Anonymous wrote:HS son graduated 2013
8th grade Honors Geometry
9th grade Honors Algebra 2
10th Grade Pre Calc
AP NSL
AP Music Theory
11th Grade AP Calc AB
AP Modern World History
AP English Comp
AP Art Studio (photography)
12th Grade AP Calc BC
AP Psych
AP English Lit
total of 9. Very easily done- not a lot of homework in the AP math- no more so than a regular math class. Also true of English AP's- you have to read the books and write the essays anyway, you might as well get credit for it. The killer for homework was the history class, but it was at most 3-5 hours a week. Notice there were no hard sciences. I have heard those are the worst.
Son scored 1950 on the SAT's and 31 on the ACT (one sitting each.) He got into VA Tech engineering, College Park business (limited enrollment) and scholars (lower than honors) and got in state tuition at U of South Carolina. Full ride at Towson including books and housing fees.
He had what I consider to be mediocre grades. 3.3 unweighted GPA, 4.0 weighted. Most non AP's were honors classes. Very heavy in after school activities. Middle of the road teacher reccs and essays. He only went 1/2 a day senior year and took two classes at MC. His AP scores were middle of the road as well (all 3-4, no 5) and he entered as a freshman with 36 credits.
If you are not shooting for an IVY or a top 20 school it's not as bad as people make it out to be. Many, many kids are starting with community college. That opens the slots for other kids.
Apply early.
Be aware that it's better to take obscure classes and the basics, like music theory, photography, the math, the history and the english- and NOT science, as many kids who do the sciences are interested in science but most universities do not offer AP credits for the science classes. They want the science for science majors to be taught at the college level. Most schools do give credit for the arts, english, math and history.
Hope that helps. Good luck and enjoy your kids high school years- it flies by fast!
Thanks for the details! Great to hear about the possibility of full rides. I would love to know what high school your DC graduated from.