<p>I understand what it means but do have a couple of questions? Since they would prefer you to apply by September or October of your senior year then how do they account for your course selection, gpa etc…during your senior year? Would a typical application show gpa , act scores and any pertinent info thru junior year only? What about national merit? Seems like an incomplete record they would be considering.</p>
<p>It is incomplete. They go with the info provided. All acceptances have a proviso that the student has to continue their level of success for their senior year or risk being rescinded. Read each web site carefully to understand dates and requirements for your application.</p>
<p>It is incomplete. They go with the info provided. All acceptances have a proviso that the student has to continue their level of success for their senior year or risk being rescinded. Read each web site carefully to understand dates and requirements for your application.</p>
<p>When you say level of success…would that preclude difficulty in courses or simply continue A’s and gpa? For instance if a student had completed 24 credits by the end of their junior year taking the most rigorous courses and applied scea, would they have to load their senior year course load as well?</p>
<p>Mainly grades. I believe your application will have your forecasted senior year classes.</p>
<p>They ask for updates from your HS as they need them. That will include midterm grades, courses enrolled in, etc. Just because you apply in Sept or Oct doesn’t mean your application is locked, they have the right to ask more info all the way up to the notification deadline. They will evaluate your senior year schedule and grades, or at least you should assume that they will. Never think you are finished and can relax, they can and do keep looking. And even if you get the Golden Ticket, they can still rescind for bad grades or behavior second semester.</p>
<p>Ok…then how would you approach this. Here is the HS recommended curriculum for college bound students</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.hhs.osceola.k12.fl.us/pdfnew/Guidance/2013-2014%20HHS%20Curriculum%20Guide%20final.pdf”>http://www.hhs.osceola.k12.fl.us/pdfnew/Guidance/2013-2014%20HHS%20Curriculum%20Guide%20final.pdf</a></p>
<p>My son will have completed 25 credits including all of the recommended 12th grade classes by the end of his junior year. If he then does scea what courses would they want to see for his senior year. Basically he could only do 1st year language or electives but technically doesn’t even need any more courses. Obviously whatever he takes they want him to maintain A’s and his gpa but does the course selection matter? He could do alot of volunteer etc…I suppose.</p>
<p>I would talk with the GCs and see what sort of dual enrollment or CC courses he can take. Almost sounds like he should have graduated early and now you’re stuck with nothing to take senior year.</p>
<p>He could do some Dual Enrollment classes at a local college. Do you know what anyone else in this situation has done? The guidance counselor will check a box describing the rigor of his coursework. You could ask them what he should do in order to have them check the “most rigorous” box. The universities will see that he maxed out all that was offered by the school. They will compare him to others from the same school based on the school report from the guidance office.</p>
<p>You will know by the application time if he is a NMSF.</p>
<p>What year is your son now? Is he new to this school? </p>
<p>Your school catalog offers dual enrollment math options, so that would be a definite good choice. From the school guidebook, it looks like he should have some kind of AP English for senior year, unless he skipped a prior course. There are tons of AP sciences and some neat elective sciences offered, so did he take all of them already? Did he take USH, world Hist, Econ and govt already? Foreign langauge would be expected for an applicant to a selective college (the only type that does SCEA) has he completed all the years of foreign language offered? If so, he could do college level language - you apparently have a college close enough for the math DE. What other college classes might his school allow him to take? </p>
<p>The key is to plan a highly rigorous year. If he is so far ahead that there is really not much coursework available to to take, perhaps do college/DE math, his required govt/Econ and get allowance for early dismissal and work on a special project that he can sell in his essays. </p>
