Did your child take two science classes HS jr and sr year?

[Anonymous]

Two of mine took 2 science classes both junior and senior years. One took the place of a elective. One took history over the summer to have room in the schedule

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sophomore is choosing his classes for junior year and he wants to take honors physics and AP chem and drop or postpone taking language until senior year. He said this is common for kids trying to major in science in college. I personally think he should take honors physics and keep his language (Spanish) and then take two AP science classes senior year.

Is it normal to take two science classes per grade?

I didn’t major in science. DH did major in science but he just took one science per grade in high school.

If the high school has 7 periods a day there are likely many students who take 6 as cores, so two sciences and continuing the foreign language is possible, and that is what is "common" at the high school for stem students. That is done by about 1/3rd of our high school, starting in 10th: they either take two sciences(AP chem and honorsBio) or two maths in 10th (AP stat plus precal), then they do the same thing in 11th and 12th (they offer post-AP honors organic chem as well three post-BC math courses). The top stem kids end up with 6-7 sciences and 5-6 maths. Your student or you need to talk to the high school advisors and find out what is expected.

Op here. I do think many kids do this as I have heard of kids who end up with 15 AP classes. My child has 2 AP classes sophomore year and will likely end up with 10-12 AP courses, which my child seems to think will put him at a disadvantage. I told him not to focus so much on AP vs non AP. I don’t know if I am giving him poor advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take all 5 cores all years of high school. Most schools have an option for a 6th core course: take a 6th as a second science. That is done at many top privates and stem magnets and in fact is expected for top kids aiming for anything in-state UVA or harder at these schools.

What? Double sciences is not expected for non-STEM kids. My non-STEM kid took the 5 cores all years, but in 11th and 12th their elective 6th core was AP Stats and AP Psychology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sophomore is choosing his classes for junior year and he wants to take honors physics and AP chem and drop or postpone taking language until senior year. He said this is common for kids trying to major in science in college. I personally think he should take honors physics and keep his language (Spanish) and then take two AP science classes senior year.

Is it normal to take two science classes per grade?

I didn’t major in science. DH did major in science but he just took one science per grade in high school.

DS did this. We had the same dilemma. He ended up dropping Spanish, which is hard for him and he didn't like. Instead he's taking Physics and AP Chem. AP Chem is 2 periods so there wasn't room for that plus Spanish.

We ran this by his college counselor who blessed it, but only because with lang classes from MS, he does have 4 years of Spanish already. We'll see how colleges view it.

[Anonymous]

My kid (premed) took Ap Chem junior year because he had chem in 10th grade and figured it would be good to take as close to that as possible. Took his 4th year of Spanish junior year.
Senior year, took AP Bio and AP Physics I. Taking it now.
This is very uncommon for our school.
This also means he will have 4 years of spanish, but only 3 in high school and no AP. I will tell you on Feb 15 if it matters for UVA.
But I can tell you that my feeling is that it will help him most everywhere else because it is showing his commitment to science and taking 3 of the most difficult AP Science classes. He got in Georgetown REA already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sophomore is choosing his classes for junior year and he wants to take honors physics and AP chem and drop or postpone taking language until senior year. He said this is common for kids trying to major in science in college. I personally think he should take honors physics and keep his language (Spanish) and then take two AP science classes senior year.

Is it normal to take two science classes per grade?

I didn’t major in science. DH did major in science but he just took one science per grade in high school.

If the high school has 7 periods a day there are likely many students who take 6 as cores, so two sciences and continuing the foreign language is possible, and that is what is "common" at the high school for stem students. That is done by about 1/3rd of our high school, starting in 10th: they either take two sciences(AP chem and honorsBio) or two maths in 10th (AP stat plus precal), then they do the same thing in 11th and 12th (they offer post-AP honors organic chem as well three post-BC math courses). The top stem kids end up with 6-7 sciences and 5-6 maths. Your student or you need to talk to the high school advisors and find out what is expected.

Op here. I do think many kids do this as I have heard of kids who end up with 15 AP classes. My child has 2 AP classes sophomore year and will likely end up with 10-12 AP courses, which my child seems to think will put him at a disadvantage. I told him not to focus so much on AP vs non AP. I don’t know if I am giving him poor advice.

Correct it is not AP vs not or total number of AP, but it is difficulty of schedule. If a lot of students take six core courses then not doing so is a bug disadvantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take all 5 cores all years of high school. Most schools have an option for a 6th core course: take a 6th as a second science. That is done at many top privates and stem magnets and in fact is expected for top kids aiming for anything in-state UVA or harder at these schools.

