in at Rhodes, I think her second year. Enjoy!</p>
<p>What other AP classes has your student taken? Our kids had AP Chem this year and opted not to take AP Physics and take the honors class instead because they have 2 university classes (Lit and Spanish) as well as AP Calc BC and AP Psych. I don’t think that they would get knocked down for taking honors physics vs AP with their schedule but they WOULD get knocked down if their grades tank because they can’t keep up. Now, if they were only taking AP Psych, that wouldn’t look all that great (unless it was the only AP offering senior year).</p>
<p>“M=720, W=670, CR=640”</p>
<p>IMO, those scores need to improve considerably for a decent shot at the Ivies. I looked at Naviance, and the only score in the middle 50% range for the three I checked (Princeton, Harvard, Penn) is her math, and that’s barely. The CR and W scores are in that bottom quarter of students. The good news is that if she’s making an A in BC Cal, there’s no reason she can’t bring that math up. In other words, it seems like it wouldn’t be that difficult for a good student like your dd to bring her SAT above 2100 and more in range. I can’t remember whether you said she did any kind of prep. I’m not talking classes; I just mean work on her own out of the CB Blue Book.</p>
<p>This stuck out to me: “leadership in local youth ethnic organization as President.” Do you mean like LULAC? Is she minority? If so, that’ll help.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon’s dd turned down Yale for UG for the full ride at Rhodes. And now she’s there for med school. 
I miss Cur. I wish he posted more often.</p>
<p>ETA: On the AP courses … there does seem to be a bit of machoism here on cc about what’s a “real” AP course. Ds2 is taking APES next year because he’s already taken AP Physics B this year and has no interest in Bio or Chem but wants a science senior year. I’m sure it’s easier than the other science APs, but he’s a humanities guy and isn’t going to suffer through a course that doesn’t interest him in the least. I wouldn’t worry about any one course as long as her overall schedule maintains some rigor.</p>
<p>Oh, and Happy Memorial Day, all! Thank you to all the veterans, including my dad, and those who are serving now.</p>
<p>Welcome blueslipper and tsubram. </p>
<p>Blueslipper - I agree with the advice given so far. From my understanding, for med school aspirations, you want the highest gpa and the least amount of debt. </p>
<p>Tsubram - your d sounds like she’s in great shape for many amaing schools. I have no advice regarding AP classes though. My S goes to one of tose pesky schools that don’t offer any.</p>
<p>Well S is home from Vermont. He had a great time at the workshop even though he complained about there being too many poets…lol. He was kind of quiet on the way home and blamed it on feeling a bit depressed from being “submerged in all of that teenaged angst”. Apparently broken hearts and death were popular topics </p>
<p>The main workshops were run by a playwright and focused heavily on dialogue naturally. Then there were craft sessions interspersed throughout the weekend and he got to take one on comedy and another on improv. I think he did a third one on dialogue. He performed his stand up at the talent show and told me he killed it. I was ready to console him when he told me that it meant he did good. If he had said he died, then he could use a hug. Ah ok he said he wrote 2 new pieces while he was there, one about that time he was hit by a car and a poem about his wanting to be a kid again, well a younger kid. I have to play it cool if I hope to read either of them. He has a surprisingly dark and sardonic voice that he thankfully knows is not appropriate for high school writing. And it took me a while to understand that he wasn’t confessing some inner turmoil he was actually feeling. “Mom, it’s not a journal. It’s fiction!”</p>
<p>reeinaz, I’m so glad that your son had a good trip! I’m really impressed about how well he does with writing and comedy etc. </p>
<p>How did he like Champlain?</p>
<p>It’s a rough morning in my house - I got fed up with DD’s teenage attitude last night and told her that I was on strike until she could genuinely apologize and quit the rudeness. No apology yet, but she did clean up the den, and politely ask for a ride to school today. I was tempted to make her walk, but she is taking the “endurance test” with the trainer, so I told her I’d give her a ride. She actually thanked me!</p>
