BHS AHA recent experiences
Hello, I have read the past threads on AHA and it seems like the reviews on the academics are mixed to negative. Anyone have recent experiences or feedback? For a kid that wants to attend a top 20 university, is that possible coming from AHA? Are there academically rigorous courses (i.e. APs) available to them?
May 13, 2024
Parent Replies
To attend a rigorous university your only options are AC and IB. The other schools are known for being less academically rigorous.
Hello...My daughter graduated from BHS in 2022. She wasn't in AHA but she was in CAS, which is around the same size as AHA. It is also know for being "less rigorous". My daughter was academically motivated and got good grades. She took the AP classes she could but it wasn't a lot of APs. She got into most of the colleges she applied for, including UCSD, UCSC, and USD. She decided she wanted to study architecture so accepted her admission to Cal Poly SLO, know for being a rigorous program. She is thriving doing great there. All that said, I think kids from the smaller schools at BHS can get into great schools! My daughter did feel limited in the classes she could take in CAS and by the number of AP's, but it did work out for her in the end. I was happy to see her not feeling so stressed out in high school and still get into plenty of great colleges. She recommended her younger brother go into AC though:)
My child graduated from AHA in 2022 and is thriving at a small liberal arts college. They had dedicated and caring teachers and appreciated the strong community. Although my own child was not interested in taking APs, I think it is probably possible -- if your child is interested in a small school, you may want to investigate the details of what is available before writing off AHA based on vague claims of being 'known' for 'lack of rigor'.
My child is in CAS with similar restrictions on how many AP classes they can take. Supposedly, colleges understand these limitations and take them into consideration. My kid likes CAS, but it is definitely less academically rigorous than IB and AC. They had a minute of regret beginning junior year when realizing they couldn't take more AP classes, but is totally fine now. I think it's hard as a freshman to know what kind of college they'll want to attend, but if they can, it's easier to choose the BHS school with that in mind.