No, I don’t think it would be too repetitious for most students. The OP’s kid’s math score is not so high that I would suggest jumping into physics C as a first course.
My son did the following:
9th Pre-AP Biology
10th Pre-AP Chem
11th AP Chem
11th AP Physics 1
12th Organic Chem
12th AP Physics C
His math was Algebra II 9th, AP Stats 10th, Pre-AP Precal 11th, Calculus BC 12th
@woodlandsmom, did you son have any difficulty registering and/or taking AP Physics C concurrently with Calculus?
@jwalche He said Calc. BC is very difficult but he has a B in it and an A in Physics. He actually said that AP Chem was the hardest class he has had and the AP test was extremely difficult. I think the teacher really matters and whether you have a good basis to build on. It all sounds awful to me. 
And they did not make it difficult to register for them together.
My younger son (not the math guy took AP Calc BC and Physics C at the same time.) By the end of the year he was in vacation mode and he knew he already had all the AP scores he’d get credit for so he got some sort of B at the end of the year, but his midterm grades were fine. My math guy also took them at the same time, but a year earlier, and found both easy and got 5s on both APs.
I think it all depends on the school and the teachers. Our school doesn’t require the base level science prior to an AP science class, mostly because the base level classes are taught at the lowest level that the UCs will credit as a high school class. Previously, they had regular, honors, and AP classes, but the regular classes did not receive UC/CSU a-g credit, which was a problem since there is a push to get as many kids as possible at least eligible to attend a Cal State. Not requiring the base class lets kids take a lot of AP sciences if they can fit it into the limit of a 6-period day. Many kids don’t take more than 2 years of science because the 6-period day is limiting, what with PE and other non-academic requirements.
DS17’s science schedule is seemingly in the reverse order. So far, he has all As and 5s in AP sciences and math.
8th: AP Computer Science via AoPS
summer pre-9th: community college Intro to Biology (taken so that he didn’t have to do base level biology in 9th)
9th: AP Physics B (last year offered; extra sections for kids wanting to avoid waiting for the Physics 1/2 split)
10th: AP Chemistry (also Calc BC)
summer: Physical Geology at the local UC
11th: AP Biology
12th: unknown; nothing left at the HS other than AP Env Sci. Probably will take something at the local UC. Maybe start the physics with calc series, because the HS doesn’t offer AP Physics C.
Also he’s in a program with one engineering course per year and 2-3 engineering courses senior year as a capstone.
@mathyone,
" No I don’t think it would be too repetitious for most students. The OP’s kid’s math score is not so high that I would suggest jumping into physics C as a first course".
I whole heartily agree. My kiddo is a hard worker, but she can not waltz into C. She needs incremental steps. That is what I am trying to figure out. I want to make sure she is prepared for success (what ever her major should be). And I think a strong foundation in physical science and math with do that.
I have never taken any thing above college Algebra and nursing sciences’ for non science majors.
So I am really clueless. I want to give her options I did not have.
@woodlandsmom, yes, I need to have some conversation with the science teacher at the high school. I did talk to Physics C teacher and he said most kids take AP 1 then next year C.
I wonder about AP chem. Your son took AP chem in 11th grade and AP 1 that same year. How was that?
I was trying to avoid doubling up on AP Chem and AP physics 1 in 11th grade. But maybe that is better that taking AP chem as a sophomore.
We too, are in Texas. The ranking is a concern so trying to not overload her.
My son is currently a sophomore in HS, focused in STEM, perhaps pre-med down the road. As he was planning, we noted the recommended prerequisites for each science AP. We noted AP Bio recommended both a high school biology and chemistry course first, while AP Physics I did not necessarily require a high school physics class first. High school chemistry was recommended before AP Chem.
Planning to take all three, he settled on the following sequence:
Freshman year - Honors Bio (with Honors Algebra II)
Sophomore year - Honors Chem and AP Physics I (with Precal)
Junior year - AP Bio (with AP Calc AB)
Senior year - AP Chemistry (with AP Calc BC)
His school offers a regular physics course every year, but they allow kids to skip it if they think they are qualified for AP Physics. We are unsure if there will be the equivalent of AP Physics II at his high school. If it is offered he will probably plan to take it junior year. They also offer an anatomy & physiology class which I expect he will take eventually as well because of his interest in life science and medicine. No study hall this year, but he is planning to have one junior and senior year to help him manage the workload.
There was a thought on both our parts that AP Chem might be the hardest of the three, so if you were afraid of a lower grade or AP score let it fall in the senior year when college and scholarship apps had already been considered and decided.
For whatever reason, AP Bio and AP Physics I are full classes, while AP Chem they struggle to get more than a handful of kids to take.
So far so good, no struggles to speak of yet, and I still like the plan. My favorite comment he made this year was how he was really seeing the interrelatedness of everything he is learning.
