How many APs did your sophomore take?

Anonymous
DP. Filling in speculation of how PP list is possible in 7 courses per year:

9th:
English 9
Precalc
AP Gov
AP Comp Sci Princ
? H Bio
? H Chem
? World Language 3/4?

10th:
English 10
AP Calc
AP Chem
? (Double period AP Chem)
AP US History
? Free elective or World Language 4
? Free elective or H Physics

- (Not a class) AP in native language outside of school

11th:
English 11
MV Calc
AP Phys C (single period?)
? (Double period AP Phys C) or free elective
AP World History
AP World Lang in third language
AP English Comp

12th:
AP English Lit
Linear Algebra
AP Bio
? (Double period AP Bio?)
AP Lit in third language
PE req
Art req

? Summer: Health


How many non-prereq free electives were actually in there?

A bit unusual to do that much science and math but not any CS besides Principles tech ed credit.

Interesting to take AP English Lit but not Lang. I’m guessing that’s because 12ths aren’t allowed to take Lang, and student didn’t want Lang in 11th?
Anonymous
My schools says to take only 1,2,3,4 over 9th,10th,11th,12th
Anonymous
Just wanted to give a different experience, since these threads can make parents of more typical performing kids feel like their kids are failing. My kid took no APs in 9th and 10th, and then took APES in 11th and AP English Lit in 12th. Overall a B student. He is on his way to a solid in-state school next year and had lots of college options and got to choose one he loves.

If your kid loves academics and the APs are interesting and challenging in all the right ways…awesome! If not, though, please don’t feel like your kid needs to do this to have a good path to college. There are lots of paths.
Anonymous
AP computer science
AP physics
AP Chemistry
AP gov

She’s doing well in all of them and not stressed. She is really bright and smart.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to give a different experience, since these threads can make parents of more typical performing kids feel like their kids are failing. My kid took no APs in 9th and 10th, and then took APES in 11th and AP English Lit in 12th. Overall a B student. He is on his way to a solid in-state school next year and had lots of college options and got to choose one he loves.

If your kid loves academics and the APs are interesting and challenging in all the right ways…awesome! If not, though, please don’t feel like your kid needs to do this to have a good path to college. There are lots of paths.


+1000 Do what is right for your kid.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to give a different experience, since these threads can make parents of more typical performing kids feel like their kids are failing. My kid took no APs in 9th and 10th, and then took APES in 11th and AP English Lit in 12th. Overall a B student. He is on his way to a solid in-state school next year and had lots of college options and got to choose one he loves.

If your kid loves academics and the APs are interesting and challenging in all the right ways…awesome! If not, though, please don’t feel like your kid needs to do this to have a good path to college. There are lots of paths.


+1000 Do what is right for your kid.


I’d also add, determine the correct course for your kid and intention when taking a course . Don’t just select a course because it has AP in its title. For example AP Pre-Cal vs Honors Pre-Cal or AP Physics 1 vs Honors Physics 1.
Anonymous

And don’t confuse AP Physics 1 with AP Physics C. The former is Honors level based on algebra, the latter is very advanced and based on calculus. Colleges know the difference.

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
And don’t confuse AP Physics 1 with AP Physics C. The former is Honors level based on algebra, the latter is very advanced and based on calculus. Colleges know the difference.



And know your school. Don’t assume AP Physics 1 is better than Honor Physics. Definitely don’t assume AP Pre-Calculus is better than Honors Pre-Calculus. And don’t assume that either of these AP’s will net you any credit in college or boost admissions chances beyond potentially giving kid a higher weighted GPA.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:DP. Filling in speculation of how PP list is possible in 7 courses per year:

9th:
English 9
Precalc
AP Gov
AP Comp Sci Princ
? H Bio
? H Chem
? World Language 3/4?

10th:
English 10
AP Calc
AP Chem
? (Double period AP Chem)
AP US History
? Free elective or World Language 4
? Free elective or H Physics

- (Not a class) AP in native language outside of school

11th:
English 11
MV Calc
AP Phys C (single period?)
? (Double period AP Phys C) or free elective
AP World History
AP World Lang in third language
AP English Comp

12th:
AP English Lit
Linear Algebra
AP Bio
? (Double period AP Bio?)
AP Lit in third language
PE req
Art req

? Summer: Health


How many non-prereq free electives were actually in there?

A bit unusual to do that much science and math but not any CS besides Principles tech ed credit.

Interesting to take AP English Lit but not Lang. I’m guessing that’s because 12ths aren’t allowed to take Lang, and student didn’t want Lang in 11th?


Precalc in 9th grade? Is that the same as Algebra 2? What was the Math track in MS?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to give a different experience, since these threads can make parents of more typical performing kids feel like their kids are failing. My kid took no APs in 9th and 10th, and then took APES in 11th and AP English Lit in 12th. Overall a B student. He is on his way to a solid in-state school next year and had lots of college options and got to choose one he loves.

If your kid loves academics and the APs are interesting and challenging in all the right ways…awesome! If not, though, please don’t feel like your kid needs to do this to have a good path to college. There are lots of paths.


Which college did your kid get in to?
Anonymous
My magnet sophomore, like most magnet sophomores is taking only AP Gov and the AP Comp Sci exam (not principles, the other one, they don’t take the class they take a harder class). That’s plenty IMO. The rest of her classes are extremely rigorous.

The program is full of extremely smart, extremely motivated kids. Some might take one or two more in sophomore year, like AP psychology, for example. But there are other ways to show rigor and taking the BS APs like AP precalc is a waste of time.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to give a different experience, since these threads can make parents of more typical performing kids feel like their kids are failing. My kid took no APs in 9th and 10th, and then took APES in 11th and AP English Lit in 12th. Overall a B student. He is on his way to a solid in-state school next year and had lots of college options and got to choose one he loves.

If your kid loves academics and the APs are interesting and challenging in all the right ways…awesome! If not, though, please don’t feel like your kid needs to do this to have a good path to college. There are lots of paths.


Which college did your kid get in to?


"solid in state school" means not UMD or UVA (or the equivalent flagship in their state), otherwise PP would have specified. Draw your own conclusions.

Anonymous
Op here. My teen is really bright but doesn’t always study/prepare as much as they should (imo). They could easily have straight As but have 2Bs first quarter. They also have activities and friends. I do encourage balance.

I wanted to hear what is common for 10th grade students who are on the advanced track. I want to encourage growth but not overwhelm. I am finding this hard with all the choices!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:AP computer science
AP physics
AP Chemistry
AP gov

She’s doing well in all of them and not stressed. She is really bright and smart.


How did she clear the science prerequisites?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Op here. My teen is really bright but doesn’t always study/prepare as much as they should (imo). They could easily have straight As but have 2Bs first quarter. They also have activities and friends. I do encourage balance.

I wanted to hear what is common for 10th grade students who are on the advanced track. I want to encourage growth but not overwhelm. I am finding this hard with all the choices!


There is no discrete “advanced track”. There is a spectrum from academic support to 15+ APs in HS, and different balances between AP courses and non-AP electives and even post-AP courses in some subjects.
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