How many AP classes does a "typical, academically advanced" student take in MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm hoping my 9th grader at BCC can only take 6 classes so one period can be a study hall. And very few APs. He loves life and has an intense extracurricular out of school; I'm sure there is a great college out there for him, and that it isn't an Ivy. More likely to find it if he is well rested!

Should I start a thread on how many study halls did "just an averae kid at BCC (yes, no W!) take?

My non-W school does not even offer a study hall option..They said he could be a teachers aid..maybe that ends up being the same thing.

My son's French 3 class has a teacher's aid who is a senior. The aid passes out a few papers and sits there. . .. another approach would be to take yoga every year so a built in physical break

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are all insane people. Literally insane. SLOW down. Enjoy life. Why push these kids?

I honestly don't know how to respond to your question. Looking back, my DD was not completely and totally bogged down by work. She went to bed at a normal time, hung out with her friends, and was a happy kid in high school. But she also took twelve APs, got all As, danced 6 hours a week, was in the marching band (another 10 hours a week), took flute lessons (and was 1st chair all-state), and still did not get into any Ivies. She goes to a wonderful school and Ivies were not the end all be all for us but it begs the question - what in god's name are they looking for??

She would have had to have been #1 nationally in flute and a composer or something plus a legacy.

test scores?

test scores can negatively affect a kid like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a magnet kid and the plan is 2 in 10th (NSL and Comp. Sci.) , 2 in 11th (Eng. Lang and World History) 2 in 12th (Eng. Literature and French). 6 might not sound like a lot for an advanced kid but he is in a demanding program and I don't want to add to the stress.

Same here. Technical magnet.
Plan is 1 in 9th (NSL)
2 in 10th (Geography, Econ)
2 in 11 (Chemistry, Calc)
2 in 12th (Physics, English)

The problem is that for technical kid there is nothing else that university would count. No need to overload with Psychology, History, Biology, etc. No need in so many Humanities for Engineering major.
Child would take different Foreign in college (not available in school), CS and Statistics are not counted by universities.
So really in our case 7 is max.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a magnet kid and the plan is 2 in 10th (NSL and Comp. Sci.) , 2 in 11th (Eng. Lang and World History) 2 in 12th (Eng. Literature and French). 6 might not sound like a lot for an advanced kid but he is in a demanding program and I don't want to add to the stress.

Same here. Technical magnet.
Plan is 1 in 9th (NSL)
2 in 10th (Geography, Econ)
2 in 11 (Chemistry, Calc)
2 in 12th (Physics, English)

The problem is that for technical kid there is nothing else that university would count. No need to overload with Psychology, History, Biology, etc. No need in so many Humanities for Engineering major.
Child would take different Foreign in college (not available in school), CS and Statistics are not counted by universities.
So really in our case 7 is max.

It could get him out of general education requirements at some schools, though this likely depends on the policies of the specific universities likely to be on his list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a magnet kid and the plan is 2 in 10th (NSL and Comp. Sci.) , 2 in 11th (Eng. Lang and World History) 2 in 12th (Eng. Literature and French). 6 might not sound like a lot for an advanced kid but he is in a demanding program and I don't want to add to the stress.

Same here. Technical magnet.
Plan is 1 in 9th (NSL)
2 in 10th (Geography, Econ)
2 in 11 (Chemistry, Calc)
2 in 12th (Physics, English)

The problem is that for technical kid there is nothing else that university would count. No need to overload with Psychology, History, Biology, etc. No need in so many Humanities for Engineering major.
Child would take different Foreign in college (not available in school), CS and Statistics are not counted by universities.
So really in our case 7 is max.

It could get him out of general education requirements at some schools, though this likely depends on the policies of the specific universities likely to be on his list.

General education are 2 English (only one can be done in school), Government + Geography (or History but not both) +2 Econ + Foreign. There are no more general things, none.
All other courses just waste of time and energy for nothing...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a magnet kid and the plan is 2 in 10th (NSL and Comp. Sci.) , 2 in 11th (Eng. Lang and World History) 2 in 12th (Eng. Literature and French). 6 might not sound like a lot for an advanced kid but he is in a demanding program and I don't want to add to the stress.

Same here. Technical magnet.
Plan is 1 in 9th (NSL)
2 in 10th (Geography, Econ)
2 in 11 (Chemistry, Calc)
2 in 12th (Physics, English)

The problem is that for technical kid there is nothing else that university would count. No need to overload with Psychology, History, Biology, etc. No need in so many Humanities for Engineering major.
Child would take different Foreign in college (not available in school), CS and Statistics are not counted by universities.
So really in our case 7 is max.

