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So a ton of crap has happened in the time of my requested tempban...my studying didn't work very well.
BUT I'M FUCKING RAGING HOLY SHIT THIS IS RIDICULOUS
AP Euro was Friday in the afternoon, and on the multiple choice section, our proctor gave us 5 minutes too few (people brought watches and were timing themselves), and when she called time, literally half the room stood up and started raging and cursing so much that the overall AP coordinator or whatever had to come see what the commotion was...but the proctor told the coordinator that nothing had happened and we continued onto the free response section.
Guess what? She accidentally gave us 10 extra minutes, and because no one wanted to figure out whether or not the proctor had correctly written the time on the board (which, by the way, she neglected to do until about 10+ minutes into the test both times). Anyway, she didn't write the correct time, and it took until the final 15 minutes of the free response for her to say that she had mad a mistake and we had ~5 minutes left, whereupon everyone's pace was completely destroyed, and everyone was already on tilt from the MC failure.
So that was euro.
AP French is tomorrow, and I'm not particularly well-prepared...whatever. I'll probably bomb it...defeatism for the loss. I also sucked on the SAT II French subject test.
Anyway, now to what's really been pissing me off: my schedule (or what remains of it).
Having satisfied the fine arts requisite (band frosh year), physical education (frosh year, one semester=one season of independent PE with the track team this year, going to do it again next year), and language (skipped french 2 and honors 4), I wanted to take a third science, added onto AP Physics B and AP Chem. I've decided to skip Calc AB and go directly to BC, so AP Stat is saved for my senior year so that I have a math class at school.
When it came time for schedule choices, I thus signed up for 1: Honors Eng (no AP lang offered at my school), 2: APUSH, 3: AP Calc BC, 4: AP Physics B (no C offered so I was going to take that online or something), 5: AP chem, and 6: APES (environmental science; taken as a filler since I have nothing else really to take). Immediately after I turned it in and the counselors went around looking at our schedules, literally all six or so of the school counselors threw a hissy-fit at me, telling me I couldn't take three ap sciences while forming a menacing semicircle of death..... Eventually, I talked to the principal and managed to at least get my schedule request accepted.
...but now, about two months or so later, I was called into the counselor's office and told that I absolutely cannot take three sciences, and that I was dropped from AP chem. I actually would have been okay with having two sciences, granted that they were physics and chem, but I literally got punished for wanting to do more, so now I HAVE TO TAKE physics and apes, or nothing at all.
Fuck I am pissed off.
So I was wondering: is there anything at all I can do? Recommendations for any courses of action?
tl;dr: AP failure, SAT II failure, school says I cannot take 3 sciences and drops my "second" science in favor of my "third" (aka filler) science, what can I do?
Thanks, everyone! Fuck my school...it's been shifting more and more and more towards a "minimum pass" stance versus having a moderate number of people excel...they're spending extreme effort on getting everyone to scrape a passing on the CAHSEE (california exit exam) and STAR test (general standardized california test), but couldn't care less about APs, SATs, extracurriculars outside of sports, etc. The faculty seem to be telling me that they wouldn't mind if everyone passed but went to some crappy community college--as long as everyone at least passed. Christ.
 
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Sue them.
Sue them so hard the money they get from the government flies out of their butts (along with their policies) and into your wallet (after being thoroughly cleaned by a brigade of magic elves)
In all seriousness though this is something you should go straight over their heads with. Talk to the highest-up person you think you can get away with, but also consider this:
Maybe you're overworking yourself?
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Kind of hilarious to see what a high schooler considers worthy of rage. It's almost as if you believe life works out the way people say it should. All I can say is school is retardedly easy and not a single thing in K-12 is worthy of stress. If you are actually getting your panties in a knot over anything concerning lower level education, I feel sorry for you. Your twenties and thirties are going to be extremely stressful.
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Was there any explanation given as to why you can't take 3 science classes?
If not, you can probably demand some sort of explanation from the counselor(s) and/or take it up with the principal. Or maybe you can get your parents to call them if they won't listen to you.
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Just took the AP Physics C test today.... horribly dusty room + allergies 
It really sucks that you can't take all 3 sciences... is it a scheduling impossibility or just some esoteric nonsense? You should try to get your parents to talk to the school (and if they cant schedule 3 sciences, then at least have your parents bargain with the school to get you back into AP Chem).
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On May 10 2011 08:29 Kaonis wrote:
Sue them.
Sue them so hard the money they get from the government flies out of their butts (along with their policies) and into your wallet (after being thoroughly cleaned by a brigade of magic elves)
In all seriousness though this is something you should go straight over their heads with. Talk to the highest-up person you think you can get away with, but also consider this:
Maybe you're overworking yourself?
It's definitely a distinct possibility that I'll put too much on my plate, but I think I can handle it, and at the same time, there really is no other class I can take. (not to mention I actually want to take chem over environmental science...not that I don't like apes, but chem is definitely the "essential" class)
I've finished art, I've finished physical education, and I've finished language.
The only reason I screwed myself over by taking AP french this is that I planned to take three sciences or some equivalent in utility. Otherwise, I would have taken honors this year and AP next year, and would have easily gotten away with a 5, etc.
On May 10 2011 08:32 StorkHwaiting wrote:
Kind of hilarious to see what a high schooler considers worthy of rage. It's almost as if you believe life works out the way people say it should. All I can say is school is retardedly easy and not a single thing in K-12 is worthy of stress. If you are actually getting your panties in a knot over anything concerning lower level education, I feel sorry for you. Your twenties and thirties are going to be extremely stressful.
