Role of guidance counselors in course selection in HS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've hired an strategist of sorts who works at a different school than where DS goes and our strategist has been super helpful with helping us choose classes.

Bizarre you cannot do this yourself. We looked at things starting in 6th grade to make sure we could get in all the requirements as early as possible. It's really not hard to do.

I emailed the guidance counselor but they were only partially helpful. I also reached out to the teachers I knew who would respond and my child talked to some as well. You go on their student account and select what you want that fits within the graduation requirements.

Bizarre that you are doing this got a high schooler. Isn’t this up to the kid? Why are you emailing their teachers?!

You must work for mcps if you think a 14 or 15 year old should be left to choose their courses without input from anyone.

Were you not a 14/15 year old before? Did you really have your parents determining what you did? I certainly didn’t. Neither did anyone I know. What has changed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS HS counselor here, but I'm not familiar with the CAP classes and requirements.

This plan is pretty rigorous, especially in STEM. Not sure what Honors Precalc is like at Blair, but it's extremely challenging at my school. If your kid is not a grinder and/or just doesn't love math, I'd consider this: Precalc (honors or on-level, depending on what the pacing is like at Blair)-->Calc with Applications OR Honors Stat (both are weighted)-->AP Stat.

Many colleges prefer calculus based math over statistics, but since you're not aiming for top 20 and because your child is already at a relatively advanced math level, I don't think AP Calc is necessary. If your child might be a STEM or business major, I'd encourage them to at least take one calculus class. If not, statistics may end up being much more helpful in college. Statistics will also be relevant in your child's seminar, research, and psych classes.

For science, Honors Physics is not the only option for your child's third remaining NGSS graduation requirement. AP Environmental Science, AP Chem, AP Bio, and AP Physics all will fulfill the last requirement. If your kid is excited or curious about Hon Physics, cool! If they are planning to take APES or AP Chem in 12th grade anyway, they might want to consider other science electives.

Taking a language all four years of HS is a fantastic choice! We're hearing more and more from colleges that this makes applicants more competitive.

NP here. Thanks for the perspective. On the foreign language recommendation, what is preferable for college, maxing out at AP foreign language (even if it’s in 10th grade) or taking the same language for for years straight?

[Anonymous]

Four not for

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've hired an strategist of sorts who works at a different school than where DS goes and our strategist has been super helpful with helping us choose classes.

Bizarre you cannot do this yourself. We looked at things starting in 6th grade to make sure we could get in all the requirements as early as possible. It's really not hard to do.

I emailed the guidance counselor but they were only partially helpful. I also reached out to the teachers I knew who would respond and my child talked to some as well. You go on their student account and select what you want that fits within the graduation requirements.

Bizarre that you are doing this got a high schooler. Isn’t this up to the kid? Why are you emailing their teachers?!

You must work for mcps if you think a 14 or 15 year old should be left to choose their courses without input from anyone.

Were you not a 14/15 year old before? Did you really have your parents determining what you did? I certainly didn’t. Neither did anyone I know. What has changed?

I did. My mom was involved with everything, even in college. My mom even picked the colleges to apply to. Every family is different. So, nothing changed in our family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've hired an strategist of sorts who works at a different school than where DS goes and our strategist has been super helpful with helping us choose classes.

Bizarre you cannot do this yourself. We looked at things starting in 6th grade to make sure we could get in all the requirements as early as possible. It's really not hard to do.

I emailed the guidance counselor but they were only partially helpful. I also reached out to the teachers I knew who would respond and my child talked to some as well. You go on their student account and select what you want that fits within the graduation requirements.

Bizarre that you are doing this got a high schooler. Isn’t this up to the kid? Why are you emailing their teachers?!

You must work for mcps if you think a 14 or 15 year old should be left to choose their courses without input from anyone.

Were you not a 14/15 year old before? Did you really have your parents determining what you did? I certainly didn’t. Neither did anyone I know. What has changed?

I did. My mom was involved with everything, even in college. My mom even picked the colleges to apply to. Every family is different. So, nothing changed in our family.

Does your student need or want this level of parental involvement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've hired an strategist of sorts who works at a different school than where DS goes and our strategist has been super helpful with helping us choose classes.

Bizarre you cannot do this yourself. We looked at things starting in 6th grade to make sure we could get in all the requirements as early as possible. It's really not hard to do.

I emailed the guidance counselor but they were only partially helpful. I also reached out to the teachers I knew who would respond and my child talked to some as well. You go on their student account and select what you want that fits within the graduation requirements.

Bizarre that you are doing this got a high schooler. Isn’t this up to the kid? Why are you emailing their teachers?!

You must work for mcps if you think a 14 or 15 year old should be left to choose their courses without input from anyone.

Were you not a 14/15 year old before? Did you really have your parents determining what you did? I certainly didn’t. Neither did anyone I know. What has changed?

I did. My mom was involved with everything, even in college. My mom even picked the colleges to apply to. Every family is different. So, nothing changed in our family.

