If he can satisfy his foreign language requirement by taking CC courses or online, that would free up the other period he needs.
Discuss this with your HS counselor. They will be able to tell you what is able to be done outside of the regular school day (online, CC, summer classes).
There is no need for him to take two sciences in any one year.
It sounds like your son is going to have to make some trade offs. IMO, he needs 4 years of core courses, taken in HS, to be competitive for HYPSM level schools. But, admission to those schools is very very competitive so do you/he want that to be the driver for determining how his high school career will look?
My D was a STEM focused kid. It was really important to her in HS to get to take some of the fun science and math classes and electives. Her GC told her she would be taking herself out of the running for some schools by making the decision to not continue past Spanish III (which conflicted with her math class). She also opted to drop orchestra after sophomore year and just do her music as an EC. That freed up two class periods for her in last two years where she was able to double up. That said, she still took 4 years of HS English (non negotiable at her school).
She targeted her college list to schools that would appreciate all those STEM classes. It worked well for her and she had a very happy and satisfying 4 years of HS.
No need for him to take AP research which gives him space for one of the CS courses. I have never heard of a high school which does not have 4 years of English required, and donāt believe any colleges would look favorably on a student that did not take 4 years of English either. Your son is still in the 8th grade - his interests can and will change over the next four years, no need to be focused on a small group of highly rejective colleges at this point. Best of luck to finishing 8th grade strong and having a smooth transition to high school next year.
At our school (also six periods), students typically take five core classes and one elective each semester. Thatās enough for many students, but it is also possible to add some electives, such as orchestra or band, in zero period or seventh period, outside the regular school day. Students interested in engineering and/or art often also pursue these interests in clubs after school, or classes on the weekend. This is time consuming, but thatās how life is for many ambitious students with broad interests. I donāt think itās a good idea to skip a core class in any year, unless it is a foreign language after the 4th year equivalent has been completed.
Agree.
Would his planned schedule include physics and chemistry, just not the AP versions? Physics and chemistry are important.
Yes, we will let him try few things out 9th grade then work with him to make trade offs
He has physical science H in 8th grade ( high school course), and he plans to take biology H 9th grade, Chemistry H 10th grade. Then probably AP Physics 1 and either AP Physics C or AP Chemistry. Someone suggested to skip AP Physics 1 since he will be completed AP calculus by then. Not sure about that.
Ok. I agree that he should take 4 years of math and ELA in high school even he has earned few high school credits in middle school. Just not quite convinced that 4 years of social studies is that important. Even most of the top colleges recommend at least 3 years of social studies. Do we have to exceed āAt leastā to be qualified?
What does your high schoolās standard curriculum look like? At our HS, four years of social studies are required for graduation. Seniors take either one semester Econ and one semester US Gov (can take both of these as AP courses), or alternatively, a year of IB History of the Americas (if they are in the IB program). Different schools will have different curricula, but I think 4 years of social studies is a standard requirement?
Given the type of colleges youāre talking about, your kid needs all 4 years of social studies. Period.
Our school only requires 3 years of social studies. If we skip it freshman, then 10th grade AP World History, 11th grade AP US History, senior AP Gov/AP Econ( either micro or macro). If we do 4 years, the plan is freshman AP Gov( freshman have to take the year long version and Junior/senior is a semester version), 10th grade and 11th grade will be the same, senior AP micro and macro. Only one of the AP Econ is missing for 3 years plan vs 4 years
I do not think your son should be skipping social studies in 9th grade. He should take whatever 9th graders take for social studies. If AP Gov is the only option, then I guess thatās his option.
At your school, who helps students plan their schedules? Does he have a counselor?
Iād talk to your school counselor about the best course of study for a student that is hoping to target T20 type schools. You might also ask how many kids - if any - are regularly accepted to those type of schools from your HS and whether or not (to the best of the counselorās knowledge) those kids have been hooked - at a minimum they will probably know about kids that are athletic recruits. Unfortunately, there is no set course of study/gpa/test score that is going to ensure an acceptance at a T20 school - let alone HYPSM.
We are on our own mostly in term of school counseling. I was told that only our middle school counselor is available to us now even we have to submit 9th grade course schedules today. By the records of the past couple years, there wasnāt any accepted by HYPSM so I donāt believe the counselors have much experience related to those schools.
Another question. Does it matter if you skip one year of a main subject then double that subject up another year? Do you literally need to take every core subject every high school year?
Given what you are saying (that your student has limited access to school counseling, and on top of that, the counselors are not experienced with getting kids into reachy reach schools), I would be very cautious about putting together an unconventional schedule lacking any of the core areas.
Your student can take it one year at a time as his interests evolve, but for 9th grade, pick classes that fulfill the 5 core areas, plus one elective. If heās able to do a core area, such as foreign language, outside of the regular school day, that may free up space for another electiveā¦ but donāt skip any core areas.
If you are looking for extra time in the schedule for additional science classes, you are most likely to get them by
Finishing FL to the needed level earlier than senior year. This is commonly and generally accomplished by having started in middle school.
Doing only 3 years of social studies. It is more common for kids to take psych or econ than another year of history, though, and still do 4 years, but your school may allow this.
Take summer classes.
Skipping English ā donāt do it. This is one of the more hard and fast requirements. Also, be mindful not just of what colleges want, but of your own high schoolās graduation requirements.
For 9th, my advice is to take the normally prescribed slate of classes at the level recommended for high achieving students to preserve options. (I.e. honors.)
Take English every year of high school.
Take a social studies class every year of high school.
Either the band or drama will have to go on the back burner in terms of classes. Or do 1 only as an extracurricular. Or if drama at school requires you to take the drama elective, then instead look for, I donāt know, some sort of community-based theater instead that allows teenagers to participate.
I donāt mean to pile on, but it truly is best in terms of college admissions to take core classes all four years. Skipping over levels is fine, even encouraged by selective schools, but do not use that to take less, especially in English, math, science, and social studies.
My d22 attended a high school that allowed students to count CS classes as math classes for purposes of graduation. A number of her friends were fixated on having perfect gradesāour district does not weight GPAsāand chose this route. They didnāt want to risk a lower grade in pre-calculus or calculus and then not be a valedictorian.
These kids were valedictorians, and they attend solid colleges. But to a kid, they were shut out of colleges with less that 30% acceptance rates, and collectively, they applied to a lot of them. Colleges know what a standard schedule looks like, and they evaluate students based on those standards.
Meanwhile, among the salutatorians who braved a notoriously tough calculus teacher and received some B+s were students accepted to Stanford, Williams, and Columbia.
If four years are offered, take them.
Iām not sure I understand here. How to do 3 years of Social Studies?