@labegg, if D takes physics senior year then from what others said as long as she has had Algebra 2 and Precalc she should be fine. Then she could choose if she wants to do AP stat or Calc.
What some of my D’s friends did was take Honors Calc senior year. It exposed them to the material in high school but they weren’t sure if they could score high enough on AP exam to place out of Calc 1 in college so they are taking Calc 1 in college again.
@labegg I know each school is a little different, but here no one can take AP physics until they have had Calc AB without special permission. DS knew a senior that tried to take both at same time and really struggled with the AP physics because of the lack of previously completing Calc AB. DS is one of the few not taking Calc BC concurrent with AP physics. He had honors physics last year.
AP stats is recommended here for business majors and humanities majors. DS took it since he has always had an interest.
Not sure the academic EC matters much. I think leadership of any kind would be more valuable for scholarships.
Others posts have reminded me that here AP Physics Is “C” and the students take 2 AP exams. If you school offers the Algebra beard course, my comments are not relevant.
It’s AP Physics I - algebra based.
D16 took it and was fine (B/B+) with just the Algebra II, although she only scored a (3) on the exam…which was more a result of her failure to prepare than a comment on the teaching or not having the foundation that would allow her to succeed.
The normal AP track in the school is this AP Physics I class concurrent with Honors Pre-Calc. D18 has a teammate who did AP Physics I concurrent with Honors Algebra II last year and struggled mightily and ended up not taking the exam.
D18 is really on the fence about what she wants to do…junior year is so both academically speaking, important and stressful.
@Cheeringsection there are actually FOUR AP Physics exams: AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2 and Physics C is broken into two exams one for Electrical and the other Mechanical. Our school teaches AP Physics 1 and 2 as one class and Physics C as one course.
One of DS16’s friends was a very smart girl. Always in the top 10. She did not make good choices regarding rigor her Jr year , over extended herself with 4 AP classes and lots of chorus ECs. Trying to increase her rank by taking extensive APs, she ultimately tanked her GPA , dropped her rank to the point where she no longer qualified for our states highest scholarships and significantly limited any chances for merit opportunities or acceptance to her dream school. It is hard to know what to do.
We had Physics B until a couple of years which collegeboard canned to create 2 separate 1 year classes Physics 1 and 2. Collegeboard recommends 1 and 2 to be taught as year long classes.
@piesquared We are definitely trying to heed your advice for D17. After S16 had success with EA he lopped off the rest of his RD list so we came to the finish line with good options but an easy choice. I’m hopeful D17 can think things out more extensively over the summer and apply to the ones she has already picked for EA and hopefully narrow down 3 ED choices to one. If needed the others offer ED2. If she gets a few EA acceptances I think she’ll be happy and if ED works out it will be meant to be 
Definitely trying to not do the huge amount of RD she originally had planned for knowing she really only really likes a few and the rest were all OK if they give me a lot of $.
@labegg I wouldn’t put too much stock in your D16’s score on the Physics 1 exam as indicative of anything. Her junior year was the first year that Physics 1 was taught and scores across the nation were terrible! Only 4.1% of test takers got a 5, 14% a 4, 32.8% a 3. At my school, the teachers felt that no one really knew how to teach it, no one knew what to expect on the exam, etc. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s an improvement this year.
D16’s decision process: I picked the 13 schools to which she would apply, where her expected stats would place her in top 50th or 25th percentile of 2015 accepted students. (The list did not include some schools she had toured and already rejected.) The schools had to have her major, be in or near major cities, and participate in our tuition grant program.
She was accepted into all, ultimately. However, all along we asked her to keep ranking the colleges, top choice to bottom choice. She could not have cared less what anyone thought of the schools’ prestige, but these were not household-name colleges anyway.
On the side, we parents had to figure out our out of pocket costs at each and did determine that we could afford the costs for most of them, but not all (on her list, the east and west coast schools’ room and board costs are significantly higher). I shared these numbers with her, but I don’t think they figured into her thought-process.
Then, it emerged that D16 definitely favored nearby colleges.
Of those, she picked the one that has what she found she wanted: the larger campus, gothic architecture, a small average class size, a somewhat diverse student body, easy commuter-train access to our home-city, and a special advanced standing opportunity for her intended masters program. It probably was her first choice all along – after an early discussion she had with the school’s adcom at a college fair.
But, I had wanted to make sure she had options. Her unique history made admissions unpredictable and the full-tuition grant felt like a crapshoot too. She never got to visit any of the schools outside our region, due to travel costs. If she had visited, I wonder how that might have influenced her decision. Oh, well. We’ll never know.