Absolutely horrific. Does she still control your life? You know your role as a parent is to help your child move toward independence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've hired an strategist of sorts who works at a different school than where DS goes and our strategist has been super helpful with helping us choose classes.

Bizarre you cannot do this yourself. We looked at things starting in 6th grade to make sure we could get in all the requirements as early as possible. It's really not hard to do.

I emailed the guidance counselor but they were only partially helpful. I also reached out to the teachers I knew who would respond and my child talked to some as well. You go on their student account and select what you want that fits within the graduation requirements.

Bizarre that you are doing this got a high schooler. Isn’t this up to the kid? Why are you emailing their teachers?!

You must work for mcps if you think a 14 or 15 year old should be left to choose their courses without input from anyone.

Were you not a 14/15 year old before? Did you really have your parents determining what you did? I certainly didn’t. Neither did anyone I know. What has changed?

I did. My mom was involved with everything, even in college. My mom even picked the colleges to apply to. Every family is different. So, nothing changed in our family.

Absolutely horrific. Does she still control your life? You know your role as a parent is to help your child move toward independence.

DP. "Absolutely horrific" is a bit much here. Different families make different choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've hired an strategist of sorts who works at a different school than where DS goes and our strategist has been super helpful with helping us choose classes.

Bizarre you cannot do this yourself. We looked at things starting in 6th grade to make sure we could get in all the requirements as early as possible. It's really not hard to do.

I emailed the guidance counselor but they were only partially helpful. I also reached out to the teachers I knew who would respond and my child talked to some as well. You go on their student account and select what you want that fits within the graduation requirements.

Bizarre that you are doing this got a high schooler. Isn’t this up to the kid? Why are you emailing their teachers?!

You must work for mcps if you think a 14 or 15 year old should be left to choose their courses without input from anyone.

Were you not a 14/15 year old before? Did you really have your parents determining what you did? I certainly didn’t. Neither did anyone I know. What has changed?

I was glad mine were there to help guide me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

NP here. Thanks for the perspective. On the foreign language recommendation, what is preferable for college, maxing out at AP foreign language (even if it’s in 10th grade) or taking the same language for for years straight?

If your child hits AP in 10th grade, that’s totally fine! Colleges receive a school profile from each high school counselor with an overview of course offerings. They will be able to see that your child has taken advantage of every course offering in their language of study. If your school offers classes beyond AP (some schools have a 7 level post-AP class), I would encourage your child to take that class.

If you happen to have a kid who is genuinely excited about the language they’re learning and maxes out before 12th grade, consider dual enrollment, an in-school internship aiding in a lower level of the language class, language honors societies, SSL opportunities that allow them to practice the language, etc.

To whoever posted about language learning being a waste of time, I have lots of students who feel similarly. You’re absolutely entitled to your opinion! My personal opinion is that a translation app will never be able to capture the nuance of speaking a language like a fully fluent human. Regardless of my opinion, I always share the research on language learning with my students. Learning another language has so many cognitive benefits that will generally support their academic performance, so it really is worthwhile to take advantage of world language course offerings in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP here. Thanks for the perspective. On the foreign language recommendation, what is preferable for college, maxing out at AP foreign language (even if it’s in 10th grade) or taking the same language for for years straight?

If your child hits AP in 10th grade, that’s totally fine! Colleges receive a school profile from each high school counselor with an overview of course offerings. They will be able to see that your child has taken advantage of every course offering in their language of study. If your school offers classes beyond AP (some schools have a 7 level post-AP class), I would encourage your child to take that class.

If you happen to have a kid who is genuinely excited about the language they’re learning and maxes out before 12th grade, consider dual enrollment, an in-school internship aiding in a lower level of the language class, language honors societies, SSL opportunities that allow them to practice the language, etc.

To whoever posted about language learning being a waste of time, I have lots of students who feel similarly. You’re absolutely entitled to your opinion! My personal opinion is that a translation app will never be able to capture the nuance of speaking a language like a fully fluent human. Regardless of my opinion, I always share the research on language learning with my students. Learning another language has so many cognitive benefits that will generally support their academic performance, so it really is worthwhile to take advantage of world language course offerings in high school.

Thanks - this is helpful. Kid is currently in Spanish 4 in 9th grade. Next year he could take AP Spanish language or Spanish 5. Thinking maybe Spanish 5 is best, then AP lang. in 11th and then stopping. His school does offer AP Spanish literature too but I can’t imagine he’ll want to do that, even though it sounds like that would be most impressive to colleges. He has an extremely rigorous course load anyway (STEM focused) so likely this won’t matter too much if he has one AP Foreign language under his belt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP here. Thanks for the perspective. On the foreign language recommendation, what is preferable for college, maxing out at AP foreign language (even if it’s in 10th grade) or taking the same language for for years straight?

If your child hits AP in 10th grade, that’s totally fine! Colleges receive a school profile from each high school counselor with an overview of course offerings. They will be able to see that your child has taken advantage of every course offering in their language of study. If your school offers classes beyond AP (some schools have a 7 level post-AP class), I would encourage your child to take that class.