Well, while it's somewhat implied, I'm not just raging that life isn't working out as it should like a spoiled brat (which I suppose I also am implying). School is mostly retardedly easy, yes, but it will not be retardedly easy if I have to take not only 5 APs and an honors class after skipping calc AB but also AP Chem and Physics C outside of class online or at a community college. I'm just extremely annoyed these classes, which are essential to remain competitive when I eventually will be competing with others class- and knowledge-wise for college entrance.
I want to take it because I am interested in chemistry, not because I want people to think I'm cool or intelligent. I do want to learn chem at this level, and while AP may be easy compared to college-level ochem or whatnot, I still wish to take this class, and have no other classes with which I can fill this gap in my education.
On May 10 2011 08:32 PJA wrote:
Was there any explanation given as to why you can't take 3 science classes?
If not, you can probably demand some sort of explanation from the counselor(s) and/or take it up with the principal. Or maybe you can get your parents to call them if they won't listen to you.
The explanation is that there is no space, and that it is unfair for those who wish to take chem in their senior year--except no seniors (fact, not hyperbole) take AP chem at our school.
I'm pretty sure that they want to trim the class down as much as possible (there is only one because our school does not have enough teachers/funding etc. I can only assume) and thus are forbidding me from taking AP chem. The parents idea seems worth a try, though my parents both do not speak English particularly well.
On May 10 2011 08:34 synapse wrote:Just took the AP Physics C test today.... horribly dusty room + allergies It really sucks that you can't take all 3 sciences... is it a scheduling impossibility or just some esoteric nonsense? You should try to get your parents to talk to the school (and if they cant schedule 3 sciences, then at least have your parents bargain with the school to get you back into AP Chem).
Ah okay...it seems to be a scheduling issue, but as far as I know, there is no direct conflict between class slots, only that they want to kick as many people as they can out of AP chem. Several other students who told me they managed to intimidate and/or talk their counselors into letting them take the class.
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On May 10 2011 08:32 StorkHwaiting wrote:
Kind of hilarious to see what a high schooler considers worthy of rage. It's almost as if you believe life works out the way people say it should. All I can say is school is retardedly easy and not a single thing in K-12 is worthy of stress. If you are actually getting your panties in a knot over anything concerning lower level education, I feel sorry for you. Your twenties and thirties are going to be extremely stressful.
Fuck that, high school is a mediocre part of life at best.
Plus, do you really want to tolerate people who are not allowing him to take more AP classes for no apparent reason? He's basically being forced to take some mind-numbingly stupid and boring class rather than AP chem for no reason whatsoever. I guess if you put up with people just saying no to you and giving no reason, then just complacently accepting it, then sure, he's being whiny over nothing.
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United States24666 Posts
On May 10 2011 08:32 StorkHwaiting wrote:
Kind of hilarious to see what a high schooler considers worthy of rage. It's almost as if you believe life works out the way people say it should. All I can say is school is retardedly easy and not a single thing in K-12 is worthy of stress. If you are actually getting your panties in a knot over anything concerning lower level education, I feel sorry for you. Your twenties and thirties are going to be extremely stressful.
OP I suggest you ignore this advice...
Certainly getting upset doesn't help but don't let people tell you your life is going to be a certain way after high school because of how you feel in this situation.
edit: are they still offering ap chem? Ask why they can't let you switch from envi sci into chem? I actually think that physics and chem would be brutal but assuming you still want to do it then yes, get your parents/guardians involved immediately.... they always have more pull than students.
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I've told you this before and I'll tell you again: if you're skipping AB, and taking 3 sciences, I would recommend you not take chem or physics. You can't really stop the school from doing what they are doing, but I would talk to them. From their point of view they want kids to be able to get their one science course, and they would rather have somebody not get their third than not get their first.
And btw, the issue is chem is full (even discussed it with my counselor) AP Chemistry is currently full, and they won't make multiple classes, because they would need 50+ Right now I think they have 43 signed up, and seating for 38. So they dropped those with three sciences.
APES however has two classes of around 33. (same teacher) So they can fit another 5 per class. hence it's not a problem to shove him in there.
Although if you believe my mom's friend who is a college counselor, once you get to the point of 3 science courses, extracurriculars are mainly at play.
Although parents could get involved, my main thought on the matter is that administration will stand by the decision. Although it's possible he could take chem if people drop, I don't think those are compatible in any case.
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Fight till your schedule gets approved. I had to do something similar for my junior year (8 classes plus 2 per semester at community college=9 classes per day, cc classes alternated, 7 APs) but I slipped by because I had a 4.0.
You just gotta keep going after it, get your parents involved if you have to
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I had high school councilors pull that bullshit on me lol. I went to the principals and threw a fit, I went to the district administrations and threw a fit, I sent my parents to the school board meeting, and generally made such a huge commotion about it they were just like-- fine whatever. It helps if you can hammer them over the head with statements of support from past science teachers, and proof of your academic abilities that they can't argue with.
If you think you can handle it, do it. Just make sure you are truly confident in your abilities, because otherwise no one will feel sorry for you when you are struggling. If they still won't let you take the class, don't worry about it. It's not difficult to study for AP tests on your own and do well. Talk to the teachers of the classes you are not in and ask if you can somehow do the experiments for the class after school, or work with a group in the class (presumably you know some of the students) so that you are familiar with their lab work.
Then when you get a 5 on the test you can tell your counselors how shitty they are and blast the school for impeding education. (If you're really pissed about it, it's very satisfying.)