At any rate, she is delighted with her pick and we’re so happy she’s got such a good fit. I think the whole college admissions process has helped her grow and master some skills. I think she’s very happy to see high school ending and is excited to be heading to her favorite college.
@labegg, I have not read all the replies yet, but here’s my opinion: in her situation, I would not worry about AP Physics. My STEM daughter only has AP Bio, FWIW
As far as extracurrics, maybe figure out some leadership opportunities, cheer-related, perhaps. Could she do some teaching? Volunteer to work with special needs kids doing cheer stuff? Something that would speak to her heart, and help her learn a skill herself.
@dyiu13 as always, I love your posts. Congratulations to your daughter for following the path that works the best for her and her family. We are all running our own race with our own finish lines. Go team!
@inn0v8r My son has 8 choices. One was a local safety that he took off the list imeadiatly. He had three large UCs UCB UCLA and UCI but he decided that they were to big. One school gapped us $30,000. This left him with 3 wonderful options with the same amount of aid and he was really torn.
So we decided to visit the last three and during out first visit he asked an admissions officer to help him understand the differences between schools. So the guy explained it by Harry Potter Houses. I kid you not.
Each school is a mix of Harry Potter Houses. My son, as a Ravenclaw, will need to figure out where he is most comfortable. We visited one that he loved and declared it a Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw mix, the one we visited last Friday was all Griffindors and was cut from the list. Next Friday I predict will be a school that is pure Ravenclaw and I am going to guess that will be the yes. But I cannot confirm that until next weekend.
My son was very very stressed out about choices until he stated thinking this way. It let him really understand the idea of fit and to classify what type of a school it was.
I know this sounds silly but putting choice in terms of Harry Potter Houses for a 17 year old fanboy was what was needed. He is a lot less stressed about being on the USS Indecision and so am I.
@carolinamom2boys @Zelanie @labegg @midwest67 @2manybooks @piesquared @petrichor11 @dyiu13 @LKnomad thank you all for sharing your decision processes, it was an interesting read and very helpful.
We finally made it back home after six hours flight and we still are as far from making decision as we were before we left. Hopefully we will get more information after two admitted students programs this weekend. It will probably work by elimination: if she doesn’t get scholarship she is interviewing for this weekend- the school will be out. If she will not like another school it will leave this long distance school and another school she doesn’t want to hear about.
@LKnomad I’m glad your son was able to have his choices explained to him in a manner that he truly got. I need to have my DS16 or DS19 interpret for me as I’ve never read a Harry Potter book or seen a movie. 
First grad party invitation received over the weekend. Here we go!!!
@sbjdorlo -Almost logged in earlier re: @2manybooks post, but yours did it! That’s too bad about the kid transferring out of Stanford. Hope the next place works out better. Do you know where that will be? It has not been S '13’s experience at all…too bad this student did not manage to find him (and his friends— which, as you might remember, this is my ‘Mr. Social’ child---- who are everywhere). He was just saying the other day that his two favorite classes might actually have been philosophy (2 students in the prof’s office) and English Lit…specifically Mark Twain. And he is technically a quantitative kid!
@2manybooks and @piesquared - We have a few friends who attended Stanford. We have one of our own there now and so know many, many students quite well. S knew some before he attended and he has been there for a few years. We also have a friend from our home town who is a Stanford prof. Great people-all of them. They all love learning. Very intellectually engaged. All very personable and successful.
S '13’s first roomie was a Fellow from a super-selective program. (Can’t name it-too identifiable.) S was told he was matched with him because they thought he would deal with it well, which was true. He doesn’t get star struck easily. He’s always just himself. What a great first yearl The conversations were fascinating, and they had a blast. The next roommate (1st one is currently immersed at-maybe running?-a lab somewhere working on the next brilliant discovery and working on a doctorate) is equally fascinating in a less off the charts way (he’s almost have to be!), but still so interesting, impressive, fun and amiable.
S says most of the students at Stanford are like that and I would agree. Movers and shakers for sure, but you might not find that out for a while. Very humble bunch, in our experience. You usually hear about their crazy accomplishments form someone else. S has a good friend that, after a couple of years, he found out some way-not from him- that this guy is a millionaire from some random thing…don’t even remember what at this point. Or which friend. Could go on with similar stories and plenty of name dropping. But these friends are just like your kid or mine. You would never know it, for the most part. S did say that occasionally he runs into someone who has no idea how they got in and will be the first to tell you they don’t have the same ‘wow’ factor-hidden or otherwise-the good old imposter complex. In his experience, those students might have to work a bit harder but still do okay, and are great in their own way.
