HS Chemistry or Chemistry Honors for Vets

[VetDad]

We're in a situation where trying to improve our HS sophomores Chemistry Honors grade has proven to be very ineffective and I need to figure out if this is an exercise critical to pursue or if we could settle for regular chemistry.

Obviously doing Chemistry Honors in HS is preferable over reg. Chemistry to become a vet, if the grade is comparable.

I have two questions:

1. Is my assumption correct that it is better to do well in Chemistry than poorly in Chemistry Honors?

2. What are your opinions on how critical the distinction between Chemistry/Chemistry Honors in HS for becoming a vet really is?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

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[KempDrumsalot]

1. Is my assumption correct that it is better to do well in Chemistry than poorly in Chemistry Honors?

2. What are your opinions on how critical the distinction between Chemistry/Chemistry Honors in HS for becoming a vet really is?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

1. Correct. Your son may be struggling with learning the material at such a fast pace. Learning the material is better than having a tag of "honors."

2. For becoming a vet, the distinction is very small. At least, as far as I am aware, you must still attend college to become a vet. Thus, only grades in college will really affect the competitiveness of an applicant in a cycle for vet school.

 

[broken tibula]

I partially disagree, Kemp, on #1.

People would rather see a B in an honors class than an A in a regular class. It shows that he'd rather challenge himself. That being said, they'd rather see an A in a regular class than a C, D or F in an honors class. If you son thinks that he would be able to score a B in honors, then do it. Absolutely. If he's going to be in danger of getting anything lower, stick to regular classes.

Kemp covered #2 pretty well. Vet schools aren't going to look at high school grades. They don't care whether you took honors or regular chemistry--however, colleges do, which is what you should be focusing on right now.

Good luck to you and your family!

 

[CScull]

What's causing you difficulty in your Honors Chemistry course? It will be easier for us to help if we know what's causing the problem...

 

[KempDrumsalot]

What's causing you difficulty in your Honors Chemistry course? It will be easier for us to help if we know what's causing the problem...

It's his son, so it may hard to actually figure out what's wrong. But hey, with a father who is trying to help this much I don't see any reason why he might not know the reason.

 

[CScull]

It's his son, so it may hard to actually figure out what's wrong. But hey, with a father who is trying to help this much I don't see any reason why he might not know the reason.

Oooh didn't notice that... maybe I should go to that foundation for kids who don't read good or something...

And yea, kudos for being involved OP, he's really lucky to have such an interested parent.

 

[tennisball80]

We're in a situation where trying to improve our HS sophomores Chemistry Honors grade has proven to be very ineffective and I need to figure out if this is an exercise critical to pursue or if we could settle for regular chemistry.

Obviously doing Chemistry Honors in HS is preferable over reg. Chemistry to become a vet, if the grade is comparable.

I have two questions:

1. Is my assumption correct that it is better to do well in Chemistry than poorly in Chemistry Honors?

2. What are your opinions on how critical the distinction between Chemistry/Chemistry Honors in HS for becoming a vet really is?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

I suggest to talk to your son and find out where he is struggling. If something appears to become a problem, it needs to fixed. The course does not matter so much. The important thing is that your son's overall character development.

 

[pressmom]

As a vet student, it's a little different for us than for med students.

If your school has quality points or a weighted GPA, I would work out whether a B in honors is weighted more than an A in regular. Also, I would look into before or after school tutoring. My school (way back 10 years ago!) had it available in the library for an hour before and after school.

Basically you're just trying to get your kid to college and get as much of it paid for as possible because the debt of going to vet school is every bit as bad as the debt going through med school, and the pay coming out is a lot lower.

Anyway, what does count in high school for VMCAS (the common application that most vet schools use) is volunteer or paid animal or veterinary experience and honors/awards. Begin now recording anything your child gets in these areas. Honors would be lettering in a sport, academic awards, scholarships, etc. Animal experience is anything working with animals without veterinarians such as horseback riding lessons, shelter volunteering, showing animals, 4-H, etc. Veterinary experience includes shadowing a vet or working in a vet hospital. Also any reserach done under a veterinarian or PhD scientist counts as veterinary experience. RECORD THESE HOURS NOW with your child so you don't have to reconstruct them later. Some people keep an excel sheet or a notebook.

