High School Course Rigor - Is my DC signing up for too much?

[Anonymous]

Is he doing it because he thinks colleges will like it or because he actually wants to do it? What colleges is he aiming for or considering? I wouldn't do a very challenging course load just for colleges, because it might not work out despite the rigor. However, if this desire for challenge comes from a good deal of intrinsic motivation, I would feel better about letting him go for it. Rigor for the sake of learning will benefit him regardless of where he ends up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You just don't want low grades. It's not worth the trade off so be careful. Schools say they value rigor over GPA but they kinda don't. Excessive rigor at the expense of grades is a very bad idea. Obviously you need decent rigor.

take care but don't take easy classes just to get As if the student is competent and interested in the more challenging material. Thing is, they actually will go off and enroll in college classes and will be at a disadvantage if they have not learned some of the material in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is he doing it because he thinks colleges will like it or because he actually wants to do it? What colleges is he aiming for or considering? I wouldn't do a very challenging course load just for colleges, because it might not work out despite the rigor. However, if this desire for challenge comes from a good deal of intrinsic motivation, I would feel better about letting him go for it. Rigor for the sake of learning will benefit him regardless of where he ends up.

SO we should do only what we actually want to do...lets see..I dont want to clean the poop when my dog takes a crap on his walk,hopefully it wont be in your frontyard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is he doing it because he thinks colleges will like it or because he actually wants to do it? What colleges is he aiming for or considering? I wouldn't do a very challenging course load just for colleges, because it might not work out despite the rigor. However, if this desire for challenge comes from a good deal of intrinsic motivation, I would feel better about letting him go for it. Rigor for the sake of learning will benefit him regardless of where he ends up.

SO we should do only what we actually want to do...lets see..I dont want to clean the poop when my dog takes a crap on his walk,hopefully it wont be in your frontyard

If he wants to have the dog...clean the poop. So take the Lit class as the responsible course of action. If he is not interested in the all the time and energy required to be responsible foe a dog....no dog. Bail on the lit class. this decision depends on the student and their interests and goals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You just don't want low grades. It's not worth the trade off so be careful. Schools say they value rigor over GPA but they kinda don't. Excessive rigor at the expense of grades is a very bad idea. Obviously you need decent rigor.

take care but don't take easy classes just to get As if the student is competent and interested in the more challenging material. Thing is, they actually will go off and enroll in college classes and will be at a disadvantage if they have not learned some of the material in high school.

You really want to get As or mostly As with a baseline of decent rigor. If the kid can get As with intense rigor and is happy; fine. If not ease up on the rigor. Very high rigor and all Bs or even a C is a sub optimal outcome

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You just don't want low grades. It's not worth the trade off so be careful. Schools say they value rigor over GPA but they kinda don't. Excessive rigor at the expense of grades is a very bad idea. Obviously you need decent rigor.

take care but don't take easy classes just to get As if the student is competent and interested in the more challenging material. Thing is, they actually will go off and enroll in college classes and will be at a disadvantage if they have not learned some of the material in high school.

You really want to get As or mostly As with a baseline of decent rigor. If the kid can get As with intense rigor and is happy; fine. If not ease up on the rigor. Very high rigor and all Bs or even a C is a sub optimal outcome

I disagree if they are easy As. Easy As indicate a missed opportunity to me to have leaned higher level material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You just don't want low grades. It's not worth the trade off so be careful. Schools say they value rigor over GPA but they kinda don't. Excessive rigor at the expense of grades is a very bad idea. Obviously you need decent rigor.

take care but don't take easy classes just to get As if the student is competent and interested in the more challenging material. Thing is, they actually will go off and enroll in college classes and will be at a disadvantage if they have not learned some of the material in high school.

You really want to get As or mostly As with a baseline of decent rigor. If the kid can get As with intense rigor and is happy; fine. If not ease up on the rigor. Very high rigor and all Bs or even a C is a sub optimal outcome

I disagree if they are easy As. Easy As indicate a missed opportunity to me to have leaned higher level material.

