11th grade courses

[Anonymous]

My 10th grader is a very good but not great student in APS taking one AP class and intensified classes this year. The work load has been a lot but manageable for him. His goal is to go to Virginia Tech, not UVA, and would be happy with JMU too.

Can parents who have BTDT give advice on how many APs is reasonable junior year? He'll talk to the counselor too and is taking the lead on choosing his courses, but any advice here that I can pass along as we start this discussion? TIA.

[Anonymous]

My APS 11th grader is taking AP Spanish, AP Literature, and AP Chemistry this year.

Last year as a 10th grader he took AP Psychology and AP Language.

Next year as a senior he'll do AP Calc AB, AP Government, and something else most likely.

[Anonymous]

My Junior DD is doing partial IB, so the only AP class is US History (APUSH) and the rest are IB classes, except Dual Enrollment Math at NoVA.

[Anonymous]

PP here. It’s not so much the number of APs, it’s showing that your child is being challenged in the classes they are most passionate about. I would see what the counselor recommends first and then ask your AP question - should Suzy be focused more on APs etc if these schools are her goal? We’ve found the counselors at WL to be very helpful and always happy to answer questions. I would reach out to them following your child’s meeting.

[Anonymous]

I agree that talking to the counselor would be helpful. I really like my kids' counselor at W-L and she's been good at advice on course selection.

My kids both have ADHD so that's an added challenge. I urged them to stick to at most 3 APs in junior year, after 1 AP+ mix of intensified and regular in 10th.

Consider their interests, their strengths, and what other activities will take up their time to figure out the right balance.

My oldest took AP Language & Comp, AP US History, AP Calc AB. He considered AP Physics (very strong math student) but given the work load especially in APUSH and that he'd never taken intensified sciences (doesn't like doing science projects), he opted to do regular level for that and keep the English and SS APs. His physics teacher did ask me why he was in that class, that he should be in AP. But when I said he was already taking 3 APs, he conceded that the choice made sense. He was ready for a heavier load in 12th -- 5 AP/DE/IB -- but those were mostly focused in his area of interest. He ended up at Virginia Tech, also admitted JMU.

My current junior is also in 3 AP/IBs -- English, Calculus, IB Biology. For her the compromise was taking regular US History. She loves sciences and so wanted to do the 2-year IB Bio class. Already took (and hated) AP World History and AP Gov. Calculus is a struggle for her and it made no sense for her to kill herself to keep up on the APUSH work load on top of the rest plus a time-consuming EC. She's really glad she chose regular history. She will also do more in 12th but again, more the elective APs that fit her interests.

it's crazy to me that their 3 APs in 11th schedule is considered "light" among their peers.