High School Honor Classes Vs. College Prep Classes

[mamamary]

Hi. Don't know if this is the same in all high schools or not. My son is currently in 8th gr. He just got a form home saying that for English and Social Studies the teachers recommend he take honors classes in high school. In science his teacher recommends he take the college prep class. Apparently the honors class is the higher of the two. My son is worried that honors classes would be too much work. We are actually going to a meeting of all 8th gr. parents tonight to get more info on this. Just wondering if any of you have any input?

Thanks!

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

In my experience, the work load wasn't too bad in honors (this was 10 years ago though LoL and I am sure every where is different). I did the same thing, was in honors history and english, college prep math and science. In history it just seemed like we moved a little faster than the college prep classes. In English we read different novels and went into more depth about the novels. But I think if he enjoys the subject content (I loved reading, but if you told me to do 40 algebraic equations I would have totally lost interest after 5 LoL and would have flunked) then I say go for the honors classes. I think my english honors class totally prepared me for college, as when I walked into my fresh. college classes they were reading novels and poems that I did throughout HS. I knew how to put together a paper, but then again, I am sure students in college prep classes were taught that too.
GL!

 

[jrmasm]

Hi. Don't know if this is the same in all high schools or not. My son is currently in 8th gr. He just got a form home saying that for English and Social Studies the teachers recommend he take honors classes in high school. In science his teacher recommends he take the college prep class. Apparently the honors class is the higher of the two. My son is worried that honors classes would be too much work. We are actually going to a meeting of all 8th gr. parents tonight to get more info on this. Just wondering if any of you have any input?

Thanks!

Every school is different. Your best bet is to talk to current high school students/parents in your area.

 

[mjkacmom]

I think it depends on your HS. My dd14 will be in 10th next year, and she is taking all honors (the highest they offer for that year). I've been told that colleges want to see them in the highest level of classes. Talk to the school.

 

[golfgal]

I agree, talk to parents of current 9th graders to see what they have to say. Yes, every school is different. Our kids took all honor's in 9th grade and have a mix of honors and AP (3 AP, 1 honors, PE, band and Spanish) and they have enough homework without having too much.

 

[LuvOrlando]

In my HS the top 2 tracks were completely college prep, which meant our text books were different and the standards were different, the other tracks didn't do dissections, chemistry, pre-calc or read Shakespeare etc. I thought the tracks just moved at different rates until I looked at a friends book and discovered we were not at all the same, what they called Math3 and what I was studying in Math3 were 2 totally different things. Anyway, the top honors class was based on GPA but had the same material as college prep. Within the top groups kids could do Advanced Placement and some classes actually gave college credit, there was very little variation within the tracks though. I had a friend in public school who did so well that he walked into college with 12 credits the State paid for while he was in HS... not too bad considering the costs nowadays. The one caveat is kids who are not in the top classes rarely get the opportunity to do this because the jump can't be justified unless he/she is an exceptionally strong student with the grades to back up the claim.

 

[mamamary]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I can't actually believe I have a child going into high school next year - school was so much different way back when where I used to go. Will pay close attention at tonight's meeting.

Thanks again.

 

[Christine]

In my son's school, College Prep is the "regular" class for strong students. The next level up is Honors and you can only take that if you have an A in College Prep level. Taking an honors course will bump your GPA up a bit because they are weighted higher (at least in my son's school). A lot of colleges strip off the weighting when they do admissions so not sure how that works.

 

[MoniqueU]

I have no idea what thed hoatmework load is but my oldest DD cois in 8th grade as well and is hoping for all honors and to stay one grade or two grades ahead in math. She will work her butt off to make that happen.

My oldest a senior at a college prep private spchool had some honors and the papers were more in depth and the school had proffesors for the local UC come and grade entglish assignments based on what was expected at the college. My DH scored a perfect score except handwriting. That translated to super high SAT's in English. That saved his bacon on applications as he had hearing issues and often didn't do as well in some classes.

My youngest DD gets the same grades as my oldest or at least did up til this trimester and was placed in a lower level math class and I fear she won't make the cut for Honors or AP classes because her work often doesn't translate into high scores on standardized tests. I don't understand how she can do the work, make the grade in the class yet not test well but thats the way it is. We tell her to just keep working hard and do all the work but I know it frustrates her.

I know my friends dd had the AP classes transfer as college credit at NYU but I have heard not all colleges work that way. If your childs future college does that is great. Also some schools charge to take the AP classes as well if I am remembering correctly.

I am curious as to how it all works in the public schools here as well.

 

[golfgal]

About homework, kids from the same class can have varying "amounts" of homework. Some of our kids' friends are spending 4-5 hours/night on homework, while our kids and others are spending 1-3, why you ask, because the kids that are spending 1-3 hours are doing their homework while the kids that are spending 4-5 hours are doing homework, flipping radio stations, checking facebook, texting friends, ....

Ask several people what there experience is .

 

[golfgal]

I have no idea what thed hoatmework load is but my oldest DD cois in 8th grade as well and is hoping for all honors and to stay one grade or two grades ahead in math. She will work her butt off to make that happen.

My oldest a senior at a college prep private spchool had some honors and the papers were more in depth and the school had proffesors for the local UC come and grade entglish assignments based on what was expected at the college. My DH scored a perfect score except handwriting. That translated to super high SAT's in English. That saved his bacon on applications as he had hearing issues and often didn't do as well in some classes.