I ran the ‘info’ from the recent posts by S '13 and his friends and this is what they replied. Stanford is known to ‘not’ be competitive. (Our kid came in with much less academic prep and does just fine. In fact, he does so much outside of class, we sometimes wonder if he is even going to school!) Some kids do put pressure on themselves, however. He has one friend who finally let go of the need to get an A+ in every class. But he said it is more a function of the fact that she is a GA Tech prof’s kid. He is not involved with startups, knows those that are and does not find it overwhelming at all. Lots of ‘fuzzy’ students there as well. He takes CS and engineering as do many of his friends. They don’t have issues with peer pressure. And they have no idea why anyone would say Greek life there is oppressive. It’s basically a non-factor, small presence, away from the main campus and the administration monitors the Greeks closely and deals swiftly and proactively with the system. Can’t speak specifically to German, but there have not been a bunch of department cuts or even talk about it out in the open or in print. Maybe behind closed doors, but I don’t know why that would be the case? That’s a good question for our professor friend.
As per weather…S misses rain, of all things, at times. But one thing he really loves and helped draw him there over contenders in the NE (wouldn’t even consider the midwest weather!) is the ability to be active all the time in shorts and tennis shoes. He is constantly playing basketball, football, tennis, ultimate frisbee-you name it-and recruits for intramurals as well. He says the seasons are distinct enough, better than socal! And that snow and nasty weather tends to get old after a while when you have to live in it and get around on a regular basis. Please don’t shoot the messenger! Just a different point of view that should probably be expressed for those who might be interested.
@piesquared - “I do in fact know some students who turned down Stanford for other schools, including after the admitted students’ visit. It is a wonderful place for some students. It is not the best fit for all students, even all who get in.” Totally agree with that statement. S '13 couldn’t have found a better fit. S '16 wouldn’t consider it because it is his brother’s school and in California. D '10 wanted a LAC. Have you given up on Fordham? We have a close friend that is a prof there and know several kids who have attended and been very happy with the experience. But you are a long ways away from NYC! Good luck with your decision.
ps- I apologize again for the length of this post. I tend to ramble late at night!
And the ones that turned down Stanford that we ran across tended to be those who couldn’t fathom giving up the MIT experience, or ‘fuzzy’ types that wanted the Ivy and tradition of Yale. The numbers confirm those cross-admits and outcomes.
Weighing in, late as usual, on the study abroad issue. This was a big issue for my D12, an engineering major who desperately wanted to travel and not lose time. As others have mentioned, it can be difficult in engineering. It is true that tuition at most international schools is lower than a private school tuition - but you have to make sure the home school will accept the credits if they do it “on their own”. She has been able to do a 5 week summer program, a study abroad in Denmark (which was more a travel abroad while trying to pass real engineering classes), and a co-op abroad in Israel. She hasn’t lost any time. While all the schools have some sort of study abroad, they can be very different. Sometimes you have to do a little digging.
And we are still in the decision making process for my S16. While he seems to have made a decision, he won’t commit until after he does his last accepted students day next week. He pretty much narrowed it down to 2 schools and we’re down to the “which school feels right” decision. They are both good choices for him, very similar and different at the same time.
@inn0v8r - My DD applied to 7 schools and had 6 acceptances (2 with full tuition scholarships). She will be an electrical engineering major. One safety was quickly eliminated due to the other choices. UMD-CP offered no scholarship $ and OOS tuition would be the same cost as Georgia Tech. She quickly decided that for the same money, GT was the better school so it came down to 4. We revisited all 4 in late March. GT was the most expensive and needed to knock her socks off to justify the money - it didn’t. We then went to University of Alabama and she did not feel like she would fit in. Suddenly, we were down to 2 - Pitt (small scholarship but in-state tuition) and Temple (full tuition scholarship). We visited Temple and DD loved the honors program but kept telling me how it was too close to home. We visited Pitt and she loved it. Truthfully, she loved Pitt when she visited as a junior and the admitted student day sealed the deal. So - she was a mix of reasoning and emotion. Once she whittled down the list, the visits were pure feel. Glad to have disembarked the SS Indecision.
@palm715 – One of the interesting cuisine facts about Temple is that they are known for the food trucks on campus. The food is very good and very reasonable. You can find any type of cuisine imaginable - including vegan. The Vegan Tree - Spicy Pot Truck is on 13th street and receives rave reviews. I hope she has a great visit!