organic chemistry or advanced physics II

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think OP is fking trolling you people.

Agree. Please tell me what high schools are offering Orgo. Name names. I call BS. There are definitely schools that offer cross enrollment with local colleges so you could take it there, though I'm guessing there are very few kids doing so. But I doubt there are many (if any at all) high schools that have enough kids ready to take Orgo that they can offer it, and teachers qualified to teach it.

My child goes to a competitive urban private and has a teacher who I know could teach it if necessary. But this school, despite having plenty of kids going to Ivies, feels no need to rush kids through, so has nothing like this. Kids feel plenty "challenged" without having to take countless theoretically college level classes in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP is fking trolling you people.

Agree. Please tell me what high schools are offering Orgo. Name names. I call BS. There are definitely schools that offer cross enrollment with local colleges so you could take it there, though I'm guessing there are very few kids doing so. But I doubt there are many (if any at all) high schools that have enough kids ready to take Orgo that they can offer it, and teachers qualified to teach it.

My child goes to a competitive urban private and has a teacher who I know could teach it if necessary. But this school, despite having plenty of kids going to Ivies, feels no need to rush kids through, so has nothing like this. Kids feel plenty "challenged" without having to take countless theoretically college level classes in high school.

Sure. Potomac offers it. It is a fairly popular class. The students who are interested in chemistry tend to take Chem in 10th, Advanced Chem (typical AP curriculum) in 11th, and a semester Orgo class in 12th.

It isn’t just for the special science program kids. I think a lot of them enjoy the 11th grade teacher so much they sign up for the class to have her again. None of them are trying to place out of college orgo; they know it is a weed out class and want to have a preview of the material.

[Anonymous]

Typically Advanced Physics 2 is impressive because it's calculus based physics. I see that your DC is taking Multivariable as their math course, so the "wow" factor is already there. Either orgo or physics 2 is fine. Since they are not engineering bound, it would be interesting to explore orgo. They are not taught at the same level as college equivalents. Particularly at places like Cornell, orgo is really really tough.

[Anonymous]

My kids high school has very high level science courses, they are entered as advanced in common app beyond AP. However, by no means are they truly equivalent to a college course despite that. I viewed it as a nice prep for the real thing.

Some examples orgo, medical chemistry, molecular genetics, molecular and cell biology, neuroscience, immunology, epidemiology, and probably 15 or so more with plenty of physics courses. My kid just didn’t do any so don’t know names. It’s one of two schools that has a computational science department in HS so they advertise,

I’ve seen orgo mentioned from time to time so other schools do have, but agree not common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP is fking trolling you people.

Agree. Please tell me what high schools are offering Orgo. Name names. I call BS. There are definitely schools that offer cross enrollment with local colleges so you could take it there, though I'm guessing there are very few kids doing so. But I doubt there are many (if any at all) high schools that have enough kids ready to take Orgo that they can offer it, and teachers qualified to teach it.

My child goes to a competitive urban private and has a teacher who I know could teach it if necessary. But this school, despite having plenty of kids going to Ivies, feels no need to rush kids through, so has nothing like this. Kids feel plenty "challenged" without having to take countless theoretically college level classes in high school.

My kid’s school in NJ also has organic chem. You can take it if you get a B+ or better in AP Chem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP is fking trolling you people.

Agree. Please tell me what high schools are offering Orgo. Name names. I call BS. There are definitely schools that offer cross enrollment with local colleges so you could take it there, though I'm guessing there are very few kids doing so. But I doubt there are many (if any at all) high schools that have enough kids ready to take Orgo that they can offer it, and teachers qualified to teach it.

My child goes to a competitive urban private and has a teacher who I know could teach it if necessary. But this school, despite having plenty of kids going to Ivies, feels no need to rush kids through, so has nothing like this. Kids feel plenty "challenged" without having to take countless theoretically college level classes in high school.

You're so ignorant.