It could get him out of general education requirements at some schools, though this likely depends on the policies of the specific universities likely to be on his list.

General education are 2 English (only one can be done in school), Government + Geography (or History but not both) +2 Econ + Foreign. There are no more general things, none.
All other courses just waste of time and energy for nothing...

His prospective college doesn't have any general education requirements other than that? At most universities, regardless of a student's major they must take some history, psychology, etc.

[Anonymous]

A lot of students take AP courses not for the college credits but as a signalling device to let colleges know that they are high achieving. I have seen students who want to get in the STEM fields taking a lot of lanugage and humanities APs. They want to show that they are well rounded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are all insane people. Literally insane. SLOW down. Enjoy life. Why push these kids?

NP here. It irritates me when people say this. Why assume that kids are pushed? Why not assume kids are genuinely interested in certain topics and relish the challenge? Because that's how it is for many. We need to encourage intellectual curiosity instead of having this pervasive and insidious bent against it.

I totally disagree with this.
To do well in AP classes, a student must cram

[Anonymous]

Our 12th grader is a typical B student -- advanced in some areas and quite average in others. She will have taken 4 APs by the time she graduates, 2 in 11th grade and 2 in 12th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are all insane people. Literally insane. SLOW down. Enjoy life. Why push these kids?

NP here. It irritates me when people say this. Why assume that kids are pushed? Why not assume kids are genuinely interested in certain topics and relish the challenge? Because that's how it is for many. We need to encourage intellectual curiosity instead of having this pervasive and insidious bent against it.

I totally disagree with this.
To do well in AP classes, a student must cram

Then maybe AP classes are simply a symptom of the problem. We need people who know how to think, not just memorize and regurgitate isolated meaningless facts. The only redeeming part of AP courses & exams is the written essay portion.

[Anonymous]

the AP obsession is the fault of the idiot reporter Jay Matthews and his stupid challenge index

Colleges hate AP classes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the AP obsession is the fault of the idiot reporter Jay Matthews and his stupid challenge index

Colleges hate AP classes

THIS. They also hate the entitled, Stepford-type graduates that are being churned out of every suburban American high school. Encourage your youngster to pursue a real passion of some kind (writing, music, art, robotics, rugby). An impossibly long list of student honors, offices and fake extracurriculars won't impress anyone on an Ivy admissions board these days. A kid who has actually pursued a passion in one or possibly two areas is much more likely to draw interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the AP obsession is the fault of the idiot reporter Jay Matthews and his stupid challenge index

Colleges hate AP classes

THIS. They also hate the entitled, Stepford-type graduates that are being churned out of every suburban American high school. Encourage your youngster to pursue a real passion of some kind (writing, music, art, robotics, rugby). An impossibly long list of student honors, offices and fake extracurricular won't impress anyone on an Ivy admissions board these days. A kid who has actually pursued a passion in one or possibly two areas is much more likely to draw interest.

Exactly! True for most people.

For the Asians - keep working hard because stellar performance in 2 areas of interest means nothing in this country if you are Asian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the AP obsession is the fault of the idiot reporter Jay Matthews and his stupid challenge index

Colleges hate AP classes

THIS. They also hate the entitled, Stepford-type graduates that are being churned out of every suburban American high school. Encourage your youngster to pursue a real passion of some kind (writing, music, art, robotics, rugby). An impossibly long list of student honors, offices and fake extracurricular won't impress anyone on an Ivy admissions board these days. A kid who has actually pursued a passion in one or possibly two areas is much more likely to draw interest.

Exactly! True for most people.

For the Asians - keep working hard because stellar performance in 2 areas of interest means nothing in this country if you are Asian.

Yes, exactly!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the AP obsession is the fault of the idiot reporter Jay Matthews and his stupid challenge index

Colleges hate AP classes

THIS. They also hate the entitled, Stepford-type graduates that are being churned out of every suburban American high school. Encourage your youngster to pursue a real passion of some kind (writing, music, art, robotics, rugby). An impossibly long list of student honors, offices and fake extracurriculars won't impress anyone on an Ivy admissions board these days. A kid who has actually pursued a passion in one or possibly two areas is much more likely to draw interest.

I equally hate the "passion" rhetoric. A lot of people don't find what they are "passionate" about as a child. Either that, or we're watering down what "a passion" is.