<p>Thanks guys. There is also an AP Calc AB and an AP Calc BC. She took honors precalc as a junior. So AP Calc AB is an option; I’ve emailed the GC about teachers. D seems to think it might be the same teacher. If it is, she’ll probably go that route, somewhat sadly. I understand “why” the box wouldn’t be checked; it’s just one of the stupid administrivia admission hoops that goes against my gut. The good thing is that we have an excellent math tutor in place now, so I think we’d start that from the get go. </p>
<p>Apparently AP Calc BC can only be taken if you’ve already taken AB or if you’re a super duper math genius (which only 1 kid in her class is; her regular run of the mill math genius friend is taking AB.) </p>
<p>After the math discussion this morning, D quietly asked me “do you think I should take the ACTs & SATs one more time?” Sigh. I explained where she stood, what it meant and that it was up to her but if she did, I’d only go ACTs again. She asked for dates. I think she’s going to take them again in September. I kind of wish she wouldn’t because even if she does better, it doesn’t make a difference at 85% of her schools; the other 15% reject lot of people with scores in the 99%+. And it plays into the hamster wheel stress that goes against my natural tendencies.</p>
<p>RobD-I have had the same kind of question about classes and “rigor” and “what the …are we teaching our kids?” if we let them just do what everyone else is saying they’re doing. I have heard, however, that most selective schools want to se Calculus (not just Pre Calc)…so, it may not matter AB/BC…but just that it is Calc…(that is, if the school teaches it).
on another note:so, would it be utterly dumb to have a tutor who has known your kid “forever” to write a LOR? I think it probably is not the best idea…but just curious if anyone else has either heard of this or done this? I’m thinking for both character reference and for really knowing her strengths in a way, outside the classroom?? maybe there is someone else, I know…</p>
<p>So the score reports for the May SAT are available online today. I noticed that it also compares scores in the high school. That bit of data wasn’t on last year’s report. Is it new or is my son’s school just now adding that data?</p>
<p>Well the choice is honors calc (which will knock the “most rigorous” checkmark off her transcript) AP Stat (which by all accounts is not a good class with a teacher who would cause stress, but would fulfill “most rigorous”) or AP Calc AB or AP Calc BC (which would also fulfill “most rigorous.”)</p>
<p>AP Stat is off the table because of the teacher and AP Calc BC is as well but because my D is not that kind of math student. So it comes down to honors calc vs. AP Calc AB. We <em>think</em> it’s the same teacher. If that’s the case, then she’ll take AP Calc AB. But wearily.</p>
<p>RobD: my S is in a similar situation with Spanish as your D with math is. I think there is so many variables in the picture which is why we are all feeling helpless in such situations. Your D has excellent scores and from what you have described her, seems like highly motivated and driven kid. Best wishes to her whatever she chooses to take.</p>
<p>Good morning, everyone! It’s nice and sunny here again but fortunately not too hot!</p>
<p>Wherenext, wow, 95%, congratulations to your D! Thanks for the report on CU Boulder, it does sound beautiful.</p>
<p>89wahoo, sorry about your D’s loss, congrats to your ‘smallest son’! It’s hard when you don’t have enough subs.</p>
<p>Cantconcentrate, D’13 may send an art supplement to some of the schools that she is applying to, but probably only to those where it is relevant to the program that she is interested in. Some colleges seem to prefer hard copies! I was so surprised! Most, though, seem to like links to sites.</p>
<p>megpmom, I’m glad you had a fun weekend in Chicago despite the wacky judge!</p>
<p>RobD, S’12 was admitted to UChicago and several other colleges without any AP’s. Granted, our school doesn’t offer many (and there were conflicts with programming courses that he really wanted to take) and he did well on the SAT subject tests so the colleges that he applied to could see that he could do the work. With our kids it’s always been difficult to fit in all the courses that they want to take so we’ve had to resort to summer courses. Certainly the calculus would be more important than the stats to my kids, too considering the programs that they are interested in taking at university. All the best to you with the difficult decisions that you and your D will have to make.</p>
<p>RobD - It’s a tough choice when your kid has amazing stats. I’m sure your D will be fine with whatever decision you come up with. It would just be nice for senior year to have no additional stresses.</p>
<p>Rob: I agree with others that the AP Calc option is more rigorous than the AP Stat route, so I am not quite sure why your D’s school would consider dropping “the most rigoruous course load” status based on the choice of honors calc over AP Stat. I would think honors calc and AP Stat would be considered on the same playing field, but not as rigoorus as AP Calc. My D is taking AP Calc BC (like at your D’s school, she had to take AB first this year) and is also taking AP Stat as an elective next year. I, too, have heard college reps in our area report that they like to see students challenge themselves in both their strong and weaker areas. So if your D is so inclined, I would encourage her to go for the AP Calc. One selective school, D has looked at jokes that they know there are two C’s in calculus! I don’t think your D will be making any C’s, though. She seems to be a great student who has a wonderful support system! If it helps any, my D has been debating whether to take AP Gov next year. She is concerned about the same issue of rigor, but she plays two varsity sports and has many responsibilities/performances in orchestra. She also has heard a lot of negative chatter about the teacher, and after having a very difficult time with one of her teachers this year just wants fair and consistent leadership in the classroom. I have told her it is up to her, but I would like her to take the honors brand of government. She will have taken four other core AP humanities and one elective humanities course by the time she graduates and she is a math/science kid. I think that is good enough!</p>
<p>Hey guys!
My school considers rigor to be taking at least 25 honors/AP courses over four years here. Of course, it differs from kid to kid, but the bulk of the classes should be taken as honors or AP to be dubbed as “most rigorous”.</p>
<p>Now, about my weekend. I got to spend the weekend in New Jersey at my brother’s baseball tournaments. Out of 25 teams in the bracket, his team placed 4, which is very good. I have a fun time getting out of Connecticut for a while!</p>
<p>I got my license this morning! I’m going to be heading off to school in about 15 minutes, even though I’m being dismissed early for a golf tournament! Looks like I’ll only be in school for about an hour and 15! </p>
<p>I have my NHS induction tonight. I know it’s not a big thing here on CC, but at my school it’s an honor because one has to have a certain GPA, approval by all teachers, recs, resumes, etc. It’s a process.</p>
<p>I’m excited! I’m taking the SAT on Saturday, then I’m heading straight over to Relay for Life.</p>
<p>Hope the day is going well for everyone! It’s 95 here and beautiful!</p>
<p>swizzle, that would be ridiculous at our school, as there are required courses that are not honors designated (PE, health, fine arts) and you are not allowed to take more that 7 courses a year. My D will graduate with 10 AP classes, and everything else honors that she can, and won’t have 25 of them! She does have a study hall some years due to her sports participation, but even without that, it would be almost impossible.</p>
<p>Schedule issues are very difficult. Our school has sprung teacher changes in classes, where a certain teacher has taught the course for a long time, so you think you know what you are getting, then your schedule shows up in August with a different name. We’ve had bad and good experiences with this.</p>
<p>Had a beautiful weekend at a friends lake house…lots of wake boarding, Sea-Doo’s, games of corn hole, food and cocktails. Not ready to get back to reality. </p>
<p>With 2 Finals down, Jr is pretty “checked out” of school right now. In his remaining finals he needs an avg of a 65% in all of them to maintain his “A”. He works VERY hard from the beginning of the term to get as much padding as he can so he can enjoy this small luxury. So, that means that this week, he will be focused on training and getting ready for his meet at UCLA this weekend. </p>
<p>D14 is a completely different story and kid. She is my social butterfly/Cheerleader…we will just be happy if she survives the next few weeks. She gets very overwhelmed by Finals. Not sure how she will fare on the SAT/ACT’s next year.</p>
<p>Swizzle: Enjoy your big day today!! And good luck on your SAT’s.</p>
<p>RobD: I am sure your DD will do AMAZING in where ever she ends up. Being at that top level is never a “bad thing” ;)</p>
<p>rob, that would drive me nuts. I think many of us would be surprised by how schools/GCs make that designation. </p>
<p>I remember when I first asked the GC about it, she said that naturally every kid in the top 10% would get the designation. Nooooo. Some of those kids are there precisely because they DON’T take the most rigorous courseload. Then, I learned that the designation went to every kid who is on track to graduate under the state’s highest plan. That means every kid in my kids’ HS gets that designation! Ridiculous. Though, I will say, I think it’s quite kind of them to want to paint every kid in the best possible light. The problem, however, is that kids fulfill that highest graduation plan in a whole host of ways. For instance, in math, you gain that status regardless of whether your four years of math were Alg I, Geo, Alg II and precal or precal, AP BC Cal, multivariable and linear algebra. I think it’s obvious which math load is the more rigorous one, and it kind of does a disservice to equate the efforts of the kid who is really going above and beyond (full disclosure: ds is in between these two extremes) with the first kid, who is fulfilling the requirement with the bare minimum.</p>
<p>Watch out, world! swizzle is on the streets! ;)</p>
<p>The course rigor question to GCs is a tough one and apparently as variable as GPA. My D and I met with her counselor and asked that. She replied that she would absolutely check most rigorous. D has a regular science and two regular math (and the reverse as honor) from the levels before AP began. Next year she has AP calc AB ( note not BC) and AP biology. She’s taking AP English, giv, and Spanish too so five AP classes and then anatomy (which I’m suddenly even more wary of…)- and her study hall (called Advanced Seminar which sounds far better!). She has a lot of high achieving friends but I can’t sat I know anyone taking more AP classes than she, and several people have made the observation that she’s insane. Talk about schools varying! Also she can only take 7 classes a year and with gym and fine arts requirements, I’m not sure how she’d reach 25. Interesting…</p>
<p>Swizzle: congrats on both the drivers license & NHS! As my father said: just remember the car has two ends ;)</p>
<p>You would think that because D will qualify for the state diploma with distinction as well as the county honors diploma that it would be enough for “most rigorous.” Ah well. Based on Swizzle’s post I checked & D will have 22 honors or AP classes by the time she graduates. </p>
<p>I did break down & call the admissions office of the one school she was most concerned about. After explaining the “conundrum” they basically said that it was a rigorous transcript and that one thing shouldn’t cause an issue. Some googling led me to some pages saying Northwestern absolutely wants to see that their applicants are taking calculus. The honors vs. AP AB issue might be working itself out without my intervention. And D1 confirmed that the super math/science genius of her class managed to get into Top 10 schools without AP English(s.) The zen hippie “stick it to the man” in me is disgusted that I’m even worrying about this.</p>