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On May 10 2011 08:39 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On May 10 2011 08:32 StorkHwaiting wrote:
Kind of hilarious to see what a high schooler considers worthy of rage. It's almost as if you believe life works out the way people say it should. All I can say is school is retardedly easy and not a single thing in K-12 is worthy of stress. If you are actually getting your panties in a knot over anything concerning lower level education, I feel sorry for you. Your twenties and thirties are going to be extremely stressful. OP I suggest you ignore this advice... Certainly getting upset doesn't help but don't let people tell you your life is going to be a certain way after high school because of how you feel in this situation. edit: are they still offering ap chem? Ask why they can't let you switch from envi sci into chem? I actually think that physics and chem would be brutal but assuming you still want to do it then yes, get your parents/guardians involved immediately.... they always have more pull than students.
Okay, sounds good. For now, it seems that the general consensus is to pursue the issue myself and also get my parents to talk to the school, though as far as I can see, the school seems somewhat inflexible towards me, and my parents likely won't even be able to talk to anyone who might help--the language barrier cannot help, either
On May 10 2011 08:41 Froadac wrote:
I've told you this before and I'll tell you again: if you're skipping AB, and taking 3 sciences, I would recommend you not take chem or physics. You can't really stop the school from doing what they are doing, but I would talk to them. From their point of view they want kids to be able to get their one science course, and they would rather have somebody not get their third than not get their first.
And btw, the issue is chem is full (even discussed it with my counselor) AP Chemistry is currently full, and they won't make multiple classes, because they would need 50+ Right now I think they have 43 signed up, and seating for 38. So they dropped those with three sciences.
APES however has two classes of around 33. (same teacher) So they can fit another 5 per class. hence it's not a problem to shove him in there.
Although if you believe my mom's friend who is a college counselor, once you get to the point of 3 science courses, extracurriculars are mainly at play.
Although parents could get involved, my main thought on the matter is that administration will stand by the decision. Although it's possible he could take chem if people drop, I don't think those are compatible in any case.
I guess there's nothing I can do about it if there is only space for 38, then...my counselor told me I cannot exchange apes for chem, which is a massive issue, as if I were to exchange them, I wouldn't have 3 science classes. I'll think about it and consider it a bit more...apes is an "easy" class according to everyone with whom I've spoken (those who have taken the class, that is), though.
On May 10 2011 08:43 wherebugsgo wrote:
Fight till your schedule gets approved. I had to do something similar for my junior year (8 classes plus 2 per semester at community college=9 classes per day, cc classes alternated, 7 APs) but I slipped by because I had a 4.0.
You just gotta keep going after it, get your parents involved if you have to
All right, got it. I'm not sure how much my school cares--I also have a 4.0 unweighted GPA (4.66 weighted and 4.57 when I had a nonweighted extra period), but I think my counselors are aware of it and couldn't care less...
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Well, at this point I'm just worried that my AP scores will influence their negatively come next year -___-
Liberal arts aren't exactly my strong point, though I could and should have studied more for a 5 in euro/french This schedule trainwreck isn't helping me prepare or boosting my mindset for the AP French test tomorrow, either. ;__;
Anyway, thanks for the help, everyone! I got all of that rage out of my system, and I know what I'll do for now. It just felt as if I could hear my future collapsing around me as my counselor said that I can't take chem...because I really will have to take something like computers 1... (herp derp MS office 2007)
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lol @ high school, try writing 35 pages over the course of a week
plus you have a 4.0 but are stressed over nothing, get some perspective
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United States24666 Posts
On May 10 2011 08:59 rift wrote:
lol @ high school, try writing 35 pages over the course of a week
lol at people making dumb posts that don't help
Are you so insecure that you need to make a post like that in this thread? (btw I'm up to 47 pages this week looool; work full time also btw)
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On May 10 2011 08:59 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On May 10 2011 08:59 rift wrote:
lol @ high school, try writing 35 pages over the course of a week lol at people making dumb posts that don't help Are you so insecure that you need to make a post like that in this thread?
there's nothing to help, it's basically a venting blog 
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United States24666 Posts
On May 10 2011 09:01 rift wrote:Show nested quote +On May 10 2011 08:59 micronesia wrote:On May 10 2011 08:59 rift wrote:
lol @ high school, try writing 35 pages over the course of a week lol at people making dumb posts that don't help Are you so insecure that you need to make a post like that in this thread? there's nothing to help
Then don't post.
There is something to help though. We can A) offer him advice; B) give him perspective in a more respectful manner; C) discuss various issues... it's not like high school legitimately doesn't matter at all... if you believe this you are deluding yourself.
And again if you don't agree then there's just no reason for you to post.
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On May 10 2011 09:02 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On May 10 2011 09:01 rift wrote:On May 10 2011 08:59 micronesia wrote:On May 10 2011 08:59 rift wrote:
lol @ high school, try writing 35 pages over the course of a week lol at people making dumb posts that don't help Are you so insecure that you need to make a post like that in this thread? there's nothing to help Then don't post. There is something to help though. We can A) offer him advice; B) give him perspective in a more respectful manner; C) discuss various issues... it's not like high school legitimately doesn't matter at all... if you believe this you are deluding yourself. And again if you don't agree then there's just no reason for you to post.
Right, thanks for the perspective, objectivity, and advice! 
Time to study :S
Well, for language I suppose it's more like it's time to get "in the zone" in terms of French, i.e. get into a mindset for French.
=,,,_,,,=
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OK op i will help you. You may possibly get less than desirable test scores; this is now in the past and cannot be changed, so forget about it. Part II: your inability to take 3 science classes is also out of your control, so don't worry about it, environ sci is chill and makes your schedule ezier. In sum, relax and play some bw.
