Kaplan High School 411 - Softcover

Kaplan; Hickman, Cynthia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0684866110 ISBN 13: 9780684866116

Publisher: Kaplan Publishing, 1999

Synopsis

Covers the most common concerns facing high school students

About this title

About the Author

Cynthia Hickman attended public schools in New York City and earned an A.B., M.B.A., and J.D. from Harvard University. She is a former student recruiter for Harvard/Radcliffe Colleges. Cynthia has been admitted to practice law in the State of New York and, in recent years, has launched top-rated educational sites on the Internet and America Online™ while developing study skills, career, test-prep, admissions, and financial aid software on CD-ROM for an educational publisher.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

Classes

WHAT STUDENTS ASK

What classes should I take?

What programs are available for motivated students?

Are there alternatives to my local high school?

Your child is going to be spending the majority of his high school hours sitting in class. That's why the classes he chooses have such a huge impact on his experience of high school, as well as on his chances of getting into the college of his choice. Your son's choice of classes (and his performance in them) reveals whether he is academically prepared, intellectually curious, and up to the challenge of taking progressively harder courses or participating in innovative school programs -- all important criteria to college admissions committees.

As he plans his high school classes, your teenager's focus should be on meeting high school graduation requirements as well as college admissions requirements. But he should also concentrate on taking courses that stimulate him and that he'll enjoy. And the best way to do this is to create a study plan for his high school years. For your child, creating a study plan means taking some control of the high school experience, setting goals, and finding a practical way of meeting them.

As a parent, you can, and should, help your child choose classes that will stimulate him, and help him increase his chances of getting in to the colleges of his choice. You can help him look at the big picture, and with him, plan the course of his high school years. Your child's guidance counselor can help make you aware of the courses offered, those best suited to your child, and the requirements for graduation as well as for college admission.

CREATING A STUDY PLAN
A study plan is a schedule of all the classes your son wants and needs to take while in high school. These classes include basic subjects like science, math, English, and social studies, as well as other subjects like foreign language, music, and art. Developing a study plan helps him to identify the course requirements for graduation and college admissions, as well as what classes are available at his school to meet them. But it also helps him -- and you -- understand his interests a little better, and can lend a hand in figuring out what direction he wants to take in college and beyond.

Consider the following five factors when developing a study plan:

graduation requirements

college admissions requirements

class availability

academic interests

creating a sequence

By thoroughly investigating these issues, your child will be able to start on the best possible academic plan for his high school years.

Graduation Requirements
It may seem obvious, but you can't go to college until you get out of high school. During your daughter's freshman year, she should schedule a meeting with her guidance counselor to find out about her school's academic requirements for graduation by subject area, years of study, and classes to be completed.

Most high schools have the following requirements for graduation:

How does your daughter's school's graduation requirements match up to this example? Tracking Sheet 1.1 at the end of this chapter can help you compare.

College Admissions Requirements
High school graduation requirements aren't all that students have to contend with: Top colleges and universities have admissions requirements for classes to be completed in high school. These requirements vary by college, but all are there to represent those classes the college or university believes best prepares a student for success at their school. If your child plans to attend a top college, her admission requirements will probably look like this:

Clearly, if your child is thinking about applying to a competitive college or university, satisfying graduation requirements might not be enough to meet the admissions criteria. She can find out what courses her target colleges require by writing away for an admissions booklet, or by consulting one of the comprehensive guides to colleges in her school library or local bookstore.

There are other reasons your child should take tougher courses. More advanced classes help develop key skills like writing, critical reading, and problem solving -- basic skills needed in college, as well as later on at work. Also, most of the highest scorers on the college entrance exams like the SAT I are students who have completed or exceeded admissions requirements. Give her every possible advantage for college admissions and build a study plan that includes the most challenging admissions requirements that you find when researching her target schools.

Practical Stuff
There are other, more practical courses a student should take aside from those required for graduation and admission. All college-bound students should learn to use a personal computer; this includes gaining a working knowledge of both word processing and database software programs. Using a personal computer will help when writing and editing papers and conducting research from online databases or encyclopedias on CD-ROM. And students should consider taking a typing course. The arrangement of the keyboard for both machines is similar -- your computer will work only as fast as you can click and type. Finally, students should take a class on how to conduct research if such a class is available; it could help them learn how to develop an outline for research and writing, how to use the library and other sources to gather data, how to structure arguments and write logically, and how to use footnotes and bibliographies.

STARTING THE PLAN
He's gotten graduation requirements from his guidance counselor and knows his target colleges' admissions requirements. Armed with these, it's time to start forming a study plan. Your first step: Together, look at both sets of requirements and note the set of requirements that is greater in areas of study (e.g., adding physical education), requires a higher number of years of study (e.g., three years of math instead of two), and has the greater class requirements (e.g., two years of composition instead of one).

Since juggling two sets of requirements can be confusing, use the tracking sheet at the end of this chapter to help you figure out how to meet your child's needs.

Class Availability
Next, you'll need to find out what classes your son's school offers. His school's guidance office should be able to help you here. What does he need to take? Will he be able to take the classes he needs when he'd like to take them? Competition for seats in popular courses can be fierce; in some schools, spaces for advanced courses often go to upperclassmen first, leaving motivated underclassmen to wait several semesters or years before they can get in. Then there's a scheduling problem: AP Physics and French 3 may both be offered at the same time, forcing him to choose between the two. This means that he'll have to develop a flexible study plan with several ways to meet his critical requirements while taking courses that interest him. Remind him that it's better to be safe than to assume that he'll get into a specific class or section when he wants or needs to.

