lisabees Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 (edited) DS17 is questioning his interest in AP Chem (PA Homeschoolers). He would rather take edX's Solid State Chemistry. He is familiar with the course details/syllabus after seeing some of it last year. He is wavering back and forth on graduating early and applying to top tier schools. His (AP/SAT/SAT2) scores are perfect or close to perfect, so we have those to back up any mom grades. He hasn't even taken Biology yet. He has been immersed in math and physics. Looking for some thoughts/advice. ETA: How will schools like MIT etc. look at ds if he doesn't take more APs? He is newly fascinated by artificial intelligence/computer science and would like to direct his energy toward that, instead of an AP class that is geared toward taking a test. But how will top schools see that? How will they view an edX course instead? And how will schools look at him if he doesn't end up taking biology? Please...any advice is appreciated. Edited August 27, 2016 by lisabees 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Musing aloud while waiting for the experts... It's definitely cheaper! :D And looks so exciting! If he could finish it in 15 weeks, he has spring to take a Bio course! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicentra Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 In looking at the brief description for the edX course and comparing it to AP Chem, the edX course will cover a much narrower range of topics but probably with more depth. AP Chem is more of a broad, survey course (as all AP courses tend to be). This sentence in particular from the edX course description: "There will be topical coverage of organic chemistry, solution chemistry, acid-base equilibria, electrochemistry, biochemistry, chemical kinetics, diffusion, and phase diagrams." made me think that it is a more narrowly focused course. Yes - AP Chem would also cover those topics but I'm reading this sentence to mean that those topics will be looked at only as they relate to solid state chemistry. The fact that high school calculus is a prerequisite tells me that this is not your typical 1st year university chemistry :) - it's probably more geared to first year chemical engineers which would be more math-heavy than a standard first year chem course. If you've got a strong math student and he's more interested in, say, physical chemistry as opposed to organic or biochemistry, he might enjoy this course more. I could be wildly wrong, though. :D If someone has had their student take the edX course, I'd be interested to hear what it does and doesn't cover. Sometimes, it's hard to tell by brief course descriptions. :) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 Thank you, Dicentra, for taking a close look at the course description. I will pass your thoughts along to him. He wanted me to ask the board! He is an extremely strong math student and has already taken (and will take more) math courses at U of Penn. I am more worried about the necessity in taking APs for him. He has already taken 5 APs, but his path is definitely self-directed. With his interest in really selective schools, I want to make sure we aren't missing something. Thanks! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted August 27, 2016 Author Share Posted August 27, 2016 bumping... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grantmom Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 I'm not an expert, but MIT is pretty vocal about saying that the number of APs really doesn't matter. They just want to see that you have taken an academically rigorous courseload AND have done well in them. They want to know that you will succeed at MIT. If he has a great score on the Chem SAT 2, and pretty much all of the other tests, then that would seem to me that he is demonstrating that. Does he have all 5s on the other APs? I'm inclined to say that, based on all the other amazing stuff your DS has done, taking a different, deeper chemistry course that is more engaging and interesting to him is actually what MIT does want to see. This is just my take based on reading their admissions blogs, though. As for other more selective schools, I don't know. It might matter more at other places. I don't know what other places you are thinking about though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted August 28, 2016 Author Share Posted August 28, 2016 Thank you all. He has decided to do the edX course. It really is the right path for him, I think. Thank you Quark, Grantmom and Dicentra! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 If he can include Biology on his transcript I believe that would be a plus for him. Not having Biology may look odd to Admissions people. GL to him! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted August 29, 2016 Author Share Posted August 29, 2016 Thank you Lanny. He will do biology among other things! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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