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The high school pretty much never got my schedule right. They had a weird priority system. One year I wanted to take a bunch of AP classes, but since some of the schedules conflicted with the "advanced" classes (lol advanced) they decided to give the "advanced" class the higher priority. I was like no, I'll take a regular english and get all the aps, thanks.
Pretty much had to do something like that every semester. They wouldn't let you know your schedule until the 1st day of class, so you'd never know if there was a conflict until the semester already began. And then they'd try to have this bogus policy where you couldn't change your schedule after the semester began.... it was a headache.
Honestly I bet american high schools would do so much better if they'd just adopt the college system of scheduling. You pick the class and the time and make the schedule fit yourself, after being advised by a counselor. This makes sense. The high school way: Tell them what classes you'd "like" to take, then they make the schedule at the last fucking minute right before the first day of school, and say "lol woops we couldn't fit all ur classes in so we decided for you what classes to drop and which ones to add"
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Hey man I just wanted to say that as someone who has sort of been there, that is the basic procedure. My high school also said you could only take 3 AP sciences but they didn't do bullshit with making me drop.
What you should do is not worry to much about it. I ended up just forgetting about all that and taking AP Bio and it still helped a ton. Just realize that any class you are taking now is saving you a crapload of work in the future. From personal experience, it really helped to come into college with hours. I was able to go light on some semesters and avoid the premed weed out classes. Usually the first real chem class is super hard and curved to discourage people who aren't really ready to dedicate. Knowing you escaped at least a few of those is more than enough. You will be fine in the end, but it is really bull crap what happened on your test.
If you think the proctoring effected your results you should see if there is a way to contact the testing agency. They take that kind of thing really seriously, I know I never had a problem during my AP tests but I have heard other crazy stuff to. Good luck, man and don't worry too much you are already way ahead of the curve.
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Finished my last AP test today. Took 4 this year. Sooooo glad I'm a senior and that I'm done with this bullshit :D
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For whatever its worth I can assure you whether or not you take ap Chem as a junior will have absolutely no impact on your college admissions. It's really not a big deal whether you take it now or in college as long you're taking some sort of ap science. Your time would probably be better spent reading or keeping a journal as ( and I realize this may be an unfair assumption) the essay is usually what makes or breaks kids like you at top tier universities.
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I don't know how life works out in California, but I was able to take concurrent enrollment (took classes in High School and College courses at the same time). I was able to make it to a second semester sophomore outside of high school doing this, so it might be worth a shot if there's anything similar where you are at.
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In short I'd talk to administration/counseling and make DAMN SURE what I understand is correct. I think that's the best course of action.
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Wow in my school its quite common to take 4,5, or even 6 AP classes. I feel really bad for you Z3kk...
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On May 10 2011 12:09 vectorix108 wrote:
Wow in my school its quite common to take 4,5, or even 6 AP classes. I feel really bad for you Z3kk...
He's taking like 5 APs. Just not the 3 sciences.
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On May 10 2011 09:44 n.DieJokes wrote:
For whatever its worth I can assure you whether or not you take ap Chem as a junior will have absolutely no impact on your college admissions. It's really not a big deal whether you take it now or in college as long you're taking some sort of ap science. Your time would probably be better spent reading or keeping a journal as ( and I realize this may be an unfair assumption) the essay is usually what makes or breaks kids like you at top tier universities.
Actually, it has a huge impact, lol...particularly AFTER you get accepted.
For example, I could potentially save thousands of dollars by graduating a year early, because I entered with so many AP and CC credits that I was classified as a junior upon entrance.
I also get priority scheduling for my sophomore year because my class standing is as a senior...lol. I realized this when my phase I scheduling was like four weeks before all of my friends, so I got to pick classes that normally I couldn't because they just fill up to the brim and you get put on the waitlist.
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On May 10 2011 18:17 wherebugsgo wrote:Show nested quote +On May 10 2011 09:44 n.DieJokes wrote:
For whatever its worth I can assure you whether or not you take ap Chem as a junior will have absolutely no impact on your college admissions. It's really not a big deal whether you take it now or in college as long you're taking some sort of ap science. Your time would probably be better spent reading or keeping a journal as ( and I realize this may be an unfair assumption) the essay is usually what makes or breaks kids like you at top tier universities. Actually, it has a huge impact, lol...particularly AFTER you get accepted. For example, I could potentially save thousands of dollars by graduating a year early, because I entered with so many AP and CC credits that I was classified as a junior upon entrance. I also get priority scheduling for my sophomore year because my class standing is as a senior...lol. I realized this when my phase I scheduling was like four weeks before all of my friends, so I got to pick classes that normally I couldn't because they just fill up to the brim and you get put on the waitlist.
Not all colleges do that though. In High School, I was lead to believe that me taking AP Chemistry, AP Calculus and a bunch of other courses meant I could skip AP Calc and AP Chem in college all together. Boy was that a load of horse shit. All that taking AP classes did for me was give me credits and that's it. I still had to take the classes in college to fulfill my major requirement, even though I already had the credits. Same thing happened to some friends and family as well. Personally, I don't think taking the classes was worth just being able to get my schedule done 2 weeks earlier than friends.
