Too heaby load for Sr. year?

midwesterner
Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:57:26 +0000

Ditto the others on three points:

As long as it’s not a ridicuous load, it should be up to the student whether to take the 6th AP or not. My kids survived AP Physics and AP Bio with 5-6 other APs in senior year, so it is doable. They wanted to show schools that they had taken the hardest courseload offered. However, I think your daughter won’t be lacking in this requirement. Your school has some great offerings!

AP Physics is tough without taking the Intro Physics course. My oldest son’s first girlfriend was the only one allowed to do this at our HS - and she got the only B of her HS career. On the other hand, she did pair up with a very nice tutor (my son!) and went to MIT, so it worked out well for her.

If your daughter does opt for the harder courseload, make it your mission to get her organized about college applications. She can do a lot over the summer, but she will need time. If she has many EC’s in summer and fall, a lighter courseload may be the only way she won’t stress out completely. Sometimes it’s the high-achieving kids who have always done their best who hit the wall in senior year - you won’t know until it happens.