<p>Spoke with the GC earlier this year. There isn’t anyone else going into the school who will be in this situation. He is going into 8th next year and currently has 1 HS credit(Algebra 1 honors). Next year in 8th he will have Biology 1 honors, Geometry honors, Spanish 1, Freshman English honors, Physical Science honors, US History advanced, Computer science HS and Reading honors. So he will add 6 more HS credits for a total of 7 entering 9th grade. Technically he could graduate by the end of his junior year with 25 credits. His freshman year he will take English 2 honors, Algebra 2 honors, Chemistry honors,AP Human geography, Spanish 2 and 1 elective(likely STEM). At that rate he will be done with all AP courses(10) by his junior year. I have been told that top 20 colleges don’t put as much into DE as AP. Since he also plays football and baseball we don’t want him to graduate early so that is out. I realize it is a challenging course load but he has proven himself that it hasn’t been a problem. He finished with all 100’s in advanced classes in school this year plus 2 extra Florida virtual classes, received all 5’s on FCATs and a cummulative 29 on his ACT .</p>
<p>If he’s going into 8th grade next year, I really wouldn’t worry about his HS courses until freshman year. But make sure he takes the most rigorous course possible. And on the common app, he’ll have to put what classes he will be taking Senior year so you bet the AdComs want to see him continuing to take the most rigorous courses possible. </p>
<p>If he finishes all the AP courses by his Junior year, you could have him take the AP courses that he hasn’t taken on FLVS. And a 29 ACT for a 7th grader is extremely good so he’ll probably get a 35 or 36 by the time he applies to colleges.</p>
<p>Fire…The HS GC has already dtermined(based on his 8th grade classes) what his freshman courses would be. Here’s the dilemma…everyone says make sure he takes the most rigorous courses possible. Should I hold him back on his 8th grade course load? He would then still be taking the most rigorous courses possible when he starts 9th but this way he is actually starting out taking 10th grade classes as a freshman?</p>
<p>Your child is currently in 7th grade and you are thinking about SCEA? Kids and circumstances change. Address it in a few years.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You’re overthinking this. Let him max out what’s comfortable in 8th grade. Then as a 9th grader, he’ll be taking the typical 10th graders’ load. How can that be construed in any way to not be rigorous when he’s a complete year ahead of his peers and still doing excellent work? </p>
<p>Appearing as a top 9th grader amongst all the other 9th graders? Or excel and perform top 10th grade work as a 9th grader. Which do you think is better?</p>
<p>He may be one of those kids who will have maxed out his school’s offerings come 12 grade and has to work off the grid to keep busy. Colleges love these over achievers. </p>
<p>And I agree w/Harvest. This is way too early to worry about the details of SCEA. Let your gifted son roam free. Unless he shows great immaturity, let his curiosity guide your family and you provide him great options. Maybe it’s volunteer work. Maybe it’s overseas travel or an exchange program. Maybe it’s being a camp counselor or working at WalMart or digging ditches alongside laborers one summer (I’m not kidding). Maybe it’s doing political work or lab research or serving at a Senior center. Foster his interests. Foster his character. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>I understand what you are saying…the reason I’m thinking about it now is because once he is set down this path there is no turning back. He will indeed have 25 credits with 10 AP’s by the end ofj his junior year. I could pull back the reins and have him simply take the most rigorous course load possible as a typical 9th grader and have it checked off by his GC OR continue on this path(also most rigorous) but with way more possibility of over working him. Either path is “technically” under the heading of most rigorous since all other incoming freshman would also be checked off in the same box with easier courses. Apparently him entering with 7 HS credits is indeed rare and so everything is fast forwarded. Thanks for all the invaluable advice.</p>
<p>In all honesty, being an entire year ahead in coursework and rigor will look amazing to colleges especially if your GC can acknowledge this in his or her recommendation. Your GC could say that your son had exhausted all AP/honors courses by Senior year and then enroll your son in the 1 or 2 AP courses he hasn’t taken through Florida Virtual School.