On May 10 2011 09:24 shinosai wrote:
Honestly I bet american high schools would do so much better if they'd just adopt the college system of scheduling. You pick the class and the time and make the schedule fit yourself, after being advised by a counselor. This makes sense. The high school way: Tell them what classes you'd "like" to take, then they make the schedule at the last fucking minute right before the first day of school, and say "lol woops we couldn't fit all ur classes in so we decided for you what classes to drop and which ones to add"
I wish the school system for both college and High school was like this. High School was a load of bullshit. I took 2-3 courses every year that I actually liked and needed for my future major. The rest were just bullshit that was used to take up my time.
In college, it's still the same bullshit. I have my Major courses and then I have all the other bullshit General Education requirement courses. The general courses are stupid and a waste of my money and time. I don't want to be learning about 1800s literature when my major is Finance -.- That makes no sense.
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On May 10 2011 18:17 wherebugsgo wrote:Show nested quote +On May 10 2011 09:44 n.DieJokes wrote:
For whatever its worth I can assure you whether or not you take ap Chem as a junior will have absolutely no impact on your college admissions. It's really not a big deal whether you take it now or in college as long you're taking some sort of ap science. Your time would probably be better spent reading or keeping a journal as ( and I realize this may be an unfair assumption) the essay is usually what makes or breaks kids like you at top tier universities. Actually, it has a huge impact, lol...particularly AFTER you get accepted. For example, I could potentially save thousands of dollars by graduating a year early, because I entered with so many AP and CC credits that I was classified as a junior upon entrance. I also get priority scheduling for my sophomore year because my class standing is as a senior...lol. I realized this when my phase I scheduling was like four weeks before all of my friends, so I got to pick classes that normally I couldn't because they just fill up to the brim and you get put on the waitlist.
"On your college admissions" Admissions. Admissions. I'm also a freshman with sophomore credits, I know exactly how awesome AP credits are but he can take AP chem as a senior...
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Try to get into AP Chem if you can--APES is kind of the AP science for people that can't do science at my school. Chem is legit though. People say that physics + chem is hard, but honestly if you have a solid understanding of mathematics the physics is really easy and the chem is not too hard either.
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On May 10 2011 10:36 Froadac wrote:
In short I'd talk to administration/counseling and make DAMN SURE what I understand is correct. I think that's the best course of action.
Yeah, I'm going to do that. If I can't, then I'm probably going to throw the kitchen sink and talk to the district or whatever if I have to... I AT LEAST need to take chem. I'll let APES go only if I absolutely have to, and replace it with now-honors french lit or something...because assuming I have to only take 2 sciences, I cannot take any other AP science, have no interest in anatomy, no need for PE, no need for art credit, and everything else unweighted and/or terrible.
On May 11 2011 02:12 n.DieJokes wrote:Show nested quote +On May 10 2011 18:17 wherebugsgo wrote:On May 10 2011 09:44 n.DieJokes wrote:
For whatever its worth I can assure you whether or not you take ap Chem as a junior will have absolutely no impact on your college admissions. It's really not a big deal whether you take it now or in college as long you're taking some sort of ap science. Your time would probably be better spent reading or keeping a journal as ( and I realize this may be an unfair assumption) the essay is usually what makes or breaks kids like you at top tier universities. Actually, it has a huge impact, lol...particularly AFTER you get accepted. For example, I could potentially save thousands of dollars by graduating a year early, because I entered with so many AP and CC credits that I was classified as a junior upon entrance. I also get priority scheduling for my sophomore year because my class standing is as a senior...lol. I realized this when my phase I scheduling was like four weeks before all of my friends, so I got to pick classes that normally I couldn't because they just fill up to the brim and you get put on the waitlist. "On your college admissions" Admissions. Admissions. I'm also a freshman with sophomore credits, I know exactly how awesome AP credits are but he can take AP chem as a senior...
That was one of the reasons the counselor gave me, but I want to take SAT II subject test etc to show I have aptitude there if I can, maybe will do competitions, and also want to have the knowledge before senior year. I may or may not take physics C online concurrently next year because I want to take the physics olympiad next year...and I definitely do not want to take ap chem online...
On May 11 2011 02:32 xxpack09 wrote:
Try to get into AP Chem if you can--APES is kind of the AP science for people that can't do science at my school. Chem is legit though. People say that physics + chem is hard, but honestly if you have a solid understanding of mathematics the physics is really easy and the chem is not too hard either.
Right, I'll just leave APES if I absolutely have to, though having that would be optimal (I also was planning on taking ap psych junior year instead of APES, but class sizes were too small so I couldn't take that).
I'm just really pissed because I know someone who somehow managed to get a class this year that he wasn't "supposed to"...he applied for honors anatomy this year as a sophomore and apparently he intimidated his counselor into putting him in the class...even kicking out juniors in his favor.
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On May 11 2011 02:12 n.DieJokes wrote:Show nested quote +On May 10 2011 18:17 wherebugsgo wrote:On May 10 2011 09:44 n.DieJokes wrote:
For whatever its worth I can assure you whether or not you take ap Chem as a junior will have absolutely no impact on your college admissions. It's really not a big deal whether you take it now or in college as long you're taking some sort of ap science. Your time would probably be better spent reading or keeping a journal as ( and I realize this may be an unfair assumption) the essay is usually what makes or breaks kids like you at top tier universities. Actually, it has a huge impact, lol...particularly AFTER you get accepted. For example, I could potentially save thousands of dollars by graduating a year early, because I entered with so many AP and CC credits that I was classified as a junior upon entrance. I also get priority scheduling for my sophomore year because my class standing is as a senior...lol. I realized this when my phase I scheduling was like four weeks before all of my friends, so I got to pick classes that normally I couldn't because they just fill up to the brim and you get put on the waitlist. "On your college admissions" Admissions. Admissions. I'm also a freshman with sophomore credits, I know exactly how awesome AP credits are but he can take AP chem as a senior...