<p>I hope everyone has a good day, and remembers our veterans and soldiers. Thanks Dad - I miss you.</p>
<p>ree: My D is not a poet either. As much as she loves writing when that poetry unit/workshop comes around, there’s a lot of eye rolling. </p>
<p>tsubram: sissy AP’s? Sigh. I’m sure that you could “self teach” yourself all of the AP test material & take the tests if you wanted to, but the kids do actually have to take classes when they go into a HS building and I for one am not sure what the point is in piling up AP test results (especially since those that do that typically sneer at the schools that are generous with AP credit, KWIM?) I think that students should take the classes that interest them. Period. If your child says that they’re passionate about psychology & that’s why they want to major in it yet hasn’t taken the AP Psych class, that says something too. On an individual HS level, the best teacher might be the AP Psych teacher or the AP Environment Science, and the AP Physics teacher might be a tool. Of course I was the mom pleading with my D in March: please get off the hamster wheel! so take my words with a grain of salt. </p>
<p>Does your school send a decent amount of kids to selective schools? This might be a situation where a chat with your GC could give you some perspective on how choices at your school might affect college outcomes. </p>
<p>So glad that others <3 Curmudgeon. He is the best example of how wonderful CC can be. Smart, dry wit, thoughtful, helpful, doesn’t take himself too seriously & it was always so apparent how much he adored his D.</p>
<p>What is Rhodes??? I have never heard of it…please fill me in: Where is it? State? City? Small/Big etc.</p>
<p>Rhodes…Memphis, 1800 students, low list price (compared to east coast LACs), gives merit aid. Is on our list along with other ‘southern’ schools like Centre College (KY) and Trinity U (TX). </p>
<p>Rhodes attracts a significant number of students from the NE.</p>
<p>All are ranked pretty high and are not uber competitive for admissions.</p>
<p>nevermind…I think I found it…Memphis? Looks like a great school. My D, though wants “cold”…</p>
<p>In terms of AP’s, in our school AP Psych is considered “easy” until you get into the classroom and have certain teachers who just pile on work and “extra” info, which may be good for learning, but not good for time-management…I do think some of the reputation of the classes are dependant upon the teachers–the difficulty of the subject matter is a completely different issue. In our school the grade has nothing to do with the acutal AP score…so, you have to do well in the classroom…</p>
<p>I looked at Centre on line too. I like that one…but again…she wants to be cold…dont know how long that will last…also, she has decided she doesnt like large Fraternity/Sorority involvement…that takes a bunch off the map…her GC told her she needs another safety…she got a letter in the mail from Tulane…she said…“well, maybe I should apply there”…I told her “that is in the really HOT part of the South…”…she shrugged…I have no idea what to do/suggest!</p>
<p>If she wants cold and is ok in the Midwest, some solid schools to look at but are not uber competitive for admsissions…</p>
<p>Creighton
St Olaf
Dayton
Marquette
Denison
Kalamazoo
Butler
Beloit</p>
<p>In regards to AP, son is not taking AP Chem or Physics but is taking Calc AB. We encouraged him to take challenging classes that he would enjoy not just for college apps. His AP list is Euro, US Gov, Econ, Calc AB, US History. He is a social science and literature kid. All of his English/lit classes are honors.</p>
<p>I meant to share this here yesterday: Miami University in Ohio has just changed their scholarships starting with our kiddo’s class. We have 2 sets of friends (one in Cincinnati and one here) who have said fantastic things about it. It’s one of the schools that I’d like D to consider. My notes said that with D’s scores & gpa, she’d get an auto $10,000 scholarship but when I was putting together a packet about the school (yes, a packet…so that D could easily see all the wonderful things about the 4 schools I want her to consider. I need medication) I noticed that their merit page had changed. Someplace others might want to consider. Here’s the merit details: [University</a> Merit Scholarships | Miami Scholarships | Scholarships | High School Students | Financial Aid | Admission | Miami University](<a href=“http://www.miami.muohio.edu/admission/finaid/high-school/scholarships/miami-scholarships/merit.html]University”>Costs, Scholarships, and Financial Aid | Miami University)</p>
