Senior Year Rigor S is taking AP Calc BC, AP Eng Lang, APUSH and then 1st semester he will have dual enrollment chemistry and a business class. He wanted to also do dual enrollment German, but I told him it would be too much for the fall with having to do college applications. So he will do that spring semester and probably add in one other elective class in the spring just for fun.
@NCComputerNerd Her # 1 choice for major is Che Eng. She has honor Bio at 9th grade, Chem Honor at 10th, and AP Chem at 11th. So maybe it is ok to drop AP Bio. She really wanted Com Sci and she loves the teacher.
Re: New GC. Yes, a huge bummer as I really like her, and have known her for five years.
Each GC is responsible for fewer than 50 seniors (and 50 of each other grade). Students remain with the GC they are assigned in 9th grade. I don’t think the other GCs will be able to pitch in as they have their own 50 letters to write. There is also a head of guidance but I think he spends a lot of time attending meetings (504s and the like).
The school added a Guidance seminar to the rotation three years ago (not sure how that fit in for students who do not have study hall). The GCs met with small groups (eight students?) periodically throughout the year. I am not sure what they discussed but I think part of the purpose was to get to know the students better other than the once-a-year course schedule approval. The seminar was probably of more use to students w/o compulsive mothers who spend too much time on CC.
So, yes, a very significant loss.
Senior year rigor
I’m not yet sure what D will study next year (homeschooler, for those who don’t know). She first needs to decide if she’ll start Chinese or Russian. She has been talking with Arabic profs about if/when/how to start a second critical language.
She’s definitely taking a post-AP English class online with the same teacher as this year’s AP Lang. The class is only open to students who have scored a 4 or 5 on either AP English (the teacher has a 80% rate of 4/5!) D is not a good candidate for AP Lit :))
And then there will be Arabic with a tutor, at least for fall semester, as the U will not have a class at an appropriate level 
She’ll probably follow the syllabus for the class after the one she’s in this summer. There’s talk of skype-ing her in during some discussions 
Science will be astronomy using a college-level text, labs I’ve already planned, and the local observatory. She’s been studying astronomy informally for years as it’s one of her Science Olympiad events. I figure it will be easy to build on all that work! We will either block it into one semester or run it as a winter session class, following UDel’s calendar.
She needs US government after this year’s AP Comparative Gov. I will design (and get official approval for) an AP course. The AP credit will open up her schedule a bit in college. That class will be during the fall because of the election.
Other possibilities include one or both AP econs, also requirements for IR programs. She could knock those out for the cost of the exams and used textbooks, plus hours and hours of my time :)) History of the Middle East or the Arabic-speaking world could be very interesting.
If she decides on starting a second language at the U, she’ll only have time for two non-language classes a semester plus something done in a block during January’s winter session (not counting English which is a full-year class). Two classes might even be pushing it, time- and stress-wise.
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
@262mom I think your conclusion about the application process being a precedent for other issues/inflexabilities by the UC’s is correct. Ultimately my son16 did not apply not only due to the fine arts issue but also concern about the impacted majors and difficulties getting the courses he would need. At UC B they said everyone generally eventually gets everything they need though many of the classes are HUGE but at UCLA they said you need to be ready to take literally any class that meets a requirement you need to fulfill no matter how disinterested you are in that specific topic. So yes you could graduate on time but you would be forced to take classes you didn’t want frequently. That was a big turn off to my D17 who is really looking forward to being able to take things she is really interested in rather than the list of generic classes like high school.
senior year rigor S’s schedule will be a mix, although it seems like a cakewalk compared to the schedules you all will be helping your DC through! AP Lang and AP Calc will be the first 2 AP classes he’s been able to take but no honors or DE classes for the first time. To balance the AP and replace the DE engineering classes he’s exhausted, he’s taking small engine repair and cabinet making, both of which he’s really looking forward to. In addition, he’ll have band, PE, government, and other classes I’m forgetting.
This doesn’t seem rigorous but it’s what’s available to him and he’s satisfied with it.
@WhereIsMyKindle If she is serious about Ole Miss, you might want to consider letting her take the CLEP exam for gov’t (and one of the econs??) whenever she finishes. If she changes her mind, she can still take the APs in May, but if she ends up at Ole Miss (or OK for that matter) credit is given for those CLEP exams. It might be easier to take them at the end of fall semester and be done vs having to review in the spring for May APs.
(Fwiw, Dd is doing the history of France in French for part of next yrs French credit. )
@dcplanner – just one tiny data point…but when my son visited UCB, he had obtained permission from a prof to sit in on a class. When he arrived at class, he could not find a seat. On one hand, kudos to all those students filling the Friday afternoon math class, but on the other hand, would students need to arrive early to guarantee a seat in class? Disconcerting along with the discussion of impacted majors, etc.
@whataboutcollege – I should go back and read your first post instead of just jumping in and responding to your most recent post, but is there a reason she has not taken physics?