@thumper1 - every high school is different. At my son’s school, if he were to steer away from the science APs, it would mean being in a science classroom where the majority of students aren’t particularly academically strong or interested in science.
@LOUKYDAD, I was concerned about skipping a year between the Honors chem AP chem. And likewise skipping a year between Physics I and C.
I wonder which is more important to a possible future STEM person. I guess if she was not going to be an chemical engineer she would not need chem AP. But I want her to have that option.
Others may feel differently, but I wouldn’t see a gap of one year as being any issue. AP Chem being equivalent to a first year college course in chemistry, I would guess that the majority of college freshman over the years who have taken college chemistry have taken it two or even three years after the high school course.
For my kid, looking at high school as exploration. Trying to figure out what interests him the most and what he has the most aptitude for. Skeptical of any high school kid who knows exactly what they want to study and to do for the rest of their life. That is why for him he is spacing out as much as possible, let him slow down and explore one at a time. I don’t see any benefit to racing to the top of a mountain, just to discover it was the wrong mountain to begin with. Best result would be leave high school with a more refined sense of direction and purpose, having discovered something about who you are and what you want to do in life. That continues into college too. It wouldn’t surprise me if he changes course two or three times. That’s fine with me.
I took real (not the for poets version) without any high school physics. It was fine until the last few weeks when we hit some material where they assumed I’d taken a college chemistry course. I’m pretty sure that material isn’t in the AP courses. My older son took Chem summer after freshman year in a 3 week fast paced version through CTY and then took AP Chem as a senior. He had no issues, but he is brighter than average. On the other hand, it sounds like the OP’s daughter is too.
I would not take the courses out of the normal order unless there is a really compelling reason especially lab sciences where there will be group work. My kids were grade accelerated in math and took some math/science classes as electives earlier than most kids and finding people to do group work with when you are younger is rough. My daughter who is not outgoing has had issues with this a number of times but once kids realize she knows her stuff and is wickedly funny if you get past her shy side she has been OK. My kids are very math/science oriented. Our district does not allow science APs until 11th grade and no AP Physics C without taking AP Physics 1 first. My kids have taken extra AP math and science classes as electives not for the gpa or college credit but because that is what they want to take. So our course progression has looked like 9th grade honors bio 10th grade honors chem, AP Comp Sci, AP Stats, and honors Pre-Calc, 11th grade AP Chem, AP Physics 1, AP BC Calc, 12th grade AP Physics C, AP Bio, and dual enrollment Matrix Algebra and Multi-Var. This works well for SAT2s as well since AP Chem meshes with the test better than AP Physics 1 and most engineering schools will take either the Chem or Physics test. Yes this may sound like a hard load but these are the classes they are interested in and both excel without having to spend huge amounts of time on them. They have taken a few APs in in lang arts and social studies but only the ones they are really interested in because they take far more time and are less enjoyable to them in general.
OP, you mentioned that you will be looking for full ride NMF scholarships. I haven’t looked up the percentile for your kid"s 7th grade SAT scores–but you should be aware that you need to be in the top 1% or even quite a bit higher, depending on state. Those scores do not look on track for NMF to me.
@mathyone, you are right. Those score were with no prep. We live in West Texas, and no one preps here. Our school district only has 5-6 NMF as year.
Her school district does PSAT 8/9 in 8th grade (Oct 2016 for her) and PSAT 9th -11th grade.
I would like to see if scores improve with prepping.
Will update this thread with 8/9 scores and see what you think.
I realize the Duke Tip Sat was the old SAT and PSAT 8/9 is the new SAT.
I realize we are up against a mountain as we live in Texas and live in an area where that is not elite SAT prep available.
You don’t need NMSF to get a big scholarship but it helps.
The math score will go up with more instruction. She hasn’t even learned some of what they are testing yet. I am more concerned about the verbal scores. I wouldn’t pressure her with formal prep. But if she is not an avid reader, there is only so much any tutor or prep book can make up for.
You don’t need elite prep class. When she gets a bit older she can do lots of practice tests.
There is information out there about how the Duke TiP kids’ scores improve over the years-they can guesstimate your “real” scores based on the ones you took as a 12 year old. Take that for what it’s worth, though, I don’t think it’s perfect.
@VANURSEPRAC AP Chem cannot be taken as a sophomore at our school. He said his junior year was the hardest one but he did well on all the AP exams. He likes math so when he realized the Chem classes were sort of math based he started getting it. I do think she needs calculus if she’s doing anything science related. If your district has an AP boot camp I strongly recommend it. He spent all 4 hours on AP Chem. (Not physics or AP US history) the physics test was hard due to the fact it was conceptual and not all problems. I’m just glad he has hours going into his freshman year next year.
After a discussion the high school GC and kid. We decided:
9th: Alg II, chem H, bio H
10th: precal, AP pysics I
11.th: Cal BC, Physics C
12th: Multi V (at local Uni) AP Chem