I am saying go for as much rigor as you want but make sure grades are high. If you go ultra high rigor but get all Bs, that is not a good look for college. You could say, ok, well who cares about college, it's all about learning. Fine. But then your kid may end up at a LESS RIGOROUS college than he or she otherwise could get into, because the transcript is messed up, versus other kids who have very high GPA because they picked a course load that was approrpriately rigorous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is he doing it because he thinks colleges will like it or because he actually wants to do it? What colleges is he aiming for or considering? I wouldn't do a very challenging course load just for colleges, because it might not work out despite the rigor. However, if this desire for challenge comes from a good deal of intrinsic motivation, I would feel better about letting him go for it. Rigor for the sake of learning will benefit him regardless of where he ends up.

SO we should do only what we actually want to do...lets see..I dont want to clean the poop when my dog takes a crap on his walk,hopefully it wont be in your frontyard

???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is a lot but FWIW, my older DC took 3 APs and 4 honors classes in 10th grade, and is also a 3 sport athlete (one with a large time commitment). It was a tough year but doable. The bigger “issue” with that is that it puts you on a path to bump it more and more each year, which is harder as a junior when also studying for SAT and senior while also doing college apps. But this is the life of teens nowadays!

How important are the sports? Does his school have a sports requirement? Is he thinking of playing one in college? I would focus on the sport that he's most likely to be recruited for if the goal is to get recruited. If this is purely for fun then maybe try to tone down the least important sport.

In terms of the course load, I would probably start with 2 APs and 4 honors and no elective (keep band). If he rocks everything this year then he can go to 4 AP's his junior year and then 5 senior year. He'll have 11 and that's a lot AP's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You just don't want low grades. It's not worth the trade off so be careful. Schools say they value rigor over GPA but they kinda don't. Excessive rigor at the expense of grades is a very bad idea. Obviously you need decent rigor.

take care but don't take easy classes just to get As if the student is competent and interested in the more challenging material. Thing is, they actually will go off and enroll in college classes and will be at a disadvantage if they have not learned some of the material in high school.

This is really only true of language and math/science, where there is a lot of foundational work. With literature and history, exposure is great but it's not like you can't take Art History in college without taking AP Art History. I don't think it's about exposure when it comes to the humanities, I think it's about rigor. It's about learning how to think and articulate ideas in addition to writing.

[Anonymous]

Which two APs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You just don't want low grades. It's not worth the trade off so be careful. Schools say they value rigor over GPA but they kinda don't. Excessive rigor at the expense of grades is a very bad idea. Obviously you need decent rigor.

take care but don't take easy classes just to get As if the student is competent and interested in the more challenging material. Thing is, they actually will go off and enroll in college classes and will be at a disadvantage if they have not learned some of the material in high school.

You really want to get As or mostly As with a baseline of decent rigor. If the kid can get As with intense rigor and is happy; fine. If not ease up on the rigor. Very high rigor and all Bs or even a C is a sub optimal outcome

I disagree if they are easy As. Easy As indicate a missed opportunity to me to have leaned higher level material.

I am saying go for as much rigor as you want but make sure grades are high. If you go ultra high rigor but get all Bs, that is not a good look for college. You could say, ok, well who cares about college, it's all about learning. Fine. But then your kid may end up at a LESS RIGOROUS college than he or she otherwise could get into, because the transcript is messed up, versus other kids who have very high GPA because they picked a course load that was approrpriately rigorous.

Rigor in college depends on the student, not on the school. It is not the college's responsibility to push - the student has to pull. That is the difference between college and high school. College absolutely should challenge preconceived notions, underbaked convictions, childish ideas about 'society,' and all of those good things, but no one is going to check that a student is not bored with the classes they chose.

[Anonymous]

I think 2 is reasonable for 10th. I hope my younger child progresses 1-2-3-4 for APs 9-12, respectively. You get to 10 total without doing 5 or 6 in any year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does the guidance counselor think? Personally, I think it's too much. You don't want him to get burned out before Junior year when things really matter!

Agreed, but my kid is at a school which only allows 1 AP in 10th grade.

Think about building rigor, and as many people have mentioned, earning As.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the kid. Depends on the school. Our school limits how many honors and AP classes 10th graders can take so I don’t have specific BTDT advice. BUT if your kid does well with a lot of stress, manages his/her time and calendar well, and can work at a high-level with no help from parents/teacher, then I say go for it.