NCAA eligibility-- need oversight?

[Begonia]

For those of you who have tackled the NCAA eligibility rules with homeschoolers, did you use NARS or Clonlara (or some other organization) to help "legitimize" your transcript?

 

For my dd, who will be in 9th grade this fall, I had been planning to provide a home transcript listing different types of classes (online, cc, and mom-designed) while following NCAA course and title requirements. But after scanning through the WTM archives, I'm starting to wonder if I need to take the extra precaution of placing dd's transcript under an oversight agency. :confused: What do you think?

[Ms. Riding Hood]

I was wondering why people think they need an umbrella school myself. After reading through all the NCAA stuff for homeschoolers I only come up with "must take approved courses" and "must submit titles of all texts used". Can anyone provide a link that would indicate more is needed, or is that just a personal preference or "safety"?

[Begonia]

I agree. I've read through the NCAA homeschool page and can't find any mention of umbrella schools myself. But then why do most homeschoolers seem to go this route?

 

HSLDA has some interesting information on http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/hslda/200112120.asp I think I may bite the bullet and get myself a HSLDA membership as extra insurance. And unless I hear that it's suicidal to go it alone, without NARS or Clonlara, we'll stick to our original plan of providing a homemade transcript.

 

It would be reassuring to hear the opinions of those whose homeschooled dc have successfully made it through the NCAA clearinghouse, though.

 

Best of luck to you and to your athlete(s).

[NancyL]

We went through the NCAA hoops the summer before my daughter entered college. One of the coaches told me that his last homeschool student was never able to get authorization for D1. (There's a possiblity that you could sit out the first year of college and then apply with your college transcript, but I wouldn't count on being able to do that) Additionally you wouldn't really be able to get sports scholarships if your eligibility was iffey. The other thing is that if your sport starts practicing in August (in college) you have to have approval FIRST, before you can attend practice. It is possible to get the evaluation done as homeschool, you do pay extra, but it may not come back as early as you want. We went through Indiana HS. You can go to the NCAA approved course list for THAT highschool and pick which courses are OK. (good to know ahead of time) For dd2, I was picking up some of the easier English as she's in 8th right now, (and prealgebra ie) but it was interesting to note that none of those are considered core, or "college prep" The required numbers of courses are now higher, also. So after you pay the fee you will get a list of how many of the core courses are counted, (subject area) and then a refigured GPA of only those courses. (they factor in your test scores, but the chart doesn't really go very high) If you have a super strong SAT score, it really doesn't help compared to just an OK one. (this program is designed to really decide who's under water and who's floating) Not who's above the water! The advisor at IUHS said they've had many many meetings with NCAA, they can promise one thing one meeting and deny it the next. He said you need to get it in writing. The issues I could be concerned with are 1. courses in 8th grade are not counted (but I guess you can petition) and 2 CC college courses may NOT be counted. (funny I know) So--your easiest route is to get something accredited at least for the minimum core courses (even Northstar academy now has approved courses, and they get approved for lab in addition) You will need to make sure you have a lab course. Anyway, the "umbrella schools" won't really work, because each course has to be approved and you will just as easily send them in to be approved for your self. That said, you may not be recruited if you don't demonstrate that you will be approved. The coaches won't waste time unless you are a true star. The homeschool portfolio can work, but it make take more than a few monthes to get your answer back, and the student will already be off to college. (you might consider finishing a year early to make sure you are done) The good news is that coaches generally like the homeschooled kids! (did this help anyone out?)

[Begonia]

Nancy, thank you very much for the detailed response. It gives me a lot to think about. If I've understood correctly, the NCAA expects all of its 16 core classes to come from its "list of approved core courses (form 48H)". One doesn't need to join an umbrella group, but one does have to cherry-pick from the "approved" list unless one wants to run the risk of not being approved in time for the freshman sports season to start.

 

If that's the case, dh and I are going to have to sit down with dd and have a very serious chat about whether or not it's worth sacrificing her favorite "non-approved" courses (e.g., Scholars Online Latin, Jacobs math, Mythology through Lukeion Project, and Spanish with a textbook at home) for the sake of eventually becoming a member of a Div I sports team.

 

She's a target shooter-- two-time Jr. Olympian and a national record holder. She knows three former teammates who shoot on NCAA teams. It'll hurt when she realizes that if she wants to follow in their footsteps, she's going to have to make some tough educational sacrifices. :crying:

[Linda in NM]

I'm nervous; I live in New Mexico (land of entrapment, as they say), and I want to make sure that the rules don't change as my son progresses through highschool. I just prefer the accountability associated with Clonlara...

[Linda in NM]

I slightly disagree--students have received NCAA scholarships from Clonlara, so perhaps it's not an umbrella school. If you tell your advisor your plans, that person identifies the NCAA course requirements so that you do stay on target...

