Both DS20 and DS18 have Chem on Monday boy will they be glad when that is over! There are no more grades in Chem and for the rest of the school year that class period will be a ‘study hall’.
D20 has AP Euro and AP seminar exams this month. Interesting enough since school is not out until mid June, after the AP exams, in one of her classes they will be studying “life skills” (how to manage money, goals setting, etc) for 4 weeks,
I think that’s a great idea! Keep them engaged, and teach them something useful! I’ve met too many adults who never learned some of those skills.
Only AP Euro for us this year, but D is more worried about SAT II that’s coming up on June 2nd, anyone else’s kid taking it, too?
We decided not to do SAT2 chem this year after Chem H since she’s taking APchem next year, and decided to do Math2 on Aug 25 so she has the summer to study.
DS is taking AP Chem on Monday and APWH in a couple of weeks. He typically spends a lot of time studying but his strategy this weekend is to relax and not get too stressed. He went to the movies today and is going for a bike ride and out for sushi with a group from class. I like that the teacher encouraged them to relax and eat some brain food. I’m sure he’ll review, but I like that he isn’t taking the high stress route.
@VickiSoCal - DS also wants to wait until 8/25 to take Math2. I’m not sure if he is planning on taking the subject test for chemistry. I think he said he’d rather take Physics later on. Do you know if APChem and the Chem subject test are similar?
Chem subject test is designed to be taken after first year Chem. My older daughter got a 730 after first year Chem with no additional studying to speak of.
Why are so many kids in AP chem as sophomores? Do your schools not require a year of chem and bio first?
S20 is taking Calc BC on the 15th.
D17 took Chem subject test after AP Chem junior year. She didn’t do anything extra and got 800 so I think there is advantage taking Chem subject test together with the AP.
Thanks for the info @whataboutcollege
@VickiSoCal- I’m not sure why but DS20’s HS has the students take AP Chem as sophomores if they took Honor’s Science in 8th grade and Bio as a Freshman. I’ll see if he wants to take the Subject Test for Chem. It couldn’t hurt to get the 2 subject tests out of the way. Although I wonder if Physics would be considered a better subject test to have for a CS/Mechanical Engineering/Robotics major…
@vickisocal DS20 school does not require those prior for selected students with teacher approval. DS is doing AP Chem this year so he can do AP Physics next year and AP Bio senior year.
DS has AP Euro and AP Calc week after next so at least one will be off the list this week. SAT subject tests he hasn’t decided about yet.
@vickiSoCal our school does requires pre AP Chem before AP Chem, DS took Pre AP Chem in 9th grade I don’t think Bio is required before Chem but it is required for graduation. Lots of kids at our school double up on sciences DS is taking AP Physics 1/2 and AP Chem this year, he took regular high school Bio in 8th grade.
For our school to take AP chemistry you need AP physics. For AP physics you need Accelerated Chemistry. For accelerated chemistry you need Biology.
So DD has only had Honors Chem and cannot take AP chem until senior year so we thought Chem subject test this year was not a great idea. Agree?
I’ve been reading these posts since the beginning. I’m late to the party. ;
My S20 is gearing up for AP tests now.
Sophomore schedule:
AP Calc BC
AP Chem
Band
H English 10
Engineering
H Govt
Spanish 2
He’s (about) equally interested in Music and Science. Makes college search harder :((
He played sports but not this year as he wanted to focus on academics.
Junior schedule:
AP Bio
AP Stat
AP Music
AP Lang
Band
H Physics
Spanish 3
H World Hist
Taking SAT II Math II and Chem in June and then ACT/SAT in August/Sep - lots of practicing this summer plus a prep class. He has his permit and will take Driver’s class this summer. He’ll also take an SAT prep class and go to a Music Festival at an oos university.
Whew! I think that about covers it. I plan to be active here and look forward to continuing to hear about your journeys.
I’ve been reading these posts since the beginning. I’m late to the party.
My S20 is gearing up for AP tests now.
Sophomore schedule:
AP Calc BC
AP Chem
Band
H English 10
Engineering
H Govt
Spanish 2
He’s (about) equally interested in Music and Science. Makes college search harder.
He played sports but not this year as he wanted to focus on academics.
Junior schedule:
AP Bio
AP Stat
AP Music
AP Lang
Band
H Physics
Spanish 3
H World Hist
Taking SAT II Math II and Chem in June and then ACT/SAT in August/Sep - lots of practicing this summer plus a prep class. He has his permit and will take Driver’s class this summer. He’ll also take an SAT prep class and go to a Music Festival at an oos university. We’ve visited 8 of the colleges on his list and will hopefully get a few more done before school starts again.
Whew! I think that about covers it. I plan to be active here and look forward to continuing to hear about your journeys.
@Cheeringsection I think you are correct on the subject test. Will she have a second year of another science next year to take that subject test? If not, one year of honors chem could be enough to prepare for the June exam if she also gets a book and/or tutor.
The only way to know if regular chem was enough is to take a practice test. I am tutoring 6 different sophomores at 4 different public and one private school in honors and non-honors chem. Some are very rigorous, some are really weak. Really, really weak.
We opted out of SAT2 for Chem for D20. D17 took it, but it turned out that only 1 out of 9 colleges she ended up applying to actually required SAT2s. D17 took 3, and it in retrospect it just seemed like an additional, unnecessary grind. We’ll see if D20 decides to take Math 2 and/or bio next year when her college choices become a little more clear.
I am constantly between amazed (and slightly terrified) at the number of APs some schools allow you to take. D17 took 4… total, and that was enough to enter with sophomore standing. The APs she took were relevant and applicable to her engineering major. It would be possible to get up to 8 APs in our district, but not really much higher because of the pre-req requirements. This doesn’t seem to stop kids from our district getting into selective schools and Ivies.
Our HS does not weight, so there’s no GPA bump or class rank bump for overloading on APs, as opposed to staying with an extra music or art elective.
@fretfulmother no, next year is honors physics so no room for a 2nd year of science until senior year.
@VickiSoCal I agree that the practice test may be a good idea. She attempted the bio test after Honors Bio as a freshman and achieved a 670 (I forget which one she took). Right now adding another test seems like a lot on top of 2 APs and her other exams, but Honors Chem is her strongest class so it might be worth a shot. Her currents interests do not include schools that require subject tests but one will consider them if sent.
The practice test is 1 hour. Very little investment.
If they score a 650 or higher with no prep I would say try to bring it up. If not their class may not have adequately prepared them. From what I’ve seen about half the high school classes out there do and about half don’t. If the class just plain didn’t cover enough of the subject area prep is probably not worth it.
One area that very few g. chem High School classes cover is nuclear chemistry for example.