Of course it affects admissions.
Someone who took AP Chem instead of gym or heck, even APES, is a better admit than someone who didn't take AP Chem.
Rigor is a big part of your HS education. You can get a 4.0, be big on ECs and still be a completely worthless student because your HS schedule had no rigor.
As to the guy who said that you get credits for APs but you can't pass out of courses, that's false, at least at most non-Ivy, non-MIT/Stanford/Caltech schools. Here at UC Berkeley I skipped the entire undergrad math sequence and two out of three of the physics undergrad classes.
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On May 11 2011 14:07 wherebugsgo wrote:Show nested quote +On May 11 2011 02:12 n.DieJokes wrote:On May 10 2011 18:17 wherebugsgo wrote:On May 10 2011 09:44 n.DieJokes wrote:
For whatever its worth I can assure you whether or not you take ap Chem as a junior will have absolutely no impact on your college admissions. It's really not a big deal whether you take it now or in college as long you're taking some sort of ap science. Your time would probably be better spent reading or keeping a journal as ( and I realize this may be an unfair assumption) the essay is usually what makes or breaks kids like you at top tier universities. Actually, it has a huge impact, lol...particularly AFTER you get accepted. For example, I could potentially save thousands of dollars by graduating a year early, because I entered with so many AP and CC credits that I was classified as a junior upon entrance. I also get priority scheduling for my sophomore year because my class standing is as a senior...lol. I realized this when my phase I scheduling was like four weeks before all of my friends, so I got to pick classes that normally I couldn't because they just fill up to the brim and you get put on the waitlist. "On your college admissions" Admissions. Admissions. I'm also a freshman with sophomore credits, I know exactly how awesome AP credits are but he can take AP chem as a senior... Of course it affects admissions. Someone who took AP Chem instead of gym or heck, even APES, is a better admit than someone who didn't take AP Chem. Rigor is a big part of your HS education. You can get a 4.0, be big on ECs and still be a completely worthless student because your HS schedule had no rigor. As to the guy who said that you get credits for APs but you can't pass out of courses, that's false, at least at most non-Ivy, non-MIT/Stanford/Caltech schools. Here at UC Berkeley I skipped the entire undergrad math sequence and two out of three of the physics undergrad classes.
He's taking the maximum number of AP's and college courses on the side. You're right, rigor is very important but it doesn't apply in this situation, he is taking every possible course and then some. No admissions counselor on earth is going to look at his transcript and ding him for rigor because he pushed AP Chem back a year.
To the OP, why would you take SAT II in chem instead of Physics (which with prep is much easier to 800)? I assume you're also taking Math II and, idk, the history one at the end of the year (also pretty easy). You can't send more than three anyway (um, I think its been awhile). Yeah it sucks that some kids get special privilege but what can you do. Why don't you just start studying physics now?
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Have your parents raise hell with the school staff - there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to take 3 science classes. (AP Chem and AP ES are should not be stressful classes, by the way... AP ES is a joke and AP Chem is a 1 semester college course stretched over a whole year.)
It's not the end of the world if you can't take all 3, but you want to take them, and there's no reason in hell why a school staff should discourage its students from excelling. I'm totally with you on this issue. I would have been pissed as hell as well if my school ever told me that I couldn't handle the schedule I was signing up for.
I would guess that you can get them to concede if you and your parents are insistent enough about it. You probably will have to convince your parents to go in for you, and make sure that they present themselves as encouraging of your academic goals rather than presenting themselves as pushy Tiger Parents... just stress that it's really upsetting that the school is preventing you from achieving your fullest potential. Tell them that you can always just drop a course a few weeks into the year if it turns out to be too stressful for you to handle.
Good luck with everything. All of this AP credit will go a long way to making your life easier in college.
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On May 11 2011 14:53 n.DieJokes wrote:Show nested quote +On May 11 2011 14:07 wherebugsgo wrote:On May 11 2011 02:12 n.DieJokes wrote:On May 10 2011 18:17 wherebugsgo wrote:On May 10 2011 09:44 n.DieJokes wrote:
For whatever its worth I can assure you whether or not you take ap Chem as a junior will have absolutely no impact on your college admissions. It's really not a big deal whether you take it now or in college as long you're taking some sort of ap science. Your time would probably be better spent reading or keeping a journal as ( and I realize this may be an unfair assumption) the essay is usually what makes or breaks kids like you at top tier universities. Actually, it has a huge impact, lol...particularly AFTER you get accepted. For example, I could potentially save thousands of dollars by graduating a year early, because I entered with so many AP and CC credits that I was classified as a junior upon entrance. I also get priority scheduling for my sophomore year because my class standing is as a senior...lol. I realized this when my phase I scheduling was like four weeks before all of my friends, so I got to pick classes that normally I couldn't because they just fill up to the brim and you get put on the waitlist. "On your college admissions" Admissions. Admissions. I'm also a freshman with sophomore credits, I know exactly how awesome AP credits are but he can take AP chem as a senior... Of course it affects admissions. Someone who took AP Chem instead of gym or heck, even APES, is a better admit than someone who didn't take AP Chem. Rigor is a big part of your HS education. You can get a 4.0, be big on ECs and still be a completely worthless student because your HS schedule had no rigor. As to the guy who said that you get credits for APs but you can't pass out of courses, that's false, at least at most non-Ivy, non-MIT/Stanford/Caltech schools. Here at UC Berkeley I skipped the entire undergrad math sequence and two out of three of the physics undergrad classes. He's taking the maximum number of AP's and college courses on the side. You're right, rigor is very important but it doesn't apply in this situation, he is taking every possible course and then some. No admissions counselor on earth is going to look at his transcript and ding him for rigor because he pushed AP Chem back a year. To the OP, there's absolutely no reason to stress out about not getting your third science AP. You'll get the credit as a senior, no college will care and it'll give you a little more time to focus on French and the like. All that rage is wasted energy
The issue right now is that I skipped to AP French this year and finished it to free up my schedule for my junior year...and I literally have no classes to take now because I've finished my art, PE, and language credits...
I'd also like to take the chem subject test (just a smallish thing), and perhaps I would be better prepared for summer programs and the ilk come my rising senior summer.
There really are no classes lol ...I mean I don't have much interest in bio, so I don't want to do honors anatomy; the biomed/engineering classes here come as a sort of mini-program that requires that one doesn't take more than a certain (small) number of weighted classes or something; and all my art/PE/lang credits are done, so there aren't any offerings besides APES anyway....so I sort of "have to" do 3 sciences, unless I want to take an extra year of band or french lit. Also my senior year I want to do bio, and would not like to do both at the same time in the midst of college apps and whatnot.
I've heard that APES isn't particularly difficult and isn't a heavy class (unlike calc/ush/phys/chem...english depends, I suppose), so that helps me a bit. I can handle it and have other activities for sure as long as I cut down on my computer time...which will be difficult but essential (I spend 4 hours on the comp on an easy day, 8 hours on the computer on a heavy usage day...usually in the middle at about 6 hours).
To the OP, why would you take SAT II in chem instead of Physics (which with prep is much easier to 800)? I assume you're also taking Math II and, idk, the history one at the end of the year (also pretty easy). You can't send more than three anyway (um, I think its been awhile). Yeah it sucks that some kids get special privilege but what can you do. Why don't you just start studying physics now?
I'm taking SAT II physics in june and am preparing for it APs and the ilk have been bogging me down though (phys and math 2 in june, french if I have to retake it)
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On May 11 2011 14:07 wherebugsgo wrote:Show nested quote +On May 11 2011 02:12 n.DieJokes wrote:On May 10 2011 18:17 wherebugsgo wrote:On May 10 2011 09:44 n.DieJokes wrote:
For whatever its worth I can assure you whether or not you take ap Chem as a junior will have absolutely no impact on your college admissions. It's really not a big deal whether you take it now or in college as long you're taking some sort of ap science. Your time would probably be better spent reading or keeping a journal as ( and I realize this may be an unfair assumption) the essay is usually what makes or breaks kids like you at top tier universities. Actually, it has a huge impact, lol...particularly AFTER you get accepted. For example, I could potentially save thousands of dollars by graduating a year early, because I entered with so many AP and CC credits that I was classified as a junior upon entrance. I also get priority scheduling for my sophomore year because my class standing is as a senior...lol. I realized this when my phase I scheduling was like four weeks before all of my friends, so I got to pick classes that normally I couldn't because they just fill up to the brim and you get put on the waitlist. "On your college admissions" Admissions. Admissions. I'm also a freshman with sophomore credits, I know exactly how awesome AP credits are but he can take AP chem as a senior... As to the guy who said that you get credits for APs but you can't pass out of courses, that's false, at least at most non-Ivy, non-MIT/Stanford/Caltech schools. Here at UC Berkeley I skipped the entire undergrad math sequence and two out of three of the physics undergrad classes.
As a Cornell student, I will second this. I had enough AP credit that I'm able to skip my next spring semester and do a well-paid internship during that time. That's about a $35,000 net gain (saved tuition + internship pay) to take a few tests in high school.
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On May 11 2011 15:01 matjlav wrote:
Have your parents raise hell with the school staff - there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to take 3 science classes. (AP Chem and AP ES are should not be stressful classes, by the way... AP ES is a joke and AP Chem is a 1 semester college course stretched over a whole year.)
It's not the end of the world if you can't take all 3, but you want to take them, and there's no reason in hell why a school staff should discourage its students from excelling. I'm totally with you on this issue. I would have been pissed as hell as well if my school ever told me that I couldn't handle the schedule I was signing up for.
I would guess that you can get them to concede if you and your parents are insistent enough about it. You probably will have to convince your parents to go in for you, and make sure that they present themselves as encouraging of your academic goals rather than presenting themselves as pushy Tiger Parents... just stress that it's really upsetting that the school is preventing you from achieving your fullest potential. Tell them that you can always just drop a course a few weeks into the year if it turns out to be too stressful for you to handle.
Good luck with everything. All of this AP credit will go a long way to making your life easier in college.
Thanks! ^^ Sounds good~
It's not so much a problem of me not handling it (I can bring stuff to back me up in terms of qualifications I suppose, i.e. perfect sat I, though it really annoys me that I may have to prepare for PSAT junior year again because I want a high score on that for recognition/scholarships and whatnot...also there's some pressure because getting a full score on the sat I and doing poorly on the PSAT would look terrible lol ;__;) and more of an issue of class sizes: the max class size here is 38, the minimum is 25, and they had 43 people signed up, so they just tried to kick out as many people as possible since they didn't have enough for a new class. People may drop out of AP chem, but that may or may not fit into my schedule come junior year :[
Thanks again for the advice everyone hehe ^^
As a Cornell student, I will second this. I had enough AP credit that I'm able to skip my next spring semester and do a well-paid internship during that time. That's about a $35,000 net gain (saved tuition + internship pay) to take a few tests in high school.
