College

[adamparkzer]

It's definitely not like that here. If you take any classes outside of the high school you also have to pay for them. That's also very expensive.

Interesting.

My school had an optional field trip where our local community college advertised to us and told us that we should go to the community college for a particular number of hours per day instead of going to our normal high school because transportation and classes were free.

Would you be exempt from some periods in your regular high school day if you went to a community college?

 

[jtwhite]

Interesting.

My school had an optional field trip where our local community college advertised to us and told us that we should go to the community college for a particular number of hours per day instead of going to our normal high school because transportation and classes were free.

Would you be exempt from some periods in your regular high school day if you went to a community college?

Yes, we just dual enroll. For example, I could take a 2 hour class at a community college and exempt 1st and 2nd period, come in a little before 3rd period. As long as I end up with the credits required to graduate, it's fine.

 

[adamparkzer]

Yes, we just dual enroll. For example, I could take a 2 hour class at a community college and exempt 1st and 2nd period, come in a little before 3rd period. As long as I end up with the credits required to graduate, it's fine.

Oh.

I was 0.25 credits short from graduating a full year early. I could graduate after one semester of my senior year (which I'm currently taking now), but I decided to finish up my entire senior year instead.

 

[jtwhite]

Oh.

I was 0.25 credits short from graduating a full year early. I could graduate after one semester of my senior year (which I'm currently taking now), but I decided to finish up my entire senior year instead.

I will also be able to graduate the first semester of my senior year. I only need AP English

However, I am going to finish out my senior year and hopefully take some English or math electives so those subjects stay fresh.

 

[adamparkzer]

I will also be able to graduate the first semester of my senior year. I only need AP English

However, I am going to finish out my senior year and hopefully take some English or math electives so those subjects stay fresh.

I took 2.5 years' worth of math as a freshman, and I finished my school's math curriculum by the time I was done with my junior year. Now, as a senior, I have no math class.

I've steadily taken one year of English each year, though.

What math classes are you planning to take?

 

[jtwhite]

I've completed:

• Algebra I

I am currently enrolled in:

• Honors Geometry Unified
• Honors Algebra II

I plan to take:

• Advanced Algebra with Trigonometry
• Pre-calculus
• Calculus
• AP Calculus

AP Calculus would have to be the last semester of my senior year because the way it's scheduled.

After I complete Geometry and Algebra II, I'm not required to take any more maths. I just want to take more because I really like mathematics.

 

[adamparkzer]

I did Pre-Algebra when I was in 6th grade and 7th grade (I transferred schools after 6th grade and they didn't transfer my academic record, so my new school made me take Pre-Algebra again). Then I took Algebra in 8th grade, Honors Geometry & Honors Advanced Algebra with Trigonometry in 9th grade, Mathematical Investigations III & IV and Methods of Scientific Inquiries in 10th grade (I attended a different academy at this time, which is why the names of the math classes are different - they're equivalents of Honors Pre-Calculus and AP Statistics), and AP BC Calculus as a junior.

How would you take AP Calculus during only the second semester of your senior year? Isn't AP Calculus a full-year course?

 

[jtwhite]

I did Pre-Algebra when I was in 6th grade and 7th grade (I transferred schools after 6th grade and they didn't transfer my academic record, so my new school made me take Pre-Algebra again). Then I took Algebra in 8th grade, Honors Geometry & Honors Advanced Algebra with Trigonometry in 9th grade, Mathematical Investigations III & IV and Methods of Scientific Inquiries in 10th grade (I attended a different academy at this time, which is why the names of the math classes are different - they're equivalents of Honors Pre-Calculus and AP Statistics), and AP BC Calculus as a junior.

How would you take AP Calculus during only the second semester of your senior year? Isn't AP Calculus a full-year course?

I don't think so. That's how the class booklet says it goes.

Edit: What AP classes have you completed?

 

[adamparkzer]

I don't think so. That's how the class booklet says it goes.

Edit: What AP classes have you completed?

Oh, interesting. All of my math classes I took were year-long courses except for MI3, MI4, and MSI.

The classes that of the official "AP" label on them:

AP Chemistry
AP Calculus BC
AP Computer Science
AP English Language and Composition
AP United States History

And I'm taking AP Spanish this year. I'm going to take the economics AP tests though (microeconomics and macroeconomics) and the AP English Literature and Composition test, even though our school doesn't have officially "AP" labeled classes for them.

Are you taking a foreign language? I've been spending the most time on my AP Spanish work this year; hopefully I'll do well on the test, even though I heard it's pretty hard.

 

[jtwhite]

Oh, interesting. All of my math classes I took were year-long courses except for MI3, MI4, and MSI.

The classes that of the official "AP" label on them:

AP Chemistry
AP Calculus BC
AP Computer Science
AP English Language and Composition
AP United States History

And I'm taking AP Spanish this year. I'm going to take the economics AP tests though (microeconomics and macroeconomics) and the AP English Literature and Composition test, even though our school doesn't have officially "AP" labeled classes for them.

Are you taking a foreign language? I've been spending the most time on my AP Spanish work this year; hopefully I'll do well on the test, even though I heard it's pretty hard.

