Running Start

No. You can validate courses, but all that means is that you can take extra electives during your junior and senior year.
 
lyacswimmer said:
No. You can validate courses, but all that means is that you can take extra electives during your junior and senior year.
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I feel as if I am behind academically and would like to get further ahead and my counselors recommended running start. Do you know of anything that could get me to where I'd like to be before graduation?
 
I would recommend against validating courses at USMA. If you are good enough at a subject that you can validate a course, you could probably get an A/A+ in the course if you took it and that would help out a lot with your GPA and class rank. An exception to this would be if you want to do a major that requires you to take more than the minimum 40 academic classes to graduate; in that case validating a class or two is not a bad idea because it prevents you from ever having to be overloaded in a semester(taking 6 or more academic classes in a semester).
 
Each cadet is different in terms of how academically prepared they are for the rigors of plebe year. You are tested during Beast and some cadets are offered the option to validate courses, most are assigned to the regular classes, some are placed in "advanced level" plebe courses, while others are put into remedial or "rock" level classes. This is one of the areas that you should not be worrying about today. Each cadet has different strengths and weaknesses and things will work out. There will be areas where you are ahead of most of your classmates and other areas where you will need to seek out help. This is an area where each cadet's situation is different and you should do what works best for you by balancing the anticipated course load over four years and the impact to your GPA. My own opinion on validation and AP scores is the same regardless of the college. For 99.9% of freshman, classes that build on each other and your major should be repeated in college while validating classes that do not support your major are a good idea. A chemistry major testing out of economics or history is probably ok while a physics major should take first year math classes.

Just for an example, my DD who had completed a year of college:

* Validated plebe history after a 5 AP score and an A in college level world history - is a life science major who does not need any history.
* Taking advanced chemistry after taking a year of chemistry in college - Life Science major that needs the chemistry foundation. BTW, advanced classes are usually more work, but are not as difficult as the name implies.
* Did not sit for the calculus validation exam during beast even with a 4 AP score. Calculus is her weakest subject and she did not want it to impact her other classes
* Was placed in regular english even though she has a 5 AP score and A's in two semester of college english - requested to validate but was not selected
* Validating history lets her get two classes ahead in her major sequence.
 
The OP indicated in a prior post she is currently a h.s. freshman. Lots of time to learn about WP by visiting and reading their website. You can also scan older threads to gain information from frequently asked/basic questions.
 
Then the advice not to worry about such things at this time is even more relevant. Work on taking the most advanced STEM based college prep classes that area available to you and make a little time to enjoy your high school days.
 
USMA 1994 said:
Then the advice not to worry about such things at this time is even more relevant. Work on taking the most advanced STEM based college prep classes that area available to you and make a little time to enjoy your high school days.
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actually i am now currently a sophomore so i’m just really trying to be prepared early
 
The next three - four semesters are the make or break it time for you. Take harder classes and do well in them, get involved in sports or activities that you are passionate about, seek out leadership roles, volunteer in the community.

These types of things are the keys that open the doors your senior year for numerous types of opportunities your Senior Year
 
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