Reply to Math at MC

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Math at MC"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kid will need to go to MC next year for their math class.  Just not enough kids at our school to offer a higher level math.  He has no desire to take a math filler class just to meet the MCPS graduation requirements.  So now I'm considering full time dual enrollment because a 4 credit math class at MC just does not work nicely with a HS schedule.

But on the college forum people say that for a T20 school, to show rigor, you need to show AP classes.  He can take all the "AP" level classes at MC and have 4 or 5 classes rather than 7.  Kid is currently in 10th grade so will need MC math for 2 years.  School offers humanities AP classes, just not the STEM ones.  I know it sounds silly but could he take the classes at MC and then go back to the HS and sit for the AP exams?[/quote]

To show rigor, your kids need to take the hardest available course in their school. So if there’s no magnet or other special programs in your DC’s school, dual enrollment at MC is considered hardest available. That doesn’t conflict with taking other AP classes (e.g., in ELA or social study or arts, etc).[/quote]

It doesn't in the sense that they could take AP Lang at the HS.  However, transportation and logistically, it becomes a bit of an issue trying to match the times AP Lang is offered at the HS with the times MV/DE is offered at MC.  And of course colleges don't always offer classes at the same day/time each semester.  It's not that he can't take AP humanities at the HS; it's just logistically really challenging.  He also doesn't have his license yet which adds another layer of complexity.  MCPS offers bus transportation but it's at set times so again, it's not that it can't be done, but on a practical level, it's challenging.

Another PP suggested looking at online offerings.  That maybe a solid option.  [/quote]

People have all kinds of opinions about DE vs AP, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with having 20 DE classes on your college app including writing, history, etc. That is still more in total than you are likely to do as AP’s at your HS. I think colleges understand that these types of program require tradeoffs. You get farther in math but you do it with DE humanities instead of APs.

[/quote]

Thank you for this.  You hit the nail on the head.  It's the tradeoffs.  He's much more a STEM kid.  At MC, he could take Waves and Optics,  Organic Chem, Logic---those are the classes that excite him.  Modern World History sounds like a painful slog to him :)[/quote]

This may be where I burst your bubble. Early college is cohorted so you don’t get to choose your classes. For my math kid they got to choose two electives for spring of senior year, but that was all. And the options were limited to where they had met the pre-requisites.

I don’t know how it is with other majors but I’d encourage you to have a very realistic view of how much exploration of passions, beyond their major in general, will be part of their program. Even the science is preselected, so while DD would have preferred Physics she is chugging away in Chemistry instead.

As an alternative to early college I believe MCPS will pay for two DE per term which you can choose. But beyond that I think you have to pay (I assume paying yourself is permitted and the credits go on the transcript but it is not something I’ve asked about).
[/quote]

I can't thank you enough for this.  It is very helpful.  From the MCPS/MC sites, I didn't understand that the programs of study were cohort.  I suppose it's nice since there is a group of HS kids all going through the program together.  But you're right--it does limit any exploration of other interests.  The online option is looking better and better.[/quote]

Yes, I agree the cohort element is both the magic and the drawback of the program.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics