<p>Our school offers 18 AP classes, no IB or DE. S14 will have taken 8 tests after the 4 he’s taking this year. S15 will take his first AP class next year at the strong urging of his older brother. High praise for the teacher. :)</p>
<p>@stacyneil, the IB test schedule is grueling. I did not realize until this year that there are two to three tests (papers) for each class. S’s school has no AP classes, and out of 175 seniors, only about 20 do the full program. I never asked him if he wished he’d gone to an AP school. I don’t think I want to know. ;-)</p>
<p>S’s school has 30 AP classes. He is on the AP/Honors track and will have taken 13 at graduation. A few kids take more and a few kids self study for even more. </p>
<p>No time off for tests, but somebody usually brings breakfasts or snacks. He only had one day with 2 tests this year, so it hasn’t be too bad. The Lit and Comp test today was really the only stress provoking one. </p>
<p>When he started this, he didn’t know that he was going to be pre-med and wouldn’t get credit for all of these. Oh well, they were probably the right classes for him to take anyway. </p>
<p>Our school has 6. My S took all 6. My D couldn’t because band interfered. She took 4.</p>
<p>DS’s school is a special case because although it is a public school, it is a competitive entry STEM magnet. So it offers 23 APs. With a student population of roughly 1,850 last year nearly 3800 AP exams were taken.</p>
<p>His 8 total APs are probably slightly below average for the school. But he was more interested in taking robotics, prototyping, etc. than AP Bio and the like. Worked out just fine for him.</p>
<p>DD '18 is going to a different public school for the IB program. It’s much more suited to her strengths and interests.</p>
<p>Not sure how many AP classes our school offers, but it’s a lot. About 37% of the @3800 students take at least 1 AP and the average is 3.3 per student. The top 10% take significantly more. D has only taken 6 APs because she was at a different school last year that only offered one AP. It hurt her rank coming back to this HS due to the weighting. Our school also offers DE. DE and AP are weighted equally. Here, DE is a lot easier than AP so some students choose DE to boost their class rank. The whole thing is sort of crazy. </p>
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<p>I agree, it’s ALL crazy. What ever happened to kids taking courses they loved and felt challenged in? Going into this, I had absolutely no idea how much it mattered, so that’s how we advised D (do what you love and challenge yourself.) There are times I’ve felt badly because it probably narrowed the range of schools she might have gotten into, but since it’s all worked out in the long run I try not to beat myself up about it. Still, for first-time parents it’s a shocker to find out that you should have been planning for college by advising on certain course selection starting freshman year! Sheesh!</p>
<p>Meanwhile… did any of you folks contribute to my prom party thread a couple of months ago? The big day is Saturday, and I could not be less prepared. My surgery recovery is taking a LOT longer than I expected and I still am not allowed to lift, bend, vacuum, sweep, etc. The house is a mess and we need food and supplies… blaaaaaahhhh!</p>
<p>D’s school has 20. She took 13. Most of the top 30 or so kids take 10 to 12 APs.</p>
<p>My S’s school offers 23 AP courses and 18 DE, no IB. I don’t know exactly how many AP classes most kids take, but in any given year about 25% of the students are taking exams with an average of 2 AP exams per year. We are allowed to take AP classes starting freshman year. They don’t give the kids food or let them take the rest of the day off though (he wishes!). In fact, they tend to keep giving major assignments throughout the AP exam times. My poor S is getting hit with a big project over his prom weekend and it’s due on his first AP exam day. He has taken 8 AP courses in total. </p>
<p>@staceyneil - I’m sure your guests will understand that you have been out of commission. Send H to the store and enlist D’s help with the cleaning. As long as you have food, no one will notice your house!</p>
<p>S got his housing assignment for next year and is signed up for orientation. Tonight I will attend HS Senior Parent meeting to pick up Graduation tickets and his cap and gown. Everything is so real!</p>
