There shouldn’t be a problem stopping and restarting Spanish, as long as she is prepared to be rusty (or practice on her own). US History 2 you would have to check with the school. At least at our school we are required to take history in junior year, so your school might have similar requirement.
@lookingforward the school “policy” is what bugs me…as she applied for those courses in January, why did they want till a few days before Summer Break to let us know. we have our summer schedule planned…I don’t know whether she will be a stem major, but just that Math is easy for her… she likes writing… I have no problem if she becomes a writer even I really hope she is a stem major… she will have to discover it…
@annamom - yes, I know many students, my S included, who took the Chemistry subject test after only 1 year of basic Chemistry. Some did a Chemistry subject test summer review course and others tutored privately, then took the test in October. It lightens the load in Junior Spring when so many AP and subject tests seem to hit.
@HarvestMoon1 thanks. I will look into it…October seems doable…
Why would she drop AP chem to take Physics 1, especially since she wants to take the Chem SAT2 exam? This makes no sense to me. If she’s interested in writing, why not take a writing class instead of physics?
You aren’t putting her into summer physics so that she can take AP Physics1. You are putting her into summer physics so that she will have an unfair advantage over her classmates and be able to get an A which apparently you think she cannot do if she simply takes the class as designed. Yes, I have a dim view of this kind of grade grubbing.
@mathyone your sense of “unfair advantage” I disagree… A kid who has a parent who can help her obviously has an advantage over her classmates, a kid who has a tutor obviously has an advantage over her classmates… Hypothetically, if my school gives out easy grade, my kid has an advantage over your kid…On the same token, a kid who can afford summer SAT prep would have an “unfair” advantage over those who can’t afford…let us keep it that we disagree.
An advantage in the class grade, maybe. An admissions advantage, debatable - unless she’ll apply only to colleges that choose primarily based on gpa (and scores.) The holistics are going to look for more.
This situation really has confusing elements. You can’t say she’s definitely stem but were trying to fit in two sci so she could take those AP tests at the end of jr year. She may also want writing or something humanities, but are thinking of pushing out USH to senior year. And if you mean APUSH, she wouldn’t have scores for that. Is this about a particular tier of colleges? Do you know what else matters besides GPA?
@lookingforward a child’s environment will give him/her an advantage… I will let her decide whether to take AP exam, it …however, I do want her to take two Subject tests and I think Math Ii and Chemistry may be easier (in case some people think that picking an “easier” subject test is considered as “unfair” advantage, then so be it).
She won’t be taking APUSH, she loved History, but was crashed for the Honor History this year…and began to hate History…hence I am thinking to push the History 2 to senior year as she won’t be taking Subject or AP on History…I see no reason in not exposing her to AP Physics 1… I just not sure whether it is okay to skip one year before taking US history again
I am now looking into Summer to prepare for the Chem subject test, however, I really hate that she spends the summer on Physics and Chem… I would much perfer she has a break…
I do not worry about SAT, I think she do okay…we began visting college in April and will do some in the summer. We will work on the list in her junior year, obviously it also depends on her SAT and GPA…I don’t think there is any confusion… Bio, Chem and Physics are all common sicence courses, then she will have to take Language Arts, math and Social studies…as the required courses…
Well, the school/district for one. They can set up their policies as they please.
Despite the misinformation that many users tend to give, AP science is needed for none of the Subjects Tests. The Subjects Tests cover HS material, and most people can perform well with just an intro course and a little review.
I think OP really needs to have a conversation with the GC to assess options. None of us know the school’s policies, although I’m guessing that AP Chem is a limited enrollment course with preference given for rising Seniors.
I agree with @mathyone here. If she needs to “cheat” by taking a class before taking it, you are forcing her into the wrong area of study. Or, if she would do fine anyway, you are expressing to her by this plan that you have no confidence in her. Not for a minute do I believe that the teacher was terrible and ALL the other kids got Cs unless they pre learned it.
Oh, I believe that a teacher can be terrible. But intro hs chemistry shouldn’t be that hard for a prospective STEM major, and if the teacher is that bad, read the textbook.
Our school district doesn’t allow kids to pre-take classes in their summer school. Those classes are strictly for students who failed and need them for graduation. Not that I think kids around here would waste their time doing that anyhow.
@skieurope, upon re-reading it seem the reason the OP prefers AP physics is that easy A from having pre-taken the course. The OP said the summer course would be wasted if AP physics cannot be taken. It’s all about the easy A.
OP, I’m assuming that since your child is taking SAT2 tests, she is planning on applying to some highly selective colleges. I don’t think they’ll be impressed by what you’re doing. Just don’t come back here and complain in a few years about how “her” spot was taken by some kid with a lower GPA who is actually interested in learning and did some meaningful things over their summer.
Same thing happened to my son; the conflict stems from Phys and Chem both having labs, and there only being one session of level 3 or his language. He’ll have to wait until senior year. He was bummed because he loves chemistry and dreams of being a chemistry professor. He’ll fill the void by getting more active in Chem club and the Olympiads.
It won’t hurt admissions for you because your GC knows she wanted to take them and can still put “most rigorous possible” on the application.
While it is not a good choice for everyone, I think the criticism of taking a prep class is unfounded, and calling it “cheating” is patently ridiculous.
Sure, teachers could be “terrible” but at a high achieving district it would surprise me if as many are “terrible” as kids and parents (who never set foot in the classroom) claim to be the case when looking to justify behavior like this pre taking business.
@fretfulmother , do you feel the same way about private tutoring? How about an SAT prep class? Not picking a fight, I am just asking and trying to understand your position.
The SAT measures how well you can answer those questions. And that’s very different. Why? If you think about it, with high school courses, a large part of what’s being assessed is how rapidly a student learns something. Whether or not this is a good way to assess things, it is how the system is set up. Students are not offered the chance to go back and re-take earlier exams to improve their grade and show their improved understanding of the earlier material at the end of the class. How much easier would those early algebra or chem tests be after a year of study? But those first semester grades cannot be changed. Yes, some mastery might be tested on the final, but I think our finals are only 20% of the total grade. And that might not be enough.
Maybe this isn’t a good assessment system–I’ve been thinking perhaps not, but it is how things are organized in most schools. Therefore, if a student who’s already completed the course comes in and breezes through the material, particularly the earlier material which may be reinforced by continued exposure for the entire course, but which is new to the other students, it’s really throwing off the assessment system. If the teacher is unaware that a particular student is repeating the course, they may be fooled into believing that student is wonderfully talented because they learned everything so easily. Yes, I think it’s a bit dishonest.
One can argue that students should have the option to count the final very heavily if they feel they have now mastered material that was difficult for them earlier on. But most schools don’t have such an option.
One of my kids’ AP teachers recognized that students will improve skills over the year by setting a moving curve for the AP essay grades. Students had to do better and better over the course of the year to achieve an A. So how would this system work if one student starts having already completed the course. This is fair?
@Postmodern ok maybe “cheating” was too strong a term, I apologize. There’s no question that any of the extra prep things can be construed as the type of privilege that is the “convert money to apparent but false smartness” - which annoys me.
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So should students be prohibited from learning any material before the class if that gives them an advantage and throws of the assessment system? Would that include reading a book, or watching youtube videos on the subject?
And why does the timing matter? Whether it is learned over the summer or on the weekend before the material is covered in class?
I understand your point and its good intention, but personally, I would rather have an “assessment system” that assesses how well the student knows the material, and nothing else.
Well, I think this approach will backfire on the OP’s kid in the end, and that’s a shame. I can’t imagine any admissions officer being impressed by pre-taking.
How will they know?
This point I completely understand.