Anyone with a child majoring in the sciences?

[jeri]

DD is taking the PAhomeschoolers AP Bio course and although she really likes it, she is finding it to be very time consuming and difficult. She is getting stressed out that college will be like that times 6 courses! Can someone give me an idea of "what" courses your kid is taking in colllege? I told her that since you are taking a variety of courses, some require more work than others, and I don't remember them all taking the same massive amount of time. FWIW, she's only in 9th and I think part of it is that this is the most difficult course she has taken as a homeschooler. Thansk.

 

jeri

[JFSinIL]

My kid did not take AP Bio until senior year - his only freshman AP was World History, and that was an eye-opener for him! He ended up with seven AP courses in total in high school - took three as a senior - and is now a college sophomore. Last year Chemistry 1,2,3 (his college is on a trimester system so they take 3 or 4 courses at a time, and a year-long course like first year Chem is broken down into "three" courses) and it was a lot of work, but he stayed close to 4.0 all year.

 

This year, Organic Chem may do him in!!!! He is spending up to 30 hours a week on that one class, and if he doesn't "get it" soon he may drop it for the rest of the year, and stick to being a Bio major instead of Pre-Med :-(

 

If she goes to most schools, the course load is 5 courses per semester. A trimester school is more like 3 - 4 courses per 10-week term. If that helps.

[creekland]

FWIW, very few AP tests are meant for 9th graders. The majority of students who take AP Bio do it after a high school Bio course as there is a lot of memorization involved. It's generally an 11th or 12th grade class. The human brain develops a lot in the teen years. By the time kids are in college, their brains are more ready for it. Plus, most take 5 courses at a time and only have 6 if a couple are the "easier" courses. A first time freshman taking 6 courses would be frowned upon most places.

 

I wouldn't let my guys be discouraged by pushing them to do too much too quickly and they are top stat guys. Burn out is real and it happens often with "smart" kids. It might be worth considering dropping back to a normal Bio class and retaking this course afterward. There'd certainly be no shame in it. No college is going to expect to see AP Bio in 9th grade.

[In The Great White North]

:iagree: AP Bio is usually a second high school bio course, for juniors or seniors who have had bio once already and chemistry.

 

She needn't worry about having six course a term in college. It's highly unlikely, unless she goes to an academy. Some (Dartmouth) even charge extra (1/4 of full tuition) if you "overload" too many times.

[Kathy in Richmond]

Agreeing with everyone above!

 

AP Biology can be an overwhelming course with tons of material to learn. Both reading speed and comprehension must be very high to succeed. Here we saved it for the twelfth grade. I wouldn't have expected my kids to attempt it in ninth grade without devoting an extraordinary amount of time to the class. While both of my kids graduated with many AP courses, neither one of them started AP before tenth grade. Their brains were just more mature at that point: they could read and comprehend faster, and their output (i.e. writing skills) was more developed, too. Up until that point, we worked on those skills. When those skills were well-developed, then they started college-level work.

 

Also, tell her not to worry about college yet! She won't be taking six courses at a time at that intensity level, and she will have four more years under her belt before then. A lot will change in those four years!

 

One other thing - the AP Bio course is being re-designed and soon will cover fewer topics in greater depth (sounds much better to me :)). You might consider waiting and having your daughter take the class after the redesign.

Edited September 21, 2011 by Kathy in Richmond

[regentrude]

She is getting stressed out that college will be like that times 6 courses! Can someone give me an idea of "what" courses your kid is taking in colllege?

 

I don't have a kid in college, but I teach at a university with focus on science and engineering. A typical course load would be 16-18 credit hours, meaning 16-18 hours of class per week. That might for instance be a five hour calculus course, a four hour calc based physics course, a four hour chemistry course, and a four hour English class. So, the typical student takes four courses (or more of they are trying to get done faster, or if they take several easy classes)

We advise students to spend two hours outside of class for every hour in class. So, a 16 hour load would require another 32 hours at home, making it a 48 hour full time job to be a STEM student. More time is needed if the student has difficulties.