Good luck and I'm glad you found this! If you have any questions, PM me.

 

[flip26]

We're in a situation where trying to improve our HS sophomores Chemistry Honors grade has proven to be very ineffective and I need to figure out if this is an exercise critical to pursue or if we could settle for regular chemistry.

Obviously doing Chemistry Honors in HS is preferable over reg. Chemistry to become a vet, if the grade is comparable.

I have two questions:

1. Is my assumption correct that it is better to do well in Chemistry than poorly in Chemistry Honors?

2. What are your opinions on how critical the distinction between Chemistry/Chemistry Honors in HS for becoming a vet really is?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Is the underlined statement actually true? It isn't even true or relevant for college course work when applying for med school (maybe vet school differs), so I have a hard time understanding how it could matter for high school...

Maybe I don't know how vet school admissions works, but what does high school class level (honors vs regular) have to do with it? Do they ask for a high school transcript?

For a lot of "honors" classes in high school, there are additional busy work assignments piled on the student to justify the superior label...make sure your child is completing all of these assignments, and talk to the teacher to find out if your child is missing something in the class - low homework grades, bad pop quizzes, failing to participate in class, etc...

 

[pressmom]

Is the underlined statement actually true? It isn't even true or relevant for college course work when applying for med school (maybe vet school differs), so I have a hard time understanding how it could matter for high school...

Maybe I don't know how vet school admissions works, but what does high school class level (honors vs regular) have to do with it? Do they ask for a high school transcript?

For a lot of "honors" classes in high school, there are additional busy work assignments piled on the student to justify the superior label...make sure your child is completing all of these assignments, and talk to the teacher to find out if your child is missing something in the class - low homework grades, bad pop quizzes, failing to participate in class, etc...

See my above post, but the most important thing for vet school is getting undergrad paid for. Sure, it's nice to go to a "name brand" school, but most of the people in my class went to state universities and went on scholarship. The average vet school debt (I believe) is around $80,000-$100,000. I have friends who are going out of state and their debt is closer to $200,000. The average vet makes $65,000 coming out. Interns and residents make $25,000-$32,000 (if I'm not mistaken) and don't get their loans deferred during this time. Vets who don't specialize and don't own clinics or work in industry (so your average private practice vet) top out around $120,000 if that. So as you can see, the less debt the better. So the most important thing about high school grades is getting undergrad paid for. High school grades do not show up on VMCAS. Some AP courses, if on the college transcript, will count for credit or pre-reqs on VMCAS, but that varies by school.

The only things that count from high school are the ones I listed above.

 

[FawninOverFauna]

I took Honors Chemistry in my sophomore year and AP Chemistry in junior year. Sometimes my teacher would introduce topics that the Honors students had studied before and the people coming from regular had never heard of before. Of course, this decision hinges on a couple of things that are unique to your particular situation: what are the differences between Honors and Regular, and exactly how is your son having a hard time? Did he recently hit one specific topic that he has had trouble with, or has it been hard from the get-go? What techniques have you been using to improve his grade? (can YOU comprehend what he's studying?) Have you talked to his teacher to find out if he is understanding/not understanding class discussions? How are his other grades? (does he have a cushion or is this a major determining factor in GPA?)
Personally, I think it is better to go for Honors- medical requirements are CHEMISTRY INTENSIVE. . .If your son is really committed to becoming a vet, he will want to put in the extra work. . . but if the school doesn't give any kind of weight to the grade, then stretching himself might not be worth it.

 

[gabeybaby]

We're in a situation where trying to improve our HS sophomores Chemistry Honors grade has proven to be very ineffective and I need to figure out if this is an exercise critical to pursue or if we could settle for regular chemistry.

Obviously doing Chemistry Honors in HS is preferable over reg. Chemistry to become a vet, if the grade is comparable.

I have two questions:

1. Is my assumption correct that it is better to do well in Chemistry than poorly in Chemistry Honors?

2. What are your opinions on how critical the distinction between Chemistry/Chemistry Honors in HS for becoming a vet really is?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

If i had a penny for everytime my parents helped me with school work... i would have....
.... 4 pennnies

your son is so lucky to have you as a father