high school course selection - looking ahead of college apps
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Anonymous
"Kids be sure to take every science AP" said no reputable college counselor ever |
Anonymous
This sounds more reasonable. What level school are you thinking of with this profile? |
Anonymous
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This is why you go to a college counselor about your specific child because of terrible advice like what is given on p 1 of this thread re: AP science, which is nuts.
We also have seen a college counselor about course selection. My child is very heavily invested in the arts. That is their entire (organic) narrative going back to middle school. So no they are not dropping their arts electives to fit in all the AP science classes, which take up 2 periods each and are generally taken after taking an honors course in the science subject first. And no one would ever advise them to do that based on their profile or interests. It's very kid specific and very school specific. In some schools based on required classes, you literally could not even fit in what this poster suggests. |
Anonymous
| At my child's school, AP Bio is two periods long, so that takes up two slots in the schedule. Makes it even harder to fit everything in. |
Anonymous
A very good point. It's why I actually was asking for reputable sources for guidance on these topics. I figured there had to be somethig between the overworked public school counselor and the $$$$ pricey external consultant. But maybe not. |
Anonymous
Disagree. There are diminishing returns to huge overloads. If a kid was doing arts they are better off sticking with it than taking an overload academically. The "drop lunch, arts, gym, etc." mentality goes with the "take 18 APs" mentality. All of these parents, largely at suburban public schools, get brainwashed into this way of thinking. And I'm sure it has worked for some kids. But I am fairly sure the colleges don't care and aren't impressed. And your kids will be a lot happier without it. |
Anonymous
This makes me want to laugh/cry. The language program has been so terrible for my child (thanks, MCPS) that they absolutely hate foreign languages now. It's a real shame. Having them take AP Spanish would be tantamount to torture. But I can see why in an ideal world, it might be a good idea! |
Anonymous
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Take the most rigorous classes that are reasonable for your child’s abilities and interests. High schools vary, and there’s no particular order you have need to take high school classes in for pre-med later.
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Anonymous
I think the issue is no person online is going to have advice for all your specific variables and for a lot of kids there are tradeoffs and pros and cons to discuss and then judgment calls to be made and you and your child should really be part of the conversation. It's not that pricey really. It's a couple hundred bucks for an hour of someone's time. |
Anonymous
| The high paid consultants don’t know the requirements at every school - at best they know a few schools well - the rest they look up just like you can. Ask your school counselor what is required to get most rigorous designation. There is no requirement anywhere for multiple science APs. |
Anonymous
My kid only had AP Bio out of the 3 and he was accepted to 2 Ivies, Hopkins, Gtown, etc. (not stem major). He had honors in the others. |
Anonymous
| Honestly, I would ask your specific questions on this forum. Obviously- it is not perfect. But if you are savvy enough to wade through bad advice, there are people on here who are very knowledgeable and helpful. Maybe not for everything for college admissions- but for course selection this board is pretty good. |
Anonymous
You are not paying them to look up the requirements at schools and by the way, no school has requirements to this level of detail. You are paying them for their judgment and alleged knowledge of what Admission Officers think/look at when evaluating an entire student's application. You as an individual can decide this is a waste of time and money or they don't know any more than you know or not a service you wish to pay for. But no, they are not an expensive human google machine. |
Anonymous
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OP: you don't say what colleges your DC is targeting, so first off, very different advice would follow if their main goal in life is maximizing their chances at a T10 school versus anything else. (And, FWIW, given how random and unpredictable admissions are even for those who check every box, one probably should question whether that should ever be any kid's main childhood goal).
I've got two MPCS grads, both at T20 schools, and they each took only one AP science class, as did the vast majority of their classmates who ended up at top schools (some took IB instead). As others have mentioned, AP Bio is generally a 2-period class, at least at our HS, so you'd be skipping out on something else if you tried to add honors physics that same year. And for kids who do IB science, which is generally a two-year sequence, many who take IB Bio don't ever take physics. The uniform advice we got was to hit the max level in each core subject, and so skipping Spanish 5, which presumably means not even doing the year before AP Spanish, would be a far bigger issue for most top schools than not having two AP sciences. (Of course every kid is unique, and schools presumably understand if there is a reason--eg dyslexia-- beyond just it being hard. And if your kid truly would be miserable in two more years of Spanish, they have to decide whether maximizing their chances is even worth it to them). I know MCPS counselors can vary in helpfulness, but they will be in the best position to tell you the general profile/course history of successful candidates from your school to the schools your DC is targeting. |
Anonymous
If you had paid attention you'd see he did not say that - he said in Bio Chem and Physics - that's not EVERY SCIENCE - there's also environmental science, psychology etc |