I don’t know the exact answer for your situation but I let (encouraged, in fact) DC drop down when his grade was a hard earned B all year and it was causing him stress (and I was stressed by proxy). He now has a very stable A in math and we are both happy. Not a stem kid as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the goal is ivy and t20, your DC needs to protect his gpa. A single B basically makes it impossible for any t20, while plenty of kids go to t20 non-stem major without Calc BC or even AB, but with a perfect record and matching ECs.

This. DMV parents are misguided. A non-stem major doesn’t require advanced math at all. The key is to maintain straight As and a niche story if ivy is the goal.

False. Ivy takes 4.0 gpa and maximum rigor-with many took linear algebra and multivariable junior year, and 1550+ high test scores. Even humanities.

Big nope. Absolutely untrue .

Absolutely true. DC’s friends at an ivy, all took either multi variable or linear algebra or both, and aced them in high school. Super common at ivies, feels like everyone

The question should be is which private school to move to. If your child has an A- and this is his first low grade, there is way too much grade inflation going on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the goal is ivy and t20, your DC needs to protect his gpa. A single B basically makes it impossible for any t20, while plenty of kids go to t20 non-stem major without Calc BC or even AB, but with a perfect record and matching ECs.

This. DMV parents are misguided. A non-stem major doesn’t require advanced math at all. The key is to maintain straight As and a niche story if ivy is the goal.

False. Ivy takes 4.0 gpa and maximum rigor-with many took linear algebra and multivariable junior year, and 1550+ high test scores. Even humanities.

Big nope. Absolutely untrue .

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the goal is ivy and t20, your DC needs to protect his gpa. A single B basically makes it impossible for any t20, while plenty of kids go to t20 non-stem major without Calc BC or even AB, but with a perfect record and matching ECs.

This. DMV parents are misguided. A non-stem major doesn’t require advanced math at all. The key is to maintain straight As and a niche story if ivy is the goal.

False. Ivy takes 4.0 gpa and maximum rigor-with many took linear algebra and multivariable junior year, and 1550+ high test scores. Even humanities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS (10th grade) has his first A- and he is fighting HARD for it. His grade should be lower but the teacher gives some freebies that raise grades if you put in the work. This is AP precalc. Previous plan was BC calc next year and now he is talking about taking AB instead. Obviously both would be AP so same grade bump. Likely humanities major. DH and I disagree on how to advise.

Does your child enjoy working hard to keep in math, or do they want to slow down?

How about AP Stat next year, plus precalc/cal review on the side, and then decide between AB and BC senior year?

AB + Stats is better than AB + BC. Stats is a whole course. BC is less than than half a course after AB

This. AB and BC are really meant to be alternatives, not a sequence.

AB is Calc 1, BC is Calc 2 at most colleges (differs if you are at a true quarter system). Many schools require AB to BC (I've lived in two of them). What happens when the sequence is required is that the "AB" portion of BC is a review for the first 3-4 weeks of school, and then they dive intensively into the new material. The school can do that, because they know 99% of the kids already had AB (and those that didn't are the ones 3-4 years ahead in math and probably taught themselves the AB portion over the summer as their parents required it).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS (10th grade) has his first A- and he is fighting HARD for it. His grade should be lower but the teacher gives some freebies that raise grades if you put in the work. This is AP precalc. Previous plan was BC calc next year and now he is talking about taking AB instead. Obviously both would be AP so same grade bump. Likely humanities major. DH and I disagree on how to advise.

Does your child enjoy working hard to keep in math, or do they want to slow down?

How about AP Stat next year, plus precalc/cal review on the side, and then decide between AB and BC senior year?

AB + Stats is better than AB + BC. Stats is a whole course. BC is less than than half a course after AB

And for a humanities major, all they need is 1 semester of Calc (AB) and some stats. Stats is much more useful than BC

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS (10th grade) has his first A- and he is fighting HARD for it. His grade should be lower but the teacher gives some freebies that raise grades if you put in the work. This is AP precalc. Previous plan was BC calc next year and now he is talking about taking AB instead. Obviously both would be AP so same grade bump. Likely humanities major. DH and I disagree on how to advise.

Does your child enjoy working hard to keep in math, or do they want to slow down?

How about AP Stat next year, plus precalc/cal review on the side, and then decide between AB and BC senior year?

AB + Stats is better than AB + BC. Stats is a whole course. BC is less than than half a course after AB

This. AB and BC are really meant to be alternatives, not a sequence.

Anonymous wrote:DS (10th grade) has his first A- and he is fighting HARD for it. His grade should be lower but the teacher gives some freebies that raise grades if you put in the work. This is AP precalc. Previous plan was BC calc next year and now he is talking about taking AB instead. Obviously both would be AP so same grade bump. Likely humanities major. DH and I disagree on how to advise.

Does your child enjoy working hard to keep in math, or do they want to slow down?

How about AP Stat next year, plus precalc/cal review on the side, and then decide between AB and BC senior year?

AB + Stats is better than AB + BC. Stats is a whole course. BC is less than than half a course after AB

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the goal is ivy and t20, your DC needs to protect his gpa. A single B basically makes it impossible for any t20, while plenty of kids go to t20 non-stem major without Calc BC or even AB, but with a perfect record and matching ECs.

This. DMV parents are misguided. A non-stem major doesn’t require advanced math at all. The key is to maintain straight As and a niche story if ivy is the goal.

The key is to cultivate extreme luck if ivy is the goal.

Anonymous wrote:If the goal is ivy and t20, your DC needs to protect his gpa. A single B basically makes it impossible for any t20, while plenty of kids go to t20 non-stem major without Calc BC or even AB, but with a perfect record and matching ECs.

This. DMV parents are misguided. A non-stem major doesn’t require advanced math at all. The key is to maintain straight As and a niche story if ivy is the goal.

Anonymous wrote:Poor children. The level of competition and pressure (real or perceived) is insane. An A- is not the end of the world, but it is important they know the material for midterm and later classes. It’s actually good they’re having this experience now so they can learn how to seek help and study if that’s a skill they haven’t mastered. That’s often the case for students who “don’t have to study.” Good luck!

But they have an A- because the teacher is giving extra points for completing assignements/etc. They have a B if you go based on test scores, which is what happens in a college course typically. So if they don't improve to an A/A- on tests, I'd have them go to AB and slow down and actually learn the material. It's not a race, especially with Math, where each level builds upon the previous one (typically). Taking AB in junior year is still 2 years ahead in Math. Plenty of rigor for anyone, especially a humanities major

Anonymous wrote:Poor children. The level of competition and pressure (real or perceived) is insane. An A- is not the end of the world, but it is important they know the material for midterm and later classes. It’s actually good they’re having this experience now so they can learn how to seek help and study if that’s a skill they haven’t mastered. That’s often the case for students who “don’t have to study.” Good luck!

Absolutely!

The parenting advice on this forum is atrocious and ultimately harmful to your kids. All this pressure only leads to anxiety, and ultimately: failure.

Stop putting so much pressure on your children! They will be fine.

Anonymous wrote:If the goal is ivy and t20, your DC needs to protect his gpa. A single B basically makes it impossible for any t20, while plenty of kids go to t20 non-stem major without Calc BC or even AB, but with a perfect record and matching ECs.

This.

If the goal is ivy and t20, your DC needs to protect his gpa. A single B basically makes it impossible for any t20, while plenty of kids go to t20 non-stem major without Calc BC or even AB, but with a perfect record and matching ECs.