My youngest DD gets the same grades as my oldest or at least did up til this trimester and was placed in a lower level math class and I fear she won't make the cut for Honors or AP classes because her work often doesn't translate into high scores on standardized tests. I don't understand how she can do the work, make the grade in the class yet not test well but thats the way it is. We tell her to just keep working hard and do all the work but I know it frustrates her.

I know my friends dd had the AP classes transfer as college credit at NYU but I have heard not all colleges work that way. If your childs future college does that is great. Also some schools charge to take the AP classes as well if I am remembering correctly.

I am curious as to how it all works in the public schools here as well.

Easy answer is that some kids just "get it" easier than others. Your older child probably is better at applying what he knows where your DD is good at the homework piece of things-learning the material but doesn't really apply what she learned. That is the big difference between AP and regular/honors classes. AP students need to take things a step further and apply what they have learned, not just regurgitate what the book said.

 

[nexttripdisney]

I have a 9th grader. It is my understanding, in our school district, that a teacher (in 8th grade) will only recommend a student for an honors class in HS if they think the student can earn an "A" without too much difficulty.

My son was recommended for all honors classes with the exception of English. He decided to take on the challenge of honors english and it has been a real challenge.

 

[tar heel]

At my son's high school, if you don't take the honors classes, you have absolutely no chance of a decent class rank. We've found the amount of homework depends more on the subject and the teacher more than whether it's honors.

One thing to consider is what the other kids in the class will be doing. Some kids will work hard when everyone around them is working hard and goof off when the other kids are doing that. I have one of those. He takes honors and APs.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Hi. Don't know if this is the same in all high schools or not. My son is currently in 8th gr. He just got a form home saying that for English and Social Studies the teachers recommend he take honors classes in high school. In science his teacher recommends he take the college prep class. Apparently the honors class is the higher of the two. My son is worried that honors classes would be too much work. We are actually going to a meeting of all 8th gr. parents tonight to get more info on this. Just wondering if any of you have any input?

Thanks!

All schools are different. Your son needs to take what is necessary for his plans after HS.

My dd is in 8th grade as well and has signed up for classes already. Here is what she is doing....

She is taking all honors classes which will lead to AP classes in her JR/SR yr of high school.

She is not "gifted" in math although she is taking Honors Geometry in 9th, which is not weighted. The kids in the higher math are going to be taking Honors Algebra 2, which is weighted.

Also they are going to be taking weighted engineering classes, the bulk of the gifted "mathies". That means as Freshman they are taking at least 2 weighted classes which puts them ahead of my dd in "rank" or decile level (percentage).

Our HS is not doing "rank" technically, which is baloney, because you are ranked in your percentile. It is called your "decile level".

However she applied for a higher level English class (above Honors) and got in!!!! That will be weighted, this yr and next yr. For her it is a cakewalk. It is a combo of research projects, speaking, and writing.

So she will have 1 weighted class matched against some of the "future engineers" who will have 2 or 3 weighted classes Freshman yr.

Her goal is to get into the top 10% at least. She has specific colleges she wants to apply to, plus she needs the "ranking" to get aid, scholarships, etc., because as of right now she is not going to get a dime in need based aid.

We have no idea if this is even possible but we think it will be doable. My older dd only did 1 semester there and graduated and she was in the 22% percentile and her GPA was a 3.70, I think.

*IF* my youngest stays on her track and gets A's she will be able to get into the top 10 however if she has to alter her plan then she will drop down and then change her plans.

My point is that you need to look beyond this year when you are picking out classes.

Oh and make sure to look at the PRE REQs of any classes that he might want to take in next yr.



It is about "the plan" Write out the classes for the next 4 yrs and then you can see how it all fits together. They make the kids do that here.

Good Luck!

 

[golfgal]

At my son's high school, if you don't take the honors classes, you have absolutely no chance of a decent class rank. We've found the amount of homework depends more on the subject and the teacher more than whether it's honors.

One thing to consider is what the other kids in the class will be doing. Some kids will work hard when everyone around them is working hard and goof off when the other kids are doing that. I have one of those. He takes honors and APs.

Our high school is like this. They don't weight grades, the best you can get is a 4.0 but they do an overall class rank and an honor's class rank. The honor's class rank is based on your GPA and how many honors/AP/CIS classes you take. You can't make the top 50% if you don't take ANY honors classes at all, for example. You could have a 4.0 and not take any honors classes and the best you can hope for is middle of the rankings.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I can't actually believe I have a child going into high school next year - school was so much different way back when where I used to go. Will pay close attention at tonight's meeting.

Thanks again.

That is exactly what you should do.

My nephew is taking a couple of honors classes, a couple of CP classes and one non-CP class (he will never make a scientist, LOL). His placement in all his classes is based on his interest and ability and he pretty much makes his own calls on it.

My niece is in all honors; on the placement test she didn't make a high enough score for honors math track, but her momma made her take honors math anyway and she is pulling A's and B's - it's the only class she actually has to put forth solid effort in, so of course she complains about it incessantly and has plans to go to CP track next year (not that her daddy, her grandparents or I will let her unless her teacher says she needs to drop down, mind you).

Basically, know your kid, be realistic, and guide your son to take the best class for his ability and it'll work out!

 

[castleview]

Some kids drop down to college prep if the honors work load is too much and they are not doing well, but you'll have to see.

Off topic sort of: Going into high school I thought the classes recommended by my teachers would be too much also. My parents didn't care what I thought - I was taking the higher level classes. Were they fascists or did anyone else deal with this?