Academic Interests
Seventy-five to 90 percent of your daughter's classes in high school will be used to meet the requirements for graduation and college admissions. The remaining 10-25 percent of classes are electives. How to choose classes in required subjects? How do you decide which electives to take? For example, do you take economics, government, U.S. history, or something else to satisfy your social studies requirement? Do you take French, Spanish, or Latin to satisfy a language requirement? A common sense rule of thumb: Let your child's interests be her guide.

Below are two exercises to help your daughter find those subject areas and classes that interest her the most. Remember that she'll do best in classes that interest her -- if she enjoys her classes, chances are she'll study longer and get better grades. So don't suggest that she take advanced accounting if the mere thought of it makes her queasy: She'll probably bomb the class, and hate the whole experience.

Here's how to start. If your child is so inclined do the exercises together. For the first exercise, answer the following questions.

Exercise 1 -- Define Your Interests

What do you like to do in your free time?

What books do you like to read?

What parts of the world (or universe) interest you the most?

If you had to choose a career today, what would it be? Why?

For example, a student who likes to read science fiction, keep an aquarium, and watch The X-Files, and is considering a career in marine biology is pretty clearly science oriented, and should focus on sciences in her study plan. Though your child's interests may be more diverse and less easy to read, they should give you a strong sense as to where her interests congregate and what she'd be happiest studying.

Exercise 2 -- Academic Areas of Interest
In this exercise you and your child identify his academic interests by subject area. On a scale of 0 to 5, rank each subject area. A zero represents no interest, while a five indicates great interest. Find out the average rating of each area by adding the scores by category, then dividing the total by the number of subjects rated in each category.

This exercise tells you two things about your child's interests: first, the subject areas in which she has the strongest interest, indicated by an average score of four or five. For these areas, she should take more, or advanced, classes. Second, the subject areas ranked zero, one, or two are areas in which she has the lowest level of interest. She should avoid these areas, if possible, once she's completed the minimum requirements for graduation and admissions. Try to find classes that are somehow related to those areas that she likes a lot; for example, she might be able to take geography instead of postindustrial Europe for her social studies requirement if she is science minded.

After you've done both exercises, look for similarities in the results; you should see some consistency.

Creating a Sequence
A sequence of classes usually begins with an introductory class followed by advanced courses that cover more complex principles. In your child's study plan, choose classes that begin at a level at which she can follow and appreciate the materials being taught. She shouldn't choose courses that are too easy; she might be bored out of her mind, and won't do nearly as well as expected. On the other hand, she shouldn't jump right into impressive-sounding advanced courses she's not prepared for. As she completes each course, she should ask herself if she's up to taking a more advanced course that builds on what she's just learned. If she can and it's an area in which she has some interest, tell her to go for it -- demonstrate her ability to do more difficult work. If she can't (and the course isn't needed to satisfy a requirement), she should move on to another class or subject area that will provide her with both a new and a greater challenge.

Your child should try to complete most of his class requirements by the end of his junior year. This timing helps to meet several goals: First, he can show academic achievement and preparedness when he applies to college in the fall of his senior year. Second, he can give himself a good shot at doing well on the standardized exams (e.g., SAT I and ACT) because the math and verbal skills tested can be developed in these classes. These tests need to be taken tests by the first semester of senior year.

PROGRAM ALTERNATIVES
Does your child go to a great high school that offers a wide range of challenging courses? Consider yourself lucky. But what if his school isn't quite up to snuff? What if you can't find the range of courses (breadth), the number of advanced classes (depth), or the variety of special interest programs (reach) you want or need in your child's school's schedule of classes? He may have to work a little harder to get the classes he's after by looking into alternative academic programs inside and outside of his high school. If the gaps in his study plan are small, participating in an Advanced Placement (AP) program may be enough. If, however, the gaps are substantial, you may want to consider cross-registering him at a nearby "magnet" school, or attending other special programs to add to or replace his school's offerings.

Few students have to "make do" with the classes that are available at their local high schools. There are alternative programs all over the country. However, these opportunities often depend on your seeking them out. Your child might be able to supplement his plan through another nearby high school or community college. He might want to consider switching schools, going to boarding school, or taking summer classes.

WHAT DOES THE SCHOOL OFFER?
High schools in the United States offer a dizzying array of diploma options, including comprehensive, general, vocational, regents, honors, Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate (IB). Which diploma programs are offered at your son's or daughter's high school? This is something you should investigate early in his or her high school career. It can give you a clue as to the school's breath, depth, and reach of its schedule of classes.

Below are some of the more common diploma options available. See how your child's school matches up:

· General/Comprehensive

Most high schools offer this course of study. It's standard fare, with few exceptions made for students with special needs and interests; these schools may also offer a limited number of advanced programs. Students are likely to be given a few "comprehensive" statewide exams with the remaining exams presented as finals and taken in class at the end of each school term.

· Vocational/Arts

These are programs offered by select high schools. They're likely to offer a general/comprehensive program of study with additional courses available for specific vocations and/or the arts. Entrance into these programs is often based on a special application, audition, or presentation of a portfolio of work. Likewise, graduation is often based on completing the general program of study and a project, portfolio, or other performance piece.

· Regents, Honors, AP, and/or IB

Schools offering these diplomas are likely to have a range of advanced courses in a number of subject areas. Students often take special statewide exams at the end of each advanced course and may also take nationally and internationally administered exams. Although participation in many honors programs is voluntary, it often requires proof of academic accomplishment in preliminary courses. Admission into some of these programs (or the schools offering them) is sometimes competitive and based on test scores and other admissions criteria. Upon successfully comple...

About this edition

• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0684866110
• ISBN 13: 9780684866116
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192