High School Class Recommendations - Feeling overwhelmed with options
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Anonymous
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Coming from small midwestern town where my high school only offered AP Calculus, I am a bit overwhelmed by the choices for classes for my eldest child who has to register for Freshman classes by the end of the week. IB, college, AP... Right now she plans to register for:
Honors English Honors History Honors Algebra II Honors Biology Spanish PE Are these the appropriate classes for a hid who plans to attend college? When do kids start taking AP classes? There is AP Biology. Should she be taking that rather than Honors Biology? Also, why Algebra II, rather than Geometry? (She is in Algebra right now.) I also understand she can enroll at some point in college classes to earn an Associate degree. Is this a good program for someone hopefully heading to a four-year college? Are there limitations to what she can take and do credits fully transfer to any public MD university? She is a smart kid (all As and one B) who works hard but has ADHD and anxiety, so I want her to be challenged, but not overwhelmed. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks. |
Anonymous
| I’m finding it overwhelming too. 8th grade DS is in algebra 1 and his teacher recommended geometry next. The sample HS schedule the counselor gave us had algebra 2 in sophomore year. |
Anonymous
| If she’s in algebra now, she should be in geometry next year. Some kids take AP Gov for their social studies freshman year. And honors bio is a prequesite for AP bio (at least at our school). It looks like she only has 6 classes so far. She has room to take health or a class that fulfills the tech or art requirement. |
Anonymous
It is definitely overwhelming. When to take AP depends on the subject and the prerequisites so you need to check the course catalog. For example you can take AP Gov or APUSH in grade 9 but AP Bio has prerequisites. Math is usually Alg I, Geometry, Alg II… You should look at the math pathways. AP English is grade 11 and 12 |
Anonymous
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Geometry comes before Alg II. She can take regular or Honors Geometry. Ask her current math teacher which they feel would be most appropriate. Ask your DC how she feels about accelerated math.
I’m guessing you mean Spanish 1. She also needs another class. Choose a Tech Elective class. Take Honors English. Take Honors Bio. Take PE Schedule a meeting to talk with a current 9th grade counselor. Does she currently have an IEP/504 plan? |
Anonymous
| My child held off on PE in grade 9 and took the 5 core academic classes (math, English, science, history, lang) plus 2 electives. Having the 2 electives helped her explore high school and meet people and develop interests. There are so many options for electives. |
Anonymous
I would not recommend this. Isn’t it embarrassing to be in PE class with a bunch of freshmen as a sophomore or junior. PE is so easy don’t skip. It gives kids a break from all the other academic classes. |
Anonymous
| My child also has ADHD and anxiety and plans to attend college and her schedule looks very similar. For peace of mind, you should set up an appointment with the HS guidance counselor to review the selections. Good luck! |
Anonymous
It’s fine to do this. Have you seen the PE offerings? It’s not rooe climbing and dodgeball. Some of the PE classes might actually not even be available for a freshman due to upperclassmen taking them. |
Anonymous
Get her scheduled for 9th grade, then peruse these dual enrollment threads at your leisure: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/25/1173117.page https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/60/1183762.page (FWIW, my kids both stuck with AP classes rather than dual enrollment. That said, they wanted to get out of state, and did, so getting credits to transfer to UMD was not their priority.) |
Anonymous
FYI Dual enrollment credits typically transfer the same way AP credits do. My kid did Early College and all credits transferred to his OOS school except the writing because his program has a special freshman course that embeds the writing. |
Anonymous
My kid is taking PE as a junior. Freshman year is the easiest year in terms of course load. I would recommend taking it as a junior or senior when they could really use the break. Counselors hate it when you wait until senior year but it’s great for a kid applying to college. |
Anonymous
Not at all. Lots of kids take yoga or weight training senior year. Electives can be a break. That is the point. Fine arts, music, something else creative etc |
Anonymous
This differs per school. Some colleges only accept transfer/college credit from other four-year colleges so beware. |
Anonymous
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I found it helpful to sit down and create a Google Sheet to share with my kid, with the columns being years of school and the rows being subjects.
She will have to take English and math all four years, so you know right away that those rows are filled up all four years and you can plan ahead to think about what classes those might be. Science will be three years, social studies will be three years, there will be a year of PE, a year of tech, a year of health, and a year of fine arts. If she plays an instrument or sings, or is interested in really pursuing an art, fill those in all the way across. Fill in foreign language for at least three years. Some classes, like tech and health, are easily taken over the summer if she's interested in freeing up spaces for other interests. If she's in Algebra right now, she needs to take Geometry in 9th -- depends on what she's done already. Read through the graduation requirements, look at the course bulletin for her HS, and start sketching in options. https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/curriculum/graduation-requirements/graduationataglance_classof2028.pdf The spreadsheet can change and get updated as she goes, but it's really helpful to get a grip on what's required, what she has to take what years, and get the big picture in mind. Don't even worry about dual enrollment right now -- the high schools have so many AP credit options available and these can be a huge leg up credit-wise although every school differs. My son graduated in 2020 and got something like 48 credits at UMD for his AP scores. I don't remember the number exactly but it was a huge boost in getting out of entry-level classes and getting earlier registration. He went through multivariate calculus in 12th grade -- he never had a desire or need to go to MC via dual enrollment for classes that weren't offered at his HS. |