Subjects for Sophomore year

Parents Forum
1

Hi all,

I am new here, that’s why - sorry in case if some of my statements or questions are very… inexperienced…

My daughter is Freshman in one of the magnet schools.
She is rather non technical (at least, prefers subjects like English, History, Art), she is not bad with the math too.
Her gpa is 4.0.

Our goal is to apply and to be accepted into UC College

I am very concerned about the amount of classes she is taking this year, and about the quality and the amount which she will take for Jr / Sr High years…I am afraid that it won’t be enough to be accepted into one of the UC level Colleges
(We reside in California, and the goal is UC College; but she is not sure about the Magor or about the future occupation)

here are her classes:

Now (9th grade):
Algebra 1 / English / World History / Biology / French / PE
(non of them are AP classes)

She is planning for the Sophomore:
Geometry / English / History / Chemistry / French / PE

Jr High:
Algebra 2 / English / History / Env Science / French (may be AP) / PE

Sr High:
Statistics / English / History (may be AP) / French (may be AP) / Art

also one of those years will be selective(s)

My questions to all:

  • Does this approx plan look weak?
  • I think, for UC colleges, she also needs to take at least PreCalc in order to have better chances, Am I right? (that's why she needs to take 2 math classes during one of the years)
  • Also, I think it's better to take at least 6 honors classes, but not just 2 or 3 (so the AP score will be at least 12 (over 10))

Plz advice about her current and… projected schedule…
Do your 9th graders kids already taking Algebra 2?
I should speak with her school’s counselor to clarify the amount of classes she may need for the college, correct?

Thank you for any notes and advice in this topic.

2

Actually, plz see the updated selection (disregard the above):

Freshman:
Algebra 1 / English / World History / Biology / French / PE

Sophomore:
Geometry / English / AP World History / Physics / French

Jr High:
Algebra 2 / English / History / AP Env Science / AP French / AP Psychology

Sr High:
AP Statistics / English / History / AP French / AP ?? Art / Elective

3

I think her math is fine the way it is. I think, if she is relatively weak in math and/or prefers humanities, her time is better spent in areas of interest and strength. Also, I think it is better to spend time volunteering, playing music, doing art, or whatever her interests and talents lead her to do outside of the classroom, in or out of school- than to spend hours on math that she does not like.

If she likes history she could do AP US History. If she likes English I would think an AP class in that would be fine too. But she could not do AP env. science perhaps, or AP psych., depending on what she wants to learn.

She does not need to know her major for several years. She can enter as undecided, or change her mind on a major she thinks she has decided on. Usually a major is declared after sophomore year, which is 5 years away. It is healthy to explore interests in high school and early college without too much pressure to decide on major or career.

As for knowing a career path, I think it is healthy not to know. Many kids only know certain broad categories of professions and are naïve about choices in the actual job market. And college major does not have to be geared to career, with the exception of vocational majors like nursing or engineering. Plenty of English or music majors end up in med school for instance.

I would support your child in course choices that are challenging without being stressful. Balance is important. Non-academic activities are important. Let your child lead if possible, with regard more for current well-being than for future admissions.

The UC system is wonderful but some of have found private schools to be affordable too. Through financial or merit aid. Without involving your daughter, I am sure you can find out the preferred courses for UC. Overall happiness, good grades and good extracurriculars should win out over an overly burdened schedule that promises none of the above.

4

I’m constantly impressed with how early parents start thinking about college for their high schoolers on this site! We didn’t start thinking about it for my D17 until the summer before junior year. In any case, if your goal is a UC, any UC, then I wouldn’t worry – she’ll get into Riverside and Merced. But if you want one of the more established, higher ranking ones, keep a close eye on her grades and standardized test scores. San Diego and “up” (UCLA, Berk) get so many applications that they can’t take the time of have holistic approaches.

