@STEM2017 My son will only have completed 2 AP’s thru high school. He elected to not take any AP’s junior year and take more business courses so he could complete the Business Concentration certificate from his school. He will get that certificate and was just selected for National Business Honors Society so I am hoping those 2 things help offset not taking AP BIO/LIT/Language etc. We’ll see how his strategy plays out. I can’t fault him for wanting to do things his own way. He is resigned to the fact that if he only gets into match/safety schools he will be fine.
@rightcoaster My dd, too. She made decisions with full knowledge that they could impact her future options. She is OK with that.
Wow some schools offer so many APs. DDs school doesn’t offer some of the ones I’ve seen here such as Physics (they only offer Honors), Stats, Enviro. Science, Econ, CS, etc. DD has completed 3 APs and 3 Honors classes as of end of junior year. I believe she is taking 4 APs senior year (Lit, Calc, Govt/Politics, Bio). Basically she took/is taking all of the APs offered except foreign language (she stopped at French IV Honors), one science (she will take AP Bio but not AP Chem - the only two offered), and Euro History. I don’t know anyone in her grade who does DE, though it seems popular here on CC.
Not sure if this will be considered “most rigorous” or not. But I can’t imagine taking many more and her school only allows the kids to take one AP sophomore year so it would be difficult to complete many more than 7-8 total.
@HiToWaMom at least she will consider UW. WWU is the sole instate (non private) option left standing for us. UW would be a reach anyway and really not the right fit for S (too big) so it’s ok (application is a bear) just a bit sad as I feel like an alumni failure. He really wants to immerse himself in his school and feels he will not do that if he stays in the city, too easy to go home and hang with friends in the area. I get that.
I don’t think it’s ever a bad thing though to re-evaluate a list and see if maybe there is one or two more that might be more “safe” if you can. I keep saying I am done but still keep looking for financial safeties…or even matches, even if they are a match/reach admissions wise.
S’s school is kind of peculiar in that it does not offer any classes called honors or AP; however, it allows the kids to sign up for any AP test that is offered. Some kids self study. S, not so much. The math and physics classes tend to point kids towards the AP tests, so S will have calc BC (with credit for A/B if he gets a 4 or 5) and physics C EM and M. S took the highest level classes so most of the math classes allowed kids to take credit by exam for college credit. I am not sure how that transfers to whatever college he ends up at. Both my kids have had/are having interesting journeys to the college of their choice.
We drove to Craters of the moon, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons couple of years back from Nor Cal and came back thru Idaho and Salt Lake. Tiring but good places to visit. Hopefully will do Grand Canyon next year before DS goes to college.
Just as a comparison, my D’s school offered 29 AP classes last year and they are adding two more next year. My D will graduate with 13 APs, she is a little behind the top tier students who will have at least 16.
Her school is really not that competitive, the main driver is the in-state universities are very generous with AP credit, so APs are pushed as a way to save on college. The state universities love the AP and IB students because they are more likely to graduate in 4 years. DE is discouraged the local CCs are not considered as challenging as AP classes. However, even students headed to CC usually take a couple of APs.
@eandesmom I keep doing the same thing…checking the list over and over again, wondering if D should compromise further and re-add a few that fell off the list even though they would be less than ideal. The scholarship competitive is stiff and know she is far from a shoo-in for any of them. That’s why I liked my list of 27 schools so much more than the current list of 14 schools. This is all so nerve-wracking!
I’m assuming D will get most rigorous designation but I think I’m going to seek confirmation, plus I want to chat with the GC in person. Her transcript has 9 AP’s, 10 honors in hs, and 2 high school honors classes taken in 8th. And her senior year is definitely most rigorous as a lot of students are taking fewer courses than junior year, but D will be taking 6 AP, 1 IB, and 3 college classes - for a total of 15 APs, and 1 IB, 3 college courses.
Since D is definitely going to a public university (not applying to any privates), most of her credits will transfer and allow her to do what she wants, which is at least a double major and 1 minor, maybe a triple major and 1 minor, and most likely a masters.
@mtrosemom I’m not sure if this is similar to your credit by exam situation, but S took three years of engineering classes that were offered at his HS, taught by the voc-ag (is there a better term now?) teacher and dual-enrolled through the local community college. At the end of each year, the kids take a test offered by the U of Iowa and can receive credit based on their score. We don’t pay for the class until we know if his score qualifies him for credit, but then it’s a $150 fee. This is a different situation than his other DE classes as those are paid for by the high school and are more in the gen ed areas.
Although these credits were billed as fulfilling intro to engineering requirements at the college level, colleges we have visited say they would treat them as gen ed credits. (I don’t know how U of I would treat the credits, since he has zero interest in that school.)
We are confident the classes gave him a solid grounding in engineering classes and cemented his preference for mechanical engineering, so it was worth it, however his future college treats the credits. And I’m not sure I’m in a rush for him to graduate from college in under four years (assuming he has significant merit of course. :)) )
But you never know. If there’s a chance your S can get credit and test out of a few hours of math, I’d definitely check into it.
@CaucAsianDad You say that DE is discouraged. But are the students that do take DE getting college credit? This is what worries me. D’s school does not offer AP micro so D will take it as a dual credit. But I’m worried about it being difficult to get the credit and may just have her prep for the AP exam to be safe. Still undecided. Although that CLEP idea mentioned by someone earlier is also a good one I need to check out since micro course is in the fall and the AP test in the spring.