I'm taking a foreign language next semester, Spanish.

So you can take the AP exams, even though you didn't take an officially labeled class?

 

[adamparkzer]

I'm taking a foreign language next semester, Spanish.

So you can take the AP exams, even though you didn't take an officially labeled class?

What level Spanish are you in?

And yep, the AP class is completely optional. People that haven't even learned anything about the subject matter can take the AP test, although it's highly discouraged, seeing as some people that even take the class specifically preparing for the test still get the lowest score, a 1.

 

[jtwhite]

What level Spanish are you in?

And yep, the AP class is completely optional. People that haven't even learned anything about the subject matter can take the AP test, although it's highly discouraged, seeing as some people that even take the class specifically preparing for the test still get the lowest score, a 1.

Spanish 1, lol.

My Psychology class is pretty advanced and our tests are insanely hard. Personally, I believe it's on a college level, that's why I want to take the AP Exam.

I also wish Psychology and Sociology were separate classes at my school. They're both crammed into one semester now.

Did you take them separate, also, was it a semester or a full year?

 

[adamparkzer]

Spanish 1, lol.

My Psychology class is pretty advanced and our tests are insanely hard. Personally, I believe it's on a college level, that's why I want to take the AP Exam.

I also wish Psychology and Sociology were separate classes at my school. They're both crammed into one semester now.

Did you take them separate, also, was it a semester or a full year?

My school didn't offer a psychology class, I took the test after learning the material on my own.

Sociology I'm taking now, and it's a semester-long course. There's no AP Sociology test, so I can't really compare the difficulty of my sociology class to anything definite.

This is slowly drifting off topic... lol

Do you have any preferences for the types of schools you want to go to? Lots of students, popular region, etc.

 

[jtwhite]

My school didn't offer a psychology class, I took the test after learning the material on my own.

Sociology I'm taking now, and it's a semester-long course. There's no AP Sociology test, so I can't really compare the difficulty of my sociology class to anything definite.

This is slowly drifting off topic... lol

Do you have any preferences for the types of schools you want to go to? Lots of students, popular region, etc.

Taught yourself the material? That's really interesting. Online with wikipedia or something?

I don't really care much about the student population, or staff to student ratio. I do, however, want to be somewhere that has some significance.

 

[adamparkzer]

Taught yourself the material? That's really interesting. Online with wikipedia or something?

I don't really care much about the student population, or staff to student ratio. I do, however, want to be somewhere that has some significance.

Yea, I just found an AP Psychology book at the library and studied out of that.

A lot of people apply to well-named colleges that have one extremely powerful field of study, and apply to a weaker field of study. That way, they can get into a college that everyone knows the name of and thinks is good, but got in with a major that is about average in strength.

Is that what you're going to do? lol

 

[jtwhite]

Yea, I just found an AP Psychology book at the library and studied out of that.

A lot of people apply to well-named colleges that have one extremely powerful field of study, and apply to a weaker field of study. That way, they can get into a college that everyone knows the name of and thinks is good, but got in with a major that is about average in strength.

Is that what you're going to do? lol

I don't really care, lol. I just want to at least go to college somewhere. Not some crappy place though.

You?

 

[adamparkzer]

I don't really care, lol. I just want to at least go to college somewhere. Not some crappy place though.

You?

The place where I want to go, the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, is famous for engineering. However, I'm applying as general admissions, so I guess I'm sort of doing that.

Have you taken a look at the different majors at Darthmouth, and identified which majors are easier to get in to?

 

[jtwhite]

The place where I want to go, the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, is famous for engineering. However, I'm applying as general admissions, so I guess I'm sort of doing that.

Have you taken a look at the different majors at Darthmouth, and identified which majors are easier to get in to?

No I've not, it'll be a miracle if I get accepted. That's sort of just my dream but it probably won't happen.

 

[adamparkzer]

No I've not, it'll be a miracle if I get accepted. That's sort of just my dream but it probably won't happen.

A lot of people think this, but it might actually not be a miracle.

The statistics of a school are always averaged. For example, if a school has a very powerful medical program and everyone that gets accepted has a 36 ACT, but has a much weaker engineering program and the average ACT score of the engineering program is 26, the school's overall average for just those two fields would be 31, which isn't bad. Throw in some other fields with high ACT scores, and the average could be 33 or 34. However, many students don't realize that even if they have a 26 on their ACT, they can still get into the 33-34 overall average college, as long as they apply for the right major.

 

[jtwhite]

A lot of people think this, but it might actually not be a miracle.

The statistics of a school are always averaged. For example, if a school has a very powerful medical program and everyone that gets accepted has a 36 ACT, but has a much weaker engineering program and the average ACT score of the engineering program is 26, the school's overall average for just those two fields would be 31, which isn't bad. Throw in some other fields with high ACT scores, and the average could be 33 or 34. However, many students don't realize that even if they have a 26 on their ACT, they can still get into the 33-34 overall average college, as long as they apply for the right major.

I never thought about it that way. I took the ACT Oct 24th. Do you have any idea about the real time it takes them to score it? They usually lie about that?