If you happen to have a kid who is genuinely excited about the language they’re learning and maxes out before 12th grade, consider dual enrollment, an in-school internship aiding in a lower level of the language class, language honors societies, SSL opportunities that allow them to practice the language, etc.

To whoever posted about language learning being a waste of time, I have lots of students who feel similarly. You’re absolutely entitled to your opinion! My personal opinion is that a translation app will never be able to capture the nuance of speaking a language like a fully fluent human. Regardless of my opinion, I always share the research on language learning with my students. Learning another language has so many cognitive benefits that will generally support their academic performance, so it really is worthwhile to take advantage of world language course offerings in high school.

Thanks - this is helpful. Kid is currently in Spanish 4 in 9th grade. Next year he could take AP Spanish language or Spanish 5. Thinking maybe Spanish 5 is best, then AP lang. in 11th and then stopping. His school does offer AP Spanish literature too but I can’t imagine he’ll want to do that, even though it sounds like that would be most impressive to colleges. He has an extremely rigorous course load anyway (STEM focused) so likely this won’t matter too much if he has one AP Foreign language under his belt?

I think this is a great plan!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've hired an strategist of sorts who works at a different school than where DS goes and our strategist has been super helpful with helping us choose classes.

Bizarre you cannot do this yourself. We looked at things starting in 6th grade to make sure we could get in all the requirements as early as possible. It's really not hard to do.

I emailed the guidance counselor but they were only partially helpful. I also reached out to the teachers I knew who would respond and my child talked to some as well. You go on their student account and select what you want that fits within the graduation requirements.

Bizarre that you are doing this got a high schooler. Isn’t this up to the kid? Why are you emailing their teachers?!

You must work for mcps if you think a 14 or 15 year old should be left to choose their courses without input from anyone.

Were you not a 14/15 year old before? Did you really have your parents determining what you did? I certainly didn’t. Neither did anyone I know. What has changed?

I did. My mom was involved with everything, even in college. My mom even picked the colleges to apply to. Every family is different. So, nothing changed in our family.

Absolutely horrific. Does she still control your life? You know your role as a parent is to help your child move toward independence.

I did not care. Nor does my child. I am extremely independent because if the support and guidance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP here. Thanks for the perspective. On the foreign language recommendation, what is preferable for college, maxing out at AP foreign language (even if it’s in 10th grade) or taking the same language for for years straight?

If your child hits AP in 10th grade, that’s totally fine! Colleges receive a school profile from each high school counselor with an overview of course offerings. They will be able to see that your child has taken advantage of every course offering in their language of study. If your school offers classes beyond AP (some schools have a 7 level post-AP class), I would encourage your child to take that class.

If you happen to have a kid who is genuinely excited about the language they’re learning and maxes out before 12th grade, consider dual enrollment, an in-school internship aiding in a lower level of the language class, language honors societies, SSL opportunities that allow them to practice the language, etc.

To whoever posted about language learning being a waste of time, I have lots of students who feel similarly. You’re absolutely entitled to your opinion! My personal opinion is that a translation app will never be able to capture the nuance of speaking a language like a fully fluent human. Regardless of my opinion, I always share the research on language learning with my students. Learning another language has so many cognitive benefits that will generally support their academic performance, so it really is worthwhile to take advantage of world language course offerings in high school.

Thanks - this is helpful. Kid is currently in Spanish 4 in 9th grade. Next year he could take AP Spanish language or Spanish 5. Thinking maybe Spanish 5 is best, then AP lang. in 11th and then stopping. His school does offer AP Spanish literature too but I can’t imagine he’ll want to do that, even though it sounds like that would be most impressive to colleges. He has an extremely rigorous course load anyway (STEM focused) so likely this won’t matter too much if he has one AP Foreign language under his belt?

This is our plan but we are considering stopping at Spanish 5 as other things interest them more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've hired an strategist of sorts who works at a different school than where DS goes and our strategist has been super helpful with helping us choose classes.

Bizarre you cannot do this yourself. We looked at things starting in 6th grade to make sure we could get in all the requirements as early as possible. It's really not hard to do.

I emailed the guidance counselor but they were only partially helpful. I also reached out to the teachers I knew who would respond and my child talked to some as well. You go on their student account and select what you want that fits within the graduation requirements.

Bizarre that you are doing this got a high schooler. Isn’t this up to the kid? Why are you emailing their teachers?!

You must work for mcps if you think a 14 or 15 year old should be left to choose their courses without input from anyone.

Were you not a 14/15 year old before? Did you really have your parents determining what you did? I certainly didn’t. Neither did anyone I know. What has changed?

I did. My mom was involved with everything, even in college. My mom even picked the colleges to apply to. Every family is different. So, nothing changed in our family.

Absolutely horrific. Does she still control your life? You know your role as a parent is to help your child move toward independence.

I did not care. Nor does my child. I am extremely independent because if the support and guidance.

I think you mean “despite” the “control and direction”. Your parents controlling your choices does not make you independent.