Whoa, nice...!
Question: is it true that your AP scores are not considered during the application process? I've heard that they only look at your scores after acceptance to determine your credits, etc., but I vaguely remember seeing AP scores listed on some apps (common as well as specific ivy), and it sounds like wishful thinking. Is it true?
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On May 11 2011 15:11 Z3kk wrote:Show nested quote +On May 11 2011 15:01 matjlav wrote:
Have your parents raise hell with the school staff - there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to take 3 science classes. (AP Chem and AP ES are should not be stressful classes, by the way... AP ES is a joke and AP Chem is a 1 semester college course stretched over a whole year.)
It's not the end of the world if you can't take all 3, but you want to take them, and there's no reason in hell why a school staff should discourage its students from excelling. I'm totally with you on this issue. I would have been pissed as hell as well if my school ever told me that I couldn't handle the schedule I was signing up for.
I would guess that you can get them to concede if you and your parents are insistent enough about it. You probably will have to convince your parents to go in for you, and make sure that they present themselves as encouraging of your academic goals rather than presenting themselves as pushy Tiger Parents... just stress that it's really upsetting that the school is preventing you from achieving your fullest potential. Tell them that you can always just drop a course a few weeks into the year if it turns out to be too stressful for you to handle.
Good luck with everything. All of this AP credit will go a long way to making your life easier in college. Thanks! ^^ Sounds good~ It's not so much a problem of me not handling it (I can bring stuff to back me up in terms of qualifications I suppose, i.e. perfect sat I, though it really annoys me that I may have to prepare for PSAT junior year again because I want a high score on that for recognition/scholarships and whatnot...also there's some pressure because getting a full score on the sat I and doing poorly on the PSAT would look terrible lol ;__;) and more of an issue of class sizes: the max class size here is 38, the minimum is 25, and they had 43 people signed up, so they just tried to kick out as many people as possible since they didn't have enough for a new class. People may drop out of AP chem, but that may or may not fit into my schedule come junior year :[ Thanks again for the advice everyone hehe ^^
Ah - excuse me for not reading the whole thread. Yeah, if it's a class size issue it will probably be harder to get them to budge, because it does make sense to kick out the guy who's already taking 2 other science classes. Hopefully you can get in, though. If not, it's not the end of the world - if you have a good SAT2 in Physics and Math, having a good SAT2 in Chem probably won't be that big of a deal.
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On May 11 2011 15:11 Z3kk wrote:
Question: is it true that your AP scores are not considered during the application process? I've heard that they only look at your scores after acceptance to determine your credits, etc., but I vaguely remember seeing AP scores listed on some apps (common as well as specific ivy), and it sounds like wishful thinking. Is it true?
I recall that most of my college apps ask you what AP Tests you have taken/will be taking and what scores you got on those that you have taken. Supposedly they're not very important, but they're important enough that the colleges ask for them on the application form. (Credit itself is determined from the transcripts that the College Board sends them after you are given your score.)
A line of 4's and 5's on AP tests shows that you are quite capable of college-level work. I don't see why they wouldn't consider that in your application. On the other hand, it might be seen as unfair to consider AP scores when many schools don't offer that opportunity. I'm no admissions worker, so I can't really say for sure.
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Oh, I see. I'll keep the score advice in mind then...though I definitely messed up my APs this year with language and euro hist. ._.
And yeah, I'll try for chem, though it's sort of "all or nothing", as if I can get into AP chem, there is no reason not to allow me to take APES (as there is ample space because there are 2 classes).
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Are you seriously doing this over a highschool schedule? o_0 kids these days
Well, I guess my highschool was a little bit of a joke LOL :D
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LOL why cant you take three sciences? APES is stupid easy and they shouldn't even count it as a science, it's more of a class that is appropriate for all people including 4th graders. If your school counselors/teachers don't understand this then l0l
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Well, tomorrow, I'm going to ask my counselor one more time to make sure her "it was a top-down command" comment was true, and if so, I'll go ask to speak with my principal...I'll update later.
My issue is that when conversing with others "professionally" (i.e. formally with teachers, administrators, etc.) in person, I'm really hit-and-miss. I might exude intelligence, maturity, and eloquence as I speak to one teacher, but around another I'll stutter and mumble as if I'm an awkward and/or socially inept nerd =A=" Come to think of it, this applies normally too...I'm either myself, who I like to think is pretty chill normally, or I'm randomly weird/silent/over-talkative...
In any case, going to bed...the real challenges have already begun, what with science sat ii subject tests in ~3 weeks, preparing research stuffs, preparing for a random onslaught of tests, going hardcore piano practice, and some other random stuff -__-"
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Counselor was completely uncompromising and a bit condescending--when I asked whether I might speak to the principal about the situation, she told me something along the lines of, "Sure, maybe he can explain it to you better than I can." Apparently I cannot even switch APES and Chem (i.e. eschew APES for chem), because the chem class has been "locked" and I "was told that any class might be dropped when I signed up for 3 AP science classes", which I did not dispute at the time, though I'm not sure whether I was told that. Even so, that did not go very well.
Obviously I don't want to edge out "others who might take AP Chem as their only AP", but as far as I know about the students at my school, people who only take one AP science usually do not take AP chem as their only science...
It's possible to transfer in because some of my junior friends have told me that a lot of people drop the class, but the issue is that my schedule may not allow for the class if I transfer in after the fact :[
Did get an "appointment" with the principal tomorrow after speaking to his secretary and will go talk to him :/
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