[Anonymous]

A factor to be considered is which course your DC will be able to do well in. Your DC has already demonstrated rigor by taking Calculus and Physics 1. Multivariable, Physics 2, and Organic Chemistry are capstone courses, college admissions will certainly scrutinze your performance in these courses. Make sure your DC will get B+ or above first semester.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think OP is fking trolling you people.

I don’t. My teen goes to a magnet school for math and science (not in DMV). They offer organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, discrete math, diff equations, complex variable. Even though these aren’t technically AP classes, since there is no college board regulations of them, they are weighted like an AP class and have note in the course catalog that says may be eligible to receive college credit. We all are aware top colleges are unlikely to give college credit for them, but just illustrates they are more rigorous that high school level material.

I’m assuming OPs kid is at a similar school that supports a high achieving student body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP is fking trolling you people.

I don’t. My teen goes to a magnet school for math and science (not in DMV). They offer organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, discrete math, diff equations, complex variable. Even though these aren’t technically AP classes, since there is no college board regulations of them, they are weighted like an AP class and have note in the course catalog that says may be eligible to receive college credit. We all are aware top colleges are unlikely to give college credit for them, but just illustrates they are more rigorous that high school level material.

I’m assuming OPs kid is at a similar school that supports a high achieving student body.

At our school there is different weighting for regular, honors, AP and then advanced. It’s illustrated in school profile and they see all the offerings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP is fking trolling you people.

I don’t. My teen goes to a magnet school for math and science (not in DMV). They offer organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, discrete math, diff equations, complex variable. Even though these aren’t technically AP classes, since there is no college board regulations of them, they are weighted like an AP class and have note in the course catalog that says may be eligible to receive college credit. We all are aware top colleges are unlikely to give college credit for them, but just illustrates they are more rigorous that high school level material.

I’m assuming OPs kid is at a similar school that supports a high achieving student body.

At our school there is different weighting for regular, honors, AP and then advanced. It’s illustrated in school profile and they see all the offerings.

I’m the PP. Honors courses don’t get weighted at all. Only AP and designated “college level” courses such as the above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP is fking trolling you people.

I don’t. My teen goes to a magnet school for math and science (not in DMV). They offer organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, discrete math, diff equations, complex variable. Even though these aren’t technically AP classes, since there is no college board regulations of them, they are weighted like an AP class and have note in the course catalog that says may be eligible to receive college credit. We all are aware top colleges are unlikely to give college credit for them, but just illustrates they are more rigorous that high school level material.

I’m assuming OPs kid is at a similar school that supports a high achieving student body.

At our school there is different weighting for regular, honors, AP and then advanced. It’s illustrated in school profile and they see all the offerings.

I’m the PP. Honors courses don’t get weighted at all. Only AP and designated “college level” courses such as the above.

I didn’t mean to quote you above. I was just pointing out to the non-believers that schools do indeed exist with these offerings.

[Anonymous]

I also don't think OP is a troll. My kid in a regular DC private took Multivariable and Physics C as a junior and aced them both.


I'm going to echo what others have said--just take what your kid will enjoy and do well in. If your kid is more into math, I would take Physics 2/Physics C. That course is made for kids who really like calculus. If your kid is more chem or pre-med, I would consider organic chem.

FWIW--my kid is very uneven, and while strong at math and physics, he hates chem. By taking physics c/diff eq., etc., he got a great start in the courses that he loves.

[Anonymous]

What are the teachers like? My DC loved both chem and physics and was debating between AP Chem and AP Physics C, but the AP Chem teacher at their school has a terrible reputation for not teaching well, whereas the AP Physics teacher is one DC had for regular physics and loved, so they chose AP Physics.

[Anonymous]

Gonzaga offers organic chemistry.

[Anonymous]

Fairly common among nyc prep schools. Orgo, astrophysics, genetics, linear algebra for stem. Political science, econ, and anthropology for humanities.