Also, please, please allow your child to enjoy high school. If she discovers a love for…I don’t know, graphic design, or studio art, or something like that, she should be allowed to explore those passions in high school. Please keep flexible with her schedule. Plotting out her entire high school classes might make you feel stuck to them (hopefully not). Remember there is more to high school than the goal of getting into a college of one’s/one’s parent’s choice. :slight_smile:

5

to JenJenJenJen:

Thank you for this informative answer!

I just posted her updated classes, in the post below.
I was not aware of some (AP included)
She will take about 6-7 AP for all High school years - mostly for non technical subjects and one - for AP Statistics and AP Env Science.

I don’t want to and I never really pushed her hard - allowed her to make choices,
mine (and her too, I am sure) goal is - higher than UC Merced or Riverside.

She told me about UC San Diego as one of the possible choices.
It will be rather less technical major, we don’t know yet - which one

her gpa usually 4.0, and sat etc scores we expect high too (have relatives tutors and resources/her abilities for that)

but - i am worry about not enough classes that she is going to take.

while she is confident - she will get into ucla, no less, with this amount and level of subjects taken… …

For UC San Diego for example - should she also take precalc at least?

Should she take more non technical APs too?
What do you think is the right amount and level? What did your child took? (approx) - in terms of technical classes?

thank you again for this answer, I will consult with the school counselor too…

6

If she may want or need to take calculus in college, even business calculus, she should probably take Precalc in HS if she is doing OK in math at that point. Some of the UCs do not offer precalculus and suggest taking it at a community college if necessary at that point. I don’t know about UCSD, but that is true for UCSB.

She needs to take a full year of some visual art, music, or performing art to be eligible for the UC system. That can be an AP art or a regular art. (Don’t take 2 semesters of different art-related subjects.)

To maximize her UC GPA, during 10th and 11th she should take at least 4 classes that are AP or count as honors for the UC system. This does not include most of your HS’ honors classes – probably only honors precalc if they offer that or honors French for the year before AP French. Check here for what “really” counts as honors from your high school: https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist#/list/search/institution?f=institutionTypeName%7CSchool%3B

If you are in California, I believe at least a semester of US government (regular or AP) and a semester of economics (regular or AP) is required in order to graduate from high school. A typical California social studies sequence is:

9th: nothing or geography (regular or AP)
10th: world history (regular or AP)
11th: US history (regular or AP)
12th: one semester each of economics and US Gov’t (regular or AP)

Many high schools in California require a semester of health but only 2 years of PE. After school sports teams may or may not count as PE at your school.

Finally, realize that the 4-year plan at this point is just a draft. Let her be flexible depending on how things are going, what she feels about majors later, and the inevitable scheduling conflicts.

7

How many APs you will need to be competitive at various schools really varies, and I can’t pretend to know what you would need for the various UCs, except I do know some are more competitive than others. I want to emphasize that while it’s not a bad idea to have a general idea of what she’ll be taking it’s fine to change your mind. If she suddenly develops a real love of history or (as was the case in our school learns the AP Euro teacher is considered the best teacher in the school), she might want to adjust her schedule.

Pre-calc may be a more sensible choice than statistics. I think she should seriously consider taking a chemistry course rather than AP environmental or AP Psych junior year.

8

Are these honors classes or does your high school not offer “honors” designation since it’s a magnet high school?
What makes it “magnet”?

Note that it’s not just the number of AP’s, it whether they’re core AP’s or not, AP Lites or not, whether they show a distinct pattern of academic interests and competence for the student.

If she is a Humanities/Social Science student, she needs to take AP English Language and, as much as possible, AP English Literature, AP Foreign Language (AP French - note there’s only one year of AP French, typically taken after French 4 honors; if she’s in AP French junior year and likes it, she could take College French 4th/5th level at a nearby university as a Dual Enrollment class), APUSH (Us history) + one or two more AP social science; depending on what her high school offers, she may want to look into AP Human Geography (AP Lite but interesting), AP Art history, AP Art 2D Photography…

AP Psychology, APES, AP Stats, and AP Human Geography are “AP Lites”. They wouldn’t connote as much rigor as the other AP’s would. They can complement a rigorous schedule that includes AP English, AP History/Social Science, PreAP/AP Foreign Language.