<p>Drmom: Ice hockey is their biggest sport & Ohio has “real” winter.</p>
<p>Miami is another school that I wish DD would consider. The students that I know of who have gone there have loved it. It looks like the scholarship for her stats aren’t as generous as they were (OOS) but maybe I’m remembering it wrong. In any case, it would an affordable option for a good education.</p>
<p>Miami is pretty Greek and has a significant lax bro culture. I have been on campus many times and love it. Every grad I know from there had a great experience.</p>
<p>List price tuition/fees/room/board for OOS is pretty steep…$39,000 per year. Even after a good merit award, $12,000; the price is on the fence for us.</p>
<p>anniezz - He really liked Champlain. He said the dorm was cozy and homelike. They’re houses with regular house like bathrooms. He described I guess Burlington as a nice clean town. He said the main street outside of campus has everything you could want, including a karaoke bar. There’s a boardwalk along the lake. He said he liked the people and I had to remind him that the people at the workshop would not be the same people at the college. He said “I know, but it’s Vermont. I like the type of person that would come to Vermont”. Never having been to Vermont, nor knowing anyone from Vermont, I don’t have the slightest idea of what he meant. </p>
<p>Drmom - My son feels the same way about the south and heat. Hello!!! We live in Philly. It doesn’t get much worse than summertime here with all the concrete and humidity. I was pitching UAB and the fact that there would be mild winters kept it from beingcompletely written off.</p>
<p>Drmom, have you guys looked at Macalester in St. Paul? We visited in March, and my daughter loved it.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay: thanks for the feedback. Yes, she has an A in AP Cal BC, but for some reason she has not got 760-800 in the SAT I. She did do some prep, but, probably not enough. She plans to retake in Oct 2012.</p>
<p>Re: AP’s.
No AP’s offered in freshman year.
10th grade: AP Human Geography. Had all Honors Curriculum worth 9.33 credits and GC told her she had no room.</p>
<p>Junior year:
AP Eng Lang
AP Calc BC
AP Biology
All A’s and expecting 5’s on the AP test.</p>
<p>She has in her senior year
AP Eng Lit,
Advanced Calculus (this is beyond AP Calc BC),
AP Environ Sc,
Psych (not officially an AP class, but they prepare students to take the AP exam), and
AP Human Geography</p>
<p>The other 3 AP options offered for her are AP Physics, AP Chemistry and AP European History. </p>
<p>D considers the chem teacher as a “terrorist”. Had her for Chem Honors in 10th grade and she scrapped through with a B+ and was in tears every night as she had so many assignments that kept her up until 12MN every night and weekly tests that were really hard. </p>
<p>Having said that this chem teacher has been around for 25 years and is considered a “veteran” by the community. She is known to be super strict, but, I think she knows her stuff. Her style of teaching is not exactly endearing. She also has the reputation of turning out chem wizz kids.</p>
<p>Physics is not my D. forte. She is very good in math, but does not translate to Physics talent.</p>
<p>She is aiming at Psych and Math dual majoring in college, this is what she wants. Whether it goes that way or not, we will see ;-))</p>
<p>She wants to do this at one of the Ivy’s preferably JHU or U Penn. I think it is a real long shot, but as you folks have advised, let the dream live on…
She has some solid back ups and that is reassuring.</p>
<p>RobD: yes, her school does send average 5-6 kids to the Ivy’s each year from a class of 200+. But the GC is new and really has not much of a clue on how these AP classes stack up. Moreover, given the volume of GC to students they barely think before they give out advice. It is mostly generic advice that is almost scripted.</p>
<p>Thanks RobD and Haystack. I have not heard of any of these schools, and I DO know Ohio…so, that might work…I’ll take a look!</p>