How many APs did your sophomore take?

[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!

OP, you're asking a loaded question. There is no "common" unless you divide the student population according to where they're bound. Kids who are targeting the most selective colleges will take as many of the hard APs as possible; and/or show passion by taking a cluster of APs in the topics they're interested in. Kids who are not targeting the most selective schools will fall into a spectrum of no APs at all, or only a few APs in topics they can manage.

Reframe your plan to "where does your kid want to go", instead of "what do kids usually take". Because some colleges will be out of reach if she doesn't take the right courses in high school (assuming she's otherwise unhooked).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Alg 1, geometry, Alg 2, Precalc, Calc, MV Calc is the basic MCPS annual sequence, starting in 5th-9th grade, with 7th-8th being most common, and about 1 std deviation of population for each shift in starting year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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!

OP, you're asking a loaded question. There is no "common" unless you divide the student population according to where they're bound. Kids who are targeting the most selective colleges will take as many of the hard APs as possible; and/or show passion by taking a cluster of APs in the topics they're interested in. Kids who are not targeting the most selective schools will fall into a spectrum of no APs at all, or only a few APs in topics they can manage.

Reframe your plan to "where does your kid want to go", instead of "what do kids usually take". Because some colleges will be out of reach if she doesn't take the right courses in high school (assuming she's otherwise unhooked).

Reframe your plan to “what is your kid interested in studying and practicing, and what level of intensity can they handle”, and then choose courses/ECs to match, and then choose a college to match.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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!

OP, you're asking a loaded question. There is no "common" unless you divide the student population according to where they're bound. Kids who are targeting the most selective colleges will take as many of the hard APs as possible; and/or show passion by taking a cluster of APs in the topics they're interested in. Kids who are not targeting the most selective schools will fall into a spectrum of no APs at all, or only a few APs in topics they can manage.

Reframe your plan to "where does your kid want to go", instead of "what do kids usually take". Because some colleges will be out of reach if she doesn't take the right courses in high school (assuming she's otherwise unhooked).

Reframe your plan to “what is your kid interested in studying and practicing, and what level of intensity can they handle”, and then choose courses/ECs to match, and then choose a college to match.

PP you replied to. Yes, even better.

[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!

If your kid is getting any Bs they are not ready for APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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!

If your kid is getting any Bs they are not ready for APs.

Depends on which courses the Bs are in, and which APs they're considering.

[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.

Would you mind sharing some of the schools where your child was admitted? Those of us with B students are looking for a list! Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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!

If your kid is getting any Bs they are not ready for APs.

Op again. I disagree. Like I said before, they could get straight As but didn’t study hard for a couple of things. I would rather they have access to harder content and learn a challenging curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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!

If your kid is getting any Bs they are not ready for APs.

Op again. I disagree. Like I said before, they could get straight As but didn’t study hard for a couple of things. I would rather they have access to harder content and learn a challenging curriculum.

Sure, they’ll get Bs there too.

[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.

Would you mind sharing some of the schools where your child was admitted? Those of us with B students are looking for a list! Thank you!

A few he loved and got into were U of Scranton, College of Wooster, Allegheny, and St Mary’s of Maryland. We are in-state for MD and cost is important, so that is where he has decided to go.

[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.

Would you mind sharing some of the schools where your child was admitted? Those of us with B students are looking for a list! Thank you!

Encourage you to join the College Admissions for Awesomely Average Kids on Facebook. Lots of good ideas there.

- Fellow parent of a B student

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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!

If your kid is getting any Bs they are not ready for APs.

Op again. I disagree. Like I said before, they could get straight As but didn’t study hard for a couple of things. I would rather they have access to harder content and learn a challenging curriculum.

Sure, they’ll get Bs there too.

Not OP, but I have a similar kid. So they get Bs. So what? The important part is learning and engaging with the material and ideas. My kid will pretty much get a B in everything because he’ll do enough to get the B, however much that is, and not enough to get an A, however little extra that might be. Infuriating for a parent to watch, but I’m not going to let his teenager boneheadedness keep him out of interesting and challenging classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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!

If your kid is getting any Bs they are not ready for APs.

Op again. I disagree. Like I said before, they could get straight As but didn’t study hard for a couple of things. I would rather they have access to harder content and learn a challenging curriculum.

Sure, they’ll get Bs there too.

Not OP, but I have a similar kid. So they get Bs. So what? The important part is learning and engaging with the material and ideas. My kid will pretty much get a B in everything because he’ll do enough to get the B, however much that is, and not enough to get an A, however little extra that might be. Infuriating for a parent to watch, but I’m not going to let his teenager boneheadedness keep him out of interesting and challenging classes.

I think that’s an admirable stance. I hope that’s what your kid wants as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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!

If your kid is getting any Bs they are not ready for APs.

Op again. I disagree. Like I said before, they could get straight As but didn’t study hard for a couple of things. I would rather they have access to harder content and learn a challenging curriculum.

Sure, they’ll get Bs there too.

Not OP, but I have a similar kid. So they get Bs. So what? The important part is learning and engaging with the material and ideas. My kid will pretty much get a B in everything because he’ll do enough to get the B, however much that is, and not enough to get an A, however little extra that might be. Infuriating for a parent to watch, but I’m not going to let his teenager boneheadedness keep him out of interesting and challenging classes.

Op again. Exactly my stance. The point of school is to learn and grow. Not just the end game of college/job. I want them to learn as much as they can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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!

If your kid is getting any Bs they are not ready for APs.

Op again. I disagree. Like I said before, they could get straight As but didn’t study hard for a couple of things. I would rather they have access to harder content and learn a challenging curriculum.

Sure, they’ll get Bs there too.

Not OP, but I have a similar kid. So they get Bs. So what? The important part is learning and engaging with the material and ideas. My kid will pretty much get a B in everything because he’ll do enough to get the B, however much that is, and not enough to get an A, however little extra that might be. Infuriating for a parent to watch, but I’m not going to let his teenager boneheadedness keep him out of interesting and challenging classes.

I think that’s an admirable stance. I hope that’s what your kid wants as well.

In general it is - he simply doesn’t see the point of killing himself for an A, but he does see the point in learning interesting things. He also hasn’t had any illusions that this approach was going to get him into Harvard, or even UMD. He’s okay with letting those options go.