Once you have his schedule figured out, I would push him to find something he’s passionate about in regards to ECs. Then he’ll have a great transcript (assuming he earns great grades), test scores, and ECs.</p>
<p>Going back over this thread, two thoughts come to mind - your son is extraordinary for his middle school and HS, but on an absolute scale is not especially extraordinary from many other kids at top HS around the country. I’d say that many, many HS kids at top performing HS have basically the same course load, maybe with a few less APs. Going over what you say is his 8th grade schedule, I’d say that his schedule is about what 25 to 30% of the kids take at my kid’s MS, with some classes higher and some lower, only they don’t give them HS credit for it except for the math classes. (I do think his ACT score is probably well above average on any scale.)</p>
<p>So the problem really seems to be his HS is not very challenging for a student of his caliber. And without a critical mass of kids performing at his level, it never will be. That critical mass is what it takes for a school to offer the classes that challenge them all the way through. You have two choices - do what you’re doing, which is admirable, or find a new HS, which might actually be the best path, but may be impossible. So you’re back to what you were doing with this thread in the first place.</p>
<p>Since you provided your HS catalog, I can tell where you live which is Central Florida. I tend to trust the Newsweek HS list more than any other for ranking public HS, and Florida has a number of very good HS. The IB School at Bartow High is actually ranked #2 in the country and about 90 min away, so you might ask to see what they do, as they will have that critical mass of kids like your son. Cocoa Beach Sr. HS is also not far and is also very good, that’s probably the HS for all the Space Coast families. There might be others on the list, near you, but as you can see Miami dominates, which is not exactly practical. A private HS is also an option, but admittedly that’s an expense that may not be doable.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.newsweek.com/2013/05/06/america-s-best-high-schools.html”>http://www.newsweek.com/2013/05/06/america-s-best-high-schools.html</a></p>
<p>This is a tough problem when parents have kids like this. Clearly he has the potential to go somewhere great, but the school is kind of failing him. You seem to be realizing this, before it’s too late, which is admirable. The HS is serving it’s core constituency, which your son is not in - he needs something more. What the solution is I don’t know, but I wish you luck in finding it as he deserves better. And he will need better to fulfill his potential, because there are thousands of kids just like him who are getting challenged as they should be. He needs to be as well.</p>
<p>We are pretty much locked into this school. There is a nearby HS(very bad rep) that offers the IB program but it isn’t feasible and the dissuade, actually discourage students in the IB from playing sports. The school he will attend(Harmony) is only 10 years old so I’m not sure how that factors into ranking. I did find this from their website which was actually interesting…showing students moving on to the likes of MIT, Harvard etc.
<a href=“http://www.sp.osceola.k12.fl.us/Depts/GS/Guidance/HHS%20School%20Profile%202013-2014.pdf”>http://www.sp.osceola.k12.fl.us/Depts/GS/Guidance/HHS%20School%20Profile%202013-2014.pdf</a></p>
<p>You have lots of semesters to play with here. It appears that no matter what he does the “most rigorous” box will be ticked off. Your school’s course catalog looks amazing. The leadership classes, engineering electives and others would be fantastic additions to his schedule. </p>
<p>For me, it was important for my kid to have at least one “fun” class on the schedule each year. I let her pick - most of them ended up being honors/most rigorous (AP Psychology, Honors Art, AP Art) but it gave her a needed break from the serious work and kept her excited and less stressed. </p>
<p>You describe a jam packed 9th grade year, with a single STEM elective and neither PE or art. It looks like he needs to take PE (1 full year) and art (1 full year) - why not put those on the 9th grade agenda or let him pick another elective and skip the Human Geo - save that AP for a future year?</p>
<p>And regarding DE for math after he’s exhausted the school AP offerings, no college is going to look askance at that. That will only be a positive.</p>
<p>VSG…honestly I thought the same thing about 1 fun class. However he will be playing football and baseball but more importantly people recommended he hold off on PE until his senior year because of gpa and course rigor. I believe if he stays with STEM as an elective it becomes on honor course by year 3. Also my concern was the colleges looking at course rigor ala Art vs Debate for example. PE vs IT etc…</p>