<p>ETA: wahoo: both my girls took Anatomy & Physiology Honors & did just fine. The dissecting of the cat was tough for D2 but she pulled through with good lab partners.</p>
<p>Hope everyone had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend! Only one more final left for S, then he’s a Senior!</p>
<p>RobD, I dont think we can really know for sure what factors get weighed most heavily in admissions decisions at each school. I like to read the MIT forum because I think MITChris, an actual MIT admissions officer, offers a transparent view into the process of a highly selective school. Students need to demonstrate that they can do the work that is required of them if they were to be admitted, so a rigorous curriculum is part of that, but its not a race to take every AP. I believe they said the average MIT admit has taken 5 APs. Once youve demonstrated you could do the work (high gpa, test scores, rigor), then it becomes highly subjective. I think your humanities D has a leg up since she can probably write a killer essay! I also think taking a slower paced math class when part of a tough schedule shows a little self awareness knowing that one is not the best at everything. We all know that Ivy admissions are so unpredictable and even so called perfect students get rejected. With at 90-94%+ rejection rate, I dont think Id plan my schedule geared towards Ivy. Id plan it geared towards those schools that are good matches and offer a strong opportunity for merit. That may mean skipping the AP to protect her GPA! (S says that lots of kids that consider themselves good math students stuggle to wrap their head around Calculus. We have a really good teacher, but the school only offers AP I think some kids really could benefit from the slower pace.)</p>
<p>I too think any Calculus would be more impressive than AP Stats. I wonder how much weight the college admins put on that little box checked by GCs as it does seem quite variable Im sure there are GCs gaming it, so they have to keep an eye out for that. Our school profile that is attached to the transcript lists the grading scale and all the AP, H, and DE classes offered, so they can make their own determination if the schedule is rigorous.</p>
<p>RobD: I worry every day…and I really think there is not much we can do about it! I am concerned that my kid will end up with SATII in math1 and math2 as her “two SAT 2’s” because she bombed the history and not sure when/where she’ll try for a different one…maybe in november? I tell myself that in the end, it really won’t matter where she goes to school. All the schools she has seen so far, she can “see” herself attending; some she’d like more than others. But some she saw and knew right away “if I applied and got in, I still wouldnt go”…so, I just have to hope there’s at least one she gets into!</p>
<p>RobD, It is so tough worrying if your child to be penalized for one decision after all her hard work and many interests that make her who she is. I agree with reeinaz, isn’t there going to be enough stress senior year already?</p>
<p>Wahoo-RobD is right that kids do well in this class. The combination of classes and my daughter’s hyper focus and tons of anatomy busy work made this class a bear! She loved the labs and material though. </p>
<p>Wrldtravir- D is not interested in healthcare. She took a college class at UCLA in Psych and loved the brain stuff. </p>
<p>My D will probably not be competitive next year based on her schedule alone. No MATH, she had AP Stats this year and is not going back to AP Calc after a year off. There are no higher math classes at school. She had a horrible H Pre Calc teacher and the AP Calc advised against APCalc this year especially since she is a liberal arts, psych, english kid. AP Stats has been very useful for her so far! We stressed big time about the Math, and we stressed that due to conflicts she didn’t get H Spanish 4 this year and does not want to go back to that after a year off. She has work very hard. She will have 7 AP’s under her belt and Honors classes. She has some easier AP’s but AP Euro, AP Lang and Lit are some of the most difficult. I am not always level headed about this and I am so trying to make sure that her last year at home is a happy one, so she is taking what she wants to take.</p>
<p>I am securing my spot in walkers basement for next year (:</p>
<p>DONIVRIAN Spanish is also the problem class here. </p>
<p>Ree dont know about the SAT as S never took it! Ive seen those comparisons on state tests though.</p>
<p>Drmom123 a lot of colleges will dictate exactly who they want to write LORs (ie, GC, one recent math/science teacher, and one recent humanities teacher). If you have the option to include an additional LOR, then maybe you could use the tutor. I would focus on what you believe is most important to admissions and choose writers that can best demonstrate those qualities. I think the social aspect, collaborating with others, adding to the quality of the class, etc are things that are really important, so I advised my son to choose teachers that not only like him, but also have seen him interact a lot in a group setting (some classes are not like this), and can express those things in words. I also asked his GC which teachers are known to write the best LORs!</p>
<p>BTW, Ive always considered myself a person with a lot of common sense, but I too dont like to go for check-ups if Ive gained weight! I hate their scales they are so darn accurate!</p>
<p>Megpmom sounds like a priceless weekend! Glad you had a great time despite the disappointment.</p>
<p>Anniezz We didnt use any snow days this year for the first time ever they didnt give any back though! I hope your D enjoys her day off!</p>