Can you drop AP chem at this point?

[Anonymous]

My child is in AP Chem this year after taking Honors Chem last year (and having a very high A in the honors level) now in AP Chem with a notoriously hard teacher they have a C despite doing their best, without additional help. They are very frustrated and saying they wish they could switch out of the class. This isn’t even an option now, correct? I am concerned that this will affect their gpa, which they were trying to raise up.
Besides my child asking for help, what resources can you recommend for this situation? I don’t think they have peer tutors for AP chem at their school as about only 13 kids take the class each year. Any online resources beyond khan academy? That content doesn’t seem to match what the tests are on.
The teacher seems to pride themselves of making the course as challenging as possible based on what they shared at back to school night. But a C would be better than dropping the class now correct? I can’t imagine what classes they could be in instead since they have already taken honors chem, IB Chem? This is at a school that offers both.

[Anonymous]

Talk to the counselor about switching. Yes it's on the late side, but we haven't hit the end of Q1 so there's a chance a change could still be made.

Here is a list of tutors at Mont College that was recently posted on our HS's Facebook page. I have no experience with anyone on this list, but I hope that if your student decides to stick out the class that this might be helpful. Best of luck to you!
https://www.montgomerycollege.edu/_documents/academics/support/learning-centers/ackerman-learning-center-rockville/ackerman-private-tutors.pdf

[Anonymous]

There are plenty of places you can find a tutor, I would try that first. Getting even a B in AP chem is an achievement.

[Anonymous]

I think we’re past the drop point where it isn’t noted on the transcript. Double check with counselor in case I’m wrong though. I’d probably stick it out for semester and try to get a B second quarter with tutoring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we’re past the drop point where it isn’t noted on the transcript. Double check with counselor in case I’m wrong though. I’d probably stick it out for semester and try to get a B second quarter with tutoring.

+1
You can’t just switch to IB Chem, they aren’t the same structure or pace. It’s better to stay with AP Chemistry and figure out how to be successful. They are good AP Chemistry teachers on YouTube and you student should make full use of AP Classroom resources also.

[Anonymous]

Try looking on youtube for AP Chem videos.
There should be many online resources out there. Has your student gone to the teacher for extra help? Does the teacher allow test corrections?

[Anonymous]

Princeton Review have Chem teachers for AP level subjects, not all subjects but definitely Chem.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all. I will ask my child if they know if they allow test corrections. My child did not mention that so I don’t think that is an option.
Part of the problem is that this is the first time my child has felt like a class was really very hard and they are kind of embarrassed to get help rather than getting a tutor and they are so deflated by the teacher they have. I care about the grade for my kid’s sake but care more about my kid’s attitude and want them to not feel bad about it to the point they don’t keep trying their hardest and don’t ask for help. I am very hands off usually so this is new territory for me in terms of getting so involved in the details, what is the classroom resource options one pp mentioned? Can you see them online as a parent?

[Anonymous]

Does it look very bad to drop it after one semester and then take two other single semester courses, these would not be AP given the options so kid would likely get As in both but it still looks bad for selective schools, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does it look very bad to drop it after one semester and then take two other single semester courses, these would not be AP given the options so kid would likely get As in both but it still looks bad for selective schools, right?

No it doesn't look bad. "Schools" aren't paying attention to these trivial details.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all. I will ask my child if they know if they allow test corrections. My child did not mention that so I don’t think that is an option.
Part of the problem is that this is the first time my child has felt like a class was really very hard and they are kind of embarrassed to get help rather than getting a tutor and they are so deflated by the teacher they have. I care about the grade for my kid’s sake but care more about my kid’s attitude and want them to not feel bad about it to the point they don’t keep trying their hardest and don’t ask for help. I am very hands off usually so this is new territory for me in terms of getting so involved in the details, what is the classroom resource options one pp mentioned? Can you see them online as a parent?

I would encourage her to stick with it and get over the shyness of being too proud to ask for help. It's good for her to struggle with this in high school before she gets to college, where it would really hurt to go through this.

The good news is, even if she does squeak out the first MP with a C, she still has the 2nd MP to improve her grade and colleges will only see the semester grade. This is a chance to help her learn how to overcome academic adversity and challenge. Get her a tutor and tell her to get to work.

She can do this.

[Anonymous]

True fact: All the AP science classes require a lot of outside work to achieve an A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all. I will ask my child if they know if they allow test corrections. My child did not mention that so I don’t think that is an option.
Part of the problem is that this is the first time my child has felt like a class was really very hard and they are kind of embarrassed to get help rather than getting a tutor and they are so deflated by the teacher they have. I care about the grade for my kid’s sake but care more about my kid’s attitude and want them to not feel bad about it to the point they don’t keep trying their hardest and don’t ask for help. I am very hands off usually so this is new territory for me in terms of getting so involved in the details, what is the classroom resource options one pp mentioned? Can you see them online as a parent?

OP my very non stem DS had a similar experience starting Physics this year (not even AP!). We found him a tutor which helps enormously, but also he says most of the time he's graded down not because the work he has done is incorrect, but that it's not fulfilling the teacher's expectations in terms of presentation. So he's also working to learn what those expectations are and fix that. He also wanted to quit after about 3 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does it look very bad to drop it after one semester and then take two other single semester courses, these would not be AP given the options so kid would likely get As in both but it still looks bad for selective schools, right?

If you drop now, there'll be a W for the withdrawal this semester. If they repeat Chemistry A and Chemistry B later in HS the, the second time taking Chemistry A will overwrite the course with the W. At least that's my understanding. But check with the counselor to be sure.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, all.
We are considering suggesting to our child that they drop the one other class they don’t have a A in and are feeling frustrated by (a difficult language course) and which is causing them a lot of stress combined with the AP chem stress. Perhaps by switch to another class instead of the language class, along with getting support for AP chem they will feel things are more manageable emotionally and allow them to push through AP chem and the other courses they are taking. They would finish this current semester as is and then drop the language mid year and take a one semester social studies course. I feel like given this kid generally excels in science and is doing great in the other science course they are taking concurrently the 2.5 years of language will not look as bad to colleges when applying?