Went to the Grand Canyon a couple years ago. Flew into Vegas and rented a car. Spent time at Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion. Stayed one night in a cabin in Monument Valley. Stayed each night in a place in the given park (had to book 9-12 months out but was worth it). Daughter and I did the rim tour of the Grand Canyon on mule (she totally loves horses). Had to book that months out as well. She now wants to go back to do the two day trip down to the floor of the canyon on mule. I said maybe as a graduation present.
We went to Yellowstone several years ago. That is a place I want to go back to see again. And stay longer (just 4 days). Would love to go in the winter but I am not sure I could find anyone to join me.
If anyone gets out to Arizona and the Canyon, check out Lower Antelope Canyon. Difficult to describe it. Google it and you will see amazing pictures. I had no idea what it was (wife made reservations). Looked like we were just walking into a hole in the ground (which it is but its spectacular – and the day we were there is was cloudy so it was not as beautiful as the pictures you see online). You have to climb up and down ladders so its not for everyone.
@itsgettingreal17 that sounds rigorous. We offer far less honors classes than AP which is kind of interesting. S will en with
6/18 AP
1/3 UW classes
3/5 Honors
I know his current GC considers that rigorous but “most”? Who knows. I really do want to be done tweaking the list but keep feeling I am missing something amazing that we can afford. :))
@CaucAsianDad we have a similar DE scenario here. Generally the kids that do it are opting out of the HS experience and it is not seen as the most rigorous option. Most of the kids we know either go fully the DE/CC route or stay fully at the HS. Very few attempt to mix it up though we do know one kid considering it for next year. Unless you plan to stay in state I question the CC/DE route as they may or may not transfer and a lot of the parents do not do their homework and assume it all will.
Hey has anyone had a son who forgot their calculator for the Sat Subject test? We had an extra one in the car, but it couldn’t do all functions. I guess he has to repeat the sat subject test for Math2 Hopefully he’ll get the result back in time for early decision
@CaucAsianDad 29 APs!!?? 
Holy cow!!
@itsgettingreal17 You might want to look into Thinkwell’s econ courses. All of my kids have used those courses. http://www.thinkwellhomeschool.com/products/microeconomics (They do both macro and micro.)
Ok, I’m feeling a little out of my league here! I have only a vague idea what my D’s senior schedule is, except that I think she’s taking 4 (or 5?) AP classes. I think the school offers 7 or 8 total. She took 3 (?) last year – AP Bio, APUSH and AP Lit (or maybe it was English?). I guess I should ask her about it :). There’s no honors classes, or dual enrollment or IB. There are two guidance counselors whose main function seems to be to help kids who are really struggling. There’s no college counseling at all. I’m pretty sure the only reason they know my D’s name is because she scored the highest in the school on the April ACT, even though she’s one of the top three students in her class (they are all tied for first, I think). So no help there for class scheduling or college/scholarship advice.
A question for all of you re. foreign language requirements: my D took Spanish 2 as a freshman, and Spanish 4 as a sophomore. She decided not to take AP Spanish as a junior as she didn’t really enjoy it and the teacher was kind of a joke. I’m wondering how this will play for colleges that require more than two credit of a foreign language? Technically she took all the available “normal” classes that are offered by the school, but will she get dinged for not doing AP Spanish? I guess she could switch around her schedule to take it senior year, but she’s really looking forward to the drawing/painting elective she’s chosen. She’s a talented amateur artist, and I’d hate to see her have to drop those to take a sub-par Spanish class.
@smcirish and others with daughters interested in Smith (@thermom @snoozn @atyraulove @dfbdfb ?), my D will be spending three weeks there in July for a summer program. I’d be happy to report her initial impressions, although I realize that a summer experience probably doesn’t exactly mirror being a student there. I’ll be joining her at the end of July to tour Smith and other campuses in the area. Hopefully we’ll also get great tour guides!
@picklesarenice …I would love to hear about Smith! We get their emails but D has never been interested in an all-girls school but their engineering program intrigues me! We are a doughnut hole family so it would likely be unaffordable but it might be something to put on the “big reach” list.
@picklesarenice I think summer programs are a good way to get a decent vibe for a school. Dd attended a camp at BYU last summer specifically for that reason. BYU has a top notch foreign language dept and is incredibly inexpensive, so we wanted dd to see what she thought before she started thinking about it too seriously. (We are not Mormon.) She came home saying no way, no how. She could not do it. (But, hey, she had a great French experience with one of the top French teachers in the country. So it was all still good!)
In our state the course number for Macro at the CC is the same as Macro at the flagship so no problem getting credit in-state.
Another reason DE is discouraged for college bound students (it is encouraged Vo-Tech kids) is academic classes get college credit in-state, but the DE credit often does not transfer out of state. AP scores are scene as the universal credit. Many of the kids that have brunt through most of the AP courses are candidates for more selective out of state schools. I don’t think a Calc class at our local CC is very impressive to the Ivies, and I doubt it would transfer.
Our school district has AP schools, IB schools and DE schools. The DE schools partner with the local state university so the rigor and the quality of instruction is perceived as better than the CC.
school AP classes total 22 offered. Mostly math and science stuff, but a decent amount of literature and then a good amount of art and music APs. Never even realized you could take AP Art and Music until recently. So unfortunately, my son is only interested in economics and stats out of all of the 22 offered. I would say the normal “above average” student takes 4-7 during their Jr and Sr year. I read that 370 kids out of about 1600 took AP classes in 2015 at their school. Kids usually only take AP starting Jr year, but I guess there are probably a few exceptions. So, that comes out to about 180 kids out of a class of 400 that take some AP classes before they graduate from our public HS.