<p>I just realized that the admission deposit we paid to accept DS’s place at UVM was not actually a deposit, but rather a separate fee! $475! That “includes” June orientation (which is mandatory), though he has to pay an extra $50 to arrive early for Honors orientation, which is required. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not much, but it still seems really high just for orientation. For my older son, we paid a deposit against his eventual bursar charges, but his school did not have orientation other than having the freshmen arrive a few days before classes in August.</p>
<p>Looks like our orientation fee is $225, which covers five days of fun (only two days for family). Everything from rock climbing & ice skating to anime & gaming to American Sign Language.</p>
<p>Just made a group reservation for graduation dinner at The Melting Pot because S came back from his Spring Break trip in love with cheese fondue. It is definitely getting real!</p>
<p>Cap and gown came home today. D already has to decide on freshman seminar choices and in the next few must take an online foreign language placement test and fill out an advising form. Way too real for me! Kind of freaking me out.</p>
<p>I think I saw a few posts about this, but we are invited to several graduation parties. Mostly, these are for friends my son has known since kindergarten. They all went to different high schools, but have stayed close friends. In addition, the parents are all close friends. It is a really great group. What sort of gifts do you give to the young graduates? What did your older kids get that was really appreciated? </p>
<p>@crowlady that sounds like a much better deal than UVM! That $475 orientation is only a day and a half. We have to pay extra for family members to also attend. :-/ And doesn’t appear to have any fun recreational activities included. It’s all business. </p>
<p>Son '14 will finish high school with 11 APs, including self-studying for the U.S. government exam. We also have DE for English, U.S. history, government and world history. But students who take those classes are still required to take the AP exam, which the county pays for.</p>
<p>Today is the AP stats exam. Son '14 is a math guy so he should do very well. But, there have been a lot of distractions the past 24 hours, and I’m hoping they do not interfere with his ability to test. After track practice last night, he informed me that I had to drive him, following that AP stats exam, to a prestigious track meet in Richmond, VA so he could run – he had qualified for the event. He thought I knew, because the coach sent me an e-mail. No, the coach did not. And it seems that there is no one else available to wait for Son '14 to take him to the meet. If I do not drive him, he does not compete. The fact that he has an AP exam was never given any thought. Is it me or isn’t academics still the priority and other arrangements need to be set up? Son '14 is so over high school and his team. He just wants his diploma.</p>
<p>@momreads Schools just don’t think. My son has MANDATORY graduation practice scheduled during the English composition AP exam today. Glad he is in the middle of the pack alphabetically, he can just follow the guy in front of him. Also, the track coach expects him to be at practice from 3:00-5:00. Trouble is, today is prom and we live 40 minutes away from school. Coach told him to bring his tux and shower up in the locker room. My son explained his DATE lives 40 minutes away, too. The coach said someone should drive her in to the school and drop her off. Thankfully, my son held his ground and will be allowed to practice after the AP (and probably miss a senior barbecue). Oh, and there is 9:00 AM track practice tomorrow MORNING, after prom. Only the athletes qualified for districts have to go to practice, because the season ended last night with conference championships. Great way to reward the high-performing seniors! My DS is WAY more laid-back than I am! He just goes with the flow…</p>
<p>I guess that’s one reason to be glad we end so late – APs don’t conflict with graduation or prom obligations! And playoffs don’t start for us until next week either. Graduation rehearsal and other senior related events are the week of June 16, when everyone else is taking finals (seniors take finals the week before) and all athletic and academic competitions are finished.</p>
<p>Senior night went very well last night. The team pulled off a key victory with a conference rival securing first place and top seed in the tournament. DS had two assists – pretty good for a defender! Love hearing where all the kids are going to school and what they’ll be studying. Quite an array of schools – there was Case Western, Michigan, a couple each for VA Tech and UVA, Carnegie-Mellon, RPI, Princeton, and Vanderbilt. All STEM majors except for one business – to be expected from a STEM high school of course.</p>