What? Double sciences is not expected for non-STEM kids. My non-STEM kid took the 5 cores all years, but in 11th and 12th their elective 6th core was AP Stats and AP Psychology.

DP it depends on the high school. The highest rigor 20 or so students take double science or math in 11th because ours does not have options until 12th for double history. There are no options for 6 cores in 10th due to school requirements for the 6th. Non-stem students who want the top schools are expected to take a second science or math in 11th and take a second something in 12th, history or science or math. The school across town has a lot who do double foreign language in 9&10 then the stem students switch to double sci and math for 11&12. Even the stem ones are expected to take double foreign language the first two years

[Anonymous]

It’s my understanding that the AP science classes all require two class periods (at my kid’s block schedule school). Is this not accurate?

[Anonymous]

My DD is a senior now. She took 2 sciences in 11th and she's taking 2 Math classes now in 12th (and a further science)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s my understanding that the AP science classes all require two class periods (at my kid’s block schedule school). Is this not accurate?

At our school AP Bio and Chem are double. AP Physics variations are single (unless you take both C Mech and C EM the same year). APES is single.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s my understanding that the AP science classes all require two class periods (at my kid’s block schedule school). Is this not accurate?

At our school AP Bio and Chem are double. AP Physics variations are single (unless you take both C Mech and C EM the same year). APES is single.

It varies by school. They are not double period classes at my DC’s school. They have a block schedule (4 classes a day), so the class periods are already longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s my understanding that the AP science classes all require two class periods (at my kid’s block schedule school). Is this not accurate?

No

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sophomore is choosing his classes for junior year and he wants to take honors physics and AP chem and drop or postpone taking language until senior year. He said this is common for kids trying to major in science in college. I personally think he should take honors physics and keep his language (Spanish) and then take two AP science classes senior year.

Is it normal to take two science classes per grade?

I didn’t major in science. DH did major in science but he just took one science per grade in high school.

DS did this. We had the same dilemma. He ended up dropping Spanish, which is hard for him and he didn't like. Instead he's taking Physics and AP Chem. AP Chem is 2 periods so there wasn't room for that plus Spanish.

We ran this by his college counselor who blessed it, but only because with lang classes from MS, he does have 4 years of Spanish already. We'll see how colleges view it.

This is exactly what my Sophokore is planning. He really hates Spanish and I have no belief he will ever be proficient in it, given how little he speaks after taking it for four years. It seems dumb to make him forego a class that might be beneficial for him so that he can continue to pretend to learn Spanish.

My oldest is a likely science major in at top 10 college and actually only took 3 years of HS science (but seven years pf foreign language!) with only one AP science. She took stats instead of a science her senior year. She applied undeclared but had decided she wanted to do something like biochemistry by the time she started college. Not having four years of science didn’t seem to affect her but she had a lot of rigor in other areas. I think at the end of the day colleges just want to see kids that are taking hard classes and that seem to have a passion for something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take all 5 cores all years of high school. Most schools have an option for a 6th core course: take a 6th as a second science. That is done at many top privates and stem magnets and in fact is expected for top kids aiming for anything in-state UVA or harder at these schools.

What? Double sciences is not expected for non-STEM kids. My non-STEM kid took the 5 cores all years, but in 11th and 12th their elective 6th core was AP Stats and AP Psychology.

DP it depends on the high school. The highest rigor 20 or so students take double science or math in 11th because ours does not have options until 12th for double history. There are no options for 6 cores in 10th due to school requirements for the 6th. Non-stem students who want the top schools are expected to take a second science or math in 11th and take a second something in 12th, history or science or math. The school across town has a lot who do double foreign language in 9&10 then the stem students switch to double sci and math for 11&12. Even the stem ones are expected to take double foreign language the first two years

This is just so dumb. I took double language all through HS and college, majoring in one of them. But it’s totally pointless to take two years of a HS language — just a waste of time. The only think you’ll take away from it is the ability to butcher phrases lllle l”where is the bathroom” and “how much does this shirt cost” (and then you won’t even understand the answer.).
This reminds of how the Soviet Union forced all the eastern bloc kids to take at least a couple of years of Russian. You will never hear worse Russian than that spoke by the average kid who grew up in Pioland or Czechoslovakia in the 1980s. Requiring HS kids to take a couple years of a language they have no passion for is just a waste of everyone’s time.

[Anonymous]

It’s common for a science kid to double up science one or two years, usually 11th and/or 12th. My Junior is currently taking Honors Physics and AP Bio. I think next year she wlll just take one though, AP Chem. She will be in AP French next year too. In VA you drop the PE requirement after 10th so that frees up a block.