Most students at our school follow a track similar to the one you described. Regular or Honor Bio 9th, Reg or H Chem 10th, and then either AP of Bio or Chem or Reg or H Physics in 11th. They have just started allowing Jrs to take AP Physics C without first having taken Reg or H Physics. The July AP score will release will provide feedback on how this change worked out this year.
I thought colleges wanted four years of lab science.
@ct1417 There are a lot of schools that don’t require 4 yrs of lab science. The majority require 3.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I was just looking at the CLEP info! That’s a really good idea to take exams asap in December. Thanks
@HiToWaMom and @CaucAsianDad Last fall, I had a conversation with one of the college counselors about my son’s math track and what he should take senior year. She was adamant that my son needed to take AP Cal for the very reason CaucAsianDad said his daughter’s GC gave (continuing progress of subject matter to show rigor of course schedule). I explained that my son’s major will require a strong understanding of statistics and I thought he should register for AP stats senior year. He had difficult years in Geometry and Algebra II because of excessive absences in and he had to do alot of independent study in freshman/ soph years. When I spoke with the other college counselor a couple of months later, she said he didn’t have to take AP Calc as she could address the reasons in her recommendaiton. My son registered for AP Stats and I thought we were all set. Then his Math teacher (who is an absolute rock star) said that she was confident he could handle both Calc and Stats. He decided to stick with AP Stats and then had breakfast with his friends and wanted to switch to AP Calc. Parents have to approve courses registrations so I told him I wouldn’t approve it as I wanted to enjoy senior year :))
I didn’t want him to double up on Math and have a miserable senior year so I asked him to pass on his summer job this year and take an accelerated AP Calc course for the summer and stick with AP Stats for senior year. Let’s just say that it’s been a long 4 weeks. Well, at least it will be done. He’s very happy that he is not taking it with the rest of his courses during the school year.
@CT1417 D had AP physics junior year. She wanted to continue double down on science to have physics C ( I heard it needs the calc skills) and bio. She likes physics a lot better than bio. So in order to keep com sci she has to drop bio. I think both are kinds important for an engineering degree.
@whataboutcollege – got it! That makes sense. Yes, the realities of Sr year scheduling conflicts when many courses are only offered once/rotation and conflicts arise.
My son is quite dismissive of the AP CS curriculum, but part of the issue may be the instruction (or lack thereof) as his school.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek – did not know. Have been looking at too many reach/tech schools.
@CT1417 OUCH! No one wants to hear the counselor resigned when their child is entering senior year. I’d be proactive and put some notes about your child together so the new counselor has a starting point and can follow up with your son if there are any questions. Hopefully your son’s school isn’t a large school and the new counselor can hit the ground running on getting to know the seniors.
@Gator88NE Sorry to you for the retirement of your child’s GC. In all of the planning and organizing, that was one thing that never occurred to me could happen. I hope the schools have a good transition plan to make sure the kids get the recommendations they deserve. If the GC doesn’t get a chance to get to know the child and make the recommendation personalized, ask that they note that in the recommendation and ask the AO to give greater attention to the teacher recommendations.
Senior Schedule
DD has had 11 AP courses before now and was bused to the high school in 8th grade when we lived in a different state. She had had rigor on top of rigor. Because of a management restructuring, we get to move again. Yay (dripping with sarcasm). We don’t want DD to go to a third high school and since she has the credits, she will graduate after fall semester. They have a block schedule with APs being both semesters, a companion course and an AP course. She will take the Stats companion as she has finished both AP Calcs. Her other courses will be an Honors elective, Photography 2, and probably peer tutoring in either Calc or AP Lit. Hoping the lack of rigor doesn’t hurt her, but we have gone over every option multiple times and really have no choice. Dual enrollment here offered her very little beyond what she had taken AP wise and if we had moved her, she missed the DE deadlines.
@whataboutcollege, I don’t think bio is important to a ChemE degree. D15 is ChemE @USC (the SoCal USC, LOL) and she has avoided bio like the plague, only taking an online biotechnology class in high school. There are no required bio classes in her ChemE curriculum, but CS would really have come in handy her freshman year.
Senior Rigor: AP Lit, AP Stats, AP Micro/Macro, AP Chinese, Forensics, Japanese 2 and Creative Writing as an elective. No PE as xc and track take care of that requirement. He’s taking AP Calc and Japanese 1 this summer.
@disshar – sorry to hear about the timing of your move.
It really is interesting to hear of all the different approaches to HS, be it DE or this peer tutoring that I saw mentioned in an earlier post also. Also all the different ways to calculate GPA and the various state college requirements.
Senior rigor: AP Calc AB, AP Lit (tried to talk him out of that), AP Gov, some soc studies/gov type class that they teach special for fall of election years, AP Phys 2 (maybe? or AP Chem?), band x 2, H Java 2 (maybe), psych, possibly C++ at the CC.