So yes, being a science major is hard work, but not insane.

[8filltheheart]

Agreeing with everyone above!

 

AP Biology can be an overwhelming course with tons of material to learn. Both reading speed and comprehension must be very high to succeed. Here we saved it for the twelfth grade. I wouldn't have expected my kids to attempt it in ninth grade without devoting an extraordinary amount of time to the class. While both of my kids graduated with many AP courses, neither one of them started AP before tenth grade. Their brains were just more mature at that point: they could read and comprehend faster, and their output (i.e. writing skills) were more developed, too. Up until that point, we work on those skills. When those skills are well-developed, then they started college-level work.

 

Also, tell her not to worry about college yet! She won't be taking six courses at a time at that intensity level, and she will have four more years under her belt before then. A lot will change in those four years!

 

One other thing - the AP Bio course is being re-designed and soon will cover fewer topics in greater depth (sounds much better to me :)). You might consider waiting and having your daughter take the class after the redesign.

 

Agreeing w/everyone else, too, especially if she hasn't already had high school biology and chemistry. If you want to consider Kathy's suggestion of waiting, you can withdraw from PAH w/an 80% refund through the end of Sept.

[Gwen in VA]

Exactly what the other folks said! AP bio in 9th is definitely shoving your kid into the deep end academically!

 

My daughter majored in chemistry in college but did extra classes in engineering and physics above and beyond what was required. The hours of labs occasionally got in the way of "life," but dd didn't have to write huge papers like her friends who were majoring in the humanities did, so it evens out in the end.

 

No science is "soft" major. As one of my dd's chem profs said, he doesn't see too many people taking organic chemistry to up their GPA! At the same time, majoring in science is certainly doable by many students with a broad variety of backgrounds and work ethics.

[Guest Barb B]

Ds freshman at Purdue as the follow classes: Calculus (4 credits), Chemistry (4 credits), Communications (3 credits), an Engineering course (2 credits) and a 1 credit course recommended by the College of Engineering at his school (Purdue university). The 1 credit course is a no brainer; engineering has at time the most work, but only 2 credits - but my ds favorite. Communications is not bad at all. Calculus and chemistry are well - hard. Things like calculus, chem, and engineering do take the time most say it should - 2-3 hours per credit hour. So if it is a 4 credit course - you should at least be doing 8 hours per week of work. Calculus, chem. are what my son calls "weed out" courses - cause they are HARD - most kids at his school will get a C (no grade inflation at his school!). That said - they worked hard for it, did their best and a C means something.

 

Agree with the poster who said that 4 classes are about right - cause a lot are at least 4 credit hours courses. And, thankfully, not all are the type that very few get A's on.

 

She's only in 9th grade - she isn't meant to get stressed about college yet - tell her to get used to high school 1st. At the same time, it is good she is thinking this way - as she may be motivated now to create good habits she will need once she is in college.

Barb

[jeri]

I am going to pass it on. I had no idea what kids are taking now in college. Also, great tip on withdrawing with PAH before end of Sept. I think we will revisit this tomorrow. However, I don't think she will since she is very determined. Just found out today that she has an 87% in the class and that has inspired her.

 

Jeri

[kiana]

Jeri,

 

If she's doing well and is simply concerned about the future, remind her of how much her brain will mature in 4 years -- and ask her how well her 5th grade self would have handled even one biology course. The extra age will make a lot of difference.

[Moira in MA]

Tell your daughter well done on her unit 1 grade.

 

Since she is keen to continue the challenge, is there anything you can do to lighten her load in other areas of study? Can you put something off until after the AP course finishes? Maybe she can do extra work mid-May thru June to make up or take a summer course.

 

Just a thought.

~Moira

[jeri]

I showed her all the responses and she feels pretty good about what she's doing. She is also pretty stubborn and does not want to drop it!

 

Jeri