Science sequence for a Humanities/Social Science student: Regular bio, chem, physics + APES
Math sequence could be Algebra1+2, Geometry, AP Stats, but she may be at a disadvantage if she doesn’t have regular precalc - check with her guidance counselor to see what type of colleges kids who don’t take precalc get into. I’m afraid it’d hurt her chances at the likes of UCSD/UCLA.

It’s important you look into it, because the process is incredibly complex and teenagers don’t/can’t master all parameters alone.

Run the NPC’s on UCLA, Pomona, Pitzer, Stanford, just to have an idea of how much you’d be expected to pay. Note that all of them are reaches, but the last three meet need and the first one would be at instate rates.
To compare, you could also run the NPC for Chapman, Whitman, UPuget Sound, ASU Barrett.

9

Ynotgo, mathmom, MYOS1634

  • Thank you for the very informative answers and links! I updated her planned classes below, but even this list is under revision and discussion now. She will be taking at least 6 AP classes during her HS years. But yes, looks like they rather AP "lites I don't know - how to talk her into more advanced APs...

She prefers to take AP statistics but not pre calc; not willing to take AP English
She took and going to take AP History though…

I am also going to speak to our school counselor as advised.

10

@intyel1994, it is good to plan early but leave a lot of space for the student to change her mind in this journey. As she takes her courses, she will come to know what she likes. She will choose the heavy APs if she thinks she can handle it.

I have not seen many students who follow the path exactly when they start the high school. They change interests many times. So don’t get fixated on any one idea. Talk to your HS GC before you make the selection. Each HS has its own prerequisites which Gc will know for sure.

11

UC admissions is very transparent and essentially guaranteed for a student who tends to get all A’s – she needs to met the A-G requirements, have the requisite GPA/test scores - and then she is guaranteed a spot. Not necessarily at her first choice campus, of course – but I’d also add that most public high school g.c.'s in California do a pretty good job of assuring that the students meet UC admission requirements.

I didn’t see any problem with you daughter’s proposed schedule other than deferring the arts requirement to senior year. (That’s fine, it’s just that my line of thinking is to get basic requirement out of the way sooner than later - but both my kids attended high schools where the arts education was built into the curriculum already, so they didn’t really have to plan for that).

12

The issue is that if she’s interested in an UC other than Merced or Riverside, and wants a CSU such as SDSU, CPP, or Cal Poly SLO, precalc is not optional. Calculus is optional for top schools as long as its absence is offset by something else showing rigor, but precalculus isn’t.

13

In summer after soph year, S took a 6 week film course at a CC which ended up satisfying UC visual and performing arts admission req. If your D is like S and the thought of spending an hour a day for an entire year in an arts, theater, etc course sounds like torture, consider this option. I would say this, S took this course over a decade ago so I don’t know if this would still be allowed.

14

Yes, a semester course at a California community college counts as 2 high school semesters. That would even be true for a 6-week summer semester.

15

(Re post #11). My daughter did not have precalc and was accepted at UCSB, UCSC (with merit money), and Berkeley, as a prospective linguistics major.

16

@calmom : based on my experience your daughter is the exception rather than the rule, and must have had other aspects to her file that “offset” that “deficiency”. It’s also a pre-req for some specific majors (business, stem).
For the record, I do believe taking statistics is more important than precalculus, but as of now college don’t share my opinion apparently.

17

My DD was a spring admit to Berkeley, so I’d concede that she was an “exception” there - but UCSB & UCSC were her safeties and rightfully so. It would be different if she had been a prospective STEM major… but she wasn’t. The UC’s require 3 years of high school math for admission – completion of algebra II completes that requirement – and my D’s GPA is what counted. That is, my D had A’s in all academic courses in high school. A “C” in pre-calc might have been worse for her chances than simply not taking higher level math at all. She had plenty of APs, just wasn’t following STEM-focused track. So course distribution was weak on math/science, strong on arts/languages. Which is why I mentioned that she was (at the time) a prospective linguistics major.