[Linda in NM]

My son at 13 has already given up many things that he'd like to do, such as youth symphony. He is dedicated to hockey, and his dedication has paid off. He's one of two goalies from the state going to Rocky Mountain Select Camp; it's his first year of eligibility. He misses youth group outings for hockey; he misses movies with his friends...the list is long, but, for him, the rewards of playing hockey outstrip everything else.

[Begonia]

Linda, thank you for posting. I'm beginning to understand now why homeschool athletes feel the need for some extra insurance when it comes to facing the NCAA clearinghouse monster. :eek:

 

It's great to hear about your hard-working, dedicated ds and I can empathize with the sacrifices that he's had to make at such a young age for his sport. It seems to me that you're wisely planning well-ahead of time and that your son will benefit as a result. I've only recently come to terms with the fact that my dd wants to target-shoot in college. It was a huge blow today when I realized that I'll have to drastically change our academic plan right now based on that possibility. The fact that her tough Scholars Online Latin classes can't count as "approved core classes" has me floored (Scholars Online doesn't seem to be on the list of NCAA-approved high schools). :ohmy: I think I'm going to pore over the Keystone Academy website and see if I can squeeze my expectations into their courses.

[Begonia]

Just a heads-up, NCAA will NOT accept a NARS transcript (at least 2 years ago). So after all that $$, we had to apply as hsers anyway. We've done the NCAA process twice now, once for Div II and once for Div I.

 

Margaret, you're obviously a pro at doing this. I'm sorry that your NARS transcript was rejected-- what a waste of your time and money. It must have been very frustrating to you at the time. But I really do appreciate that you've shared that info with us.

 

I'm hoping that if we stick to pre-approved classes from the list of NCAA approved online high schools (Keystone, Penn Homeschoolers, etc.) my dd would be more likely to sail through the approval process. Did your homeschool transcript contain any classes that were not on their official list? If so, did that slow down the approval process? Apart from the different number of approved core courses for Divs I and II (16 for Div I and 14 for Div II), did you find any other differences between these two? Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

[Linda in NM]

Good luck, Begonia...I bet you'll be able to work with them. You might try Clonlara, too...they're pretty flexible.

[Linda in NM]

Just checked the NCAA site; NARS is still not accepted.

[NCMom]

We weren't going to use NARS anyway but it annoys me that the website says that "NARS is an NCAA Clearinghouse participant. NARS graduates may qualify as NCAA athletes for college sports eligibility and scholarships."

http://www.narhs.org/node/view/3

 

I'm watching this thread with interest. My swim gal is only going into the 8th grade this year but she is on track to (possibly) need this eligibility. The plan was to just go at it as homeschoolers using our own stuff. Now I see that I may have been overly optimistic and naive...

 

I do not want to get stuck using their "approved" courses from the various online high schools. I mean we had already picked out a few to do but I'm really hoping that some people get through this using their own homemade courses. For one thing it would get hugely expensive and also wouldn't mesh well with the our HS approach. For example, the BYU approved Bio I is not 1/3 of what she will get through on her own. (I just pulled that one out of the blue, maybe others more in depth.)

 

Uug.

Georgia

[Linda in NM]

Good question, Georgia. My 13-year-old son (8th grade) is also on track, which is why I'm checking. At Clonlara, he basically submits multi-page documents describing each subject he wants to study--like "biology & natural history"--using MODG syllabus that combines the Apologia text with additional resources; how he'll prove he's mastered the material (alternative tests, projects?), etc...and then he is approved by his Clonlara advisor. The NCAA site lists the requirements for playing at different schools (like 4 years of English, 3 years of math, 2 of science, etc.)...so...off we go!

[Begonia]

I do not want to get stuck using their "approved" courses from the various online high schools. I mean we had already picked out a few to do but I'm really hoping that some people get through this using their own homemade courses. For one thing it would get hugely expensive and also wouldn't mesh well with the our HS approach. For example, the BYU approved Bio I is not 1/3 of what she will get through on her own. (I just pulled that one out of the blue, maybe others more in depth.)

 

I totally agree. It hit us like a bombshell yesterday when we realized that all the planning we had been doing for high school may come to naught. All the agonizing about whether to choose Jacobs Geometry or Chalkdust Geometry, for example, seems worthless at this point if we have to stick dd in an online class that uses a traditional ps textbook. I'm appalled that I may have to lower our academic standards if we go 100% with NCAA-approved online classes.

 

Linda has pointed us to a way to keep some of our beloved homeschool classes while appeasing the NCAA. I'm going to look into Clonlara so that we can keep our math, Latin, and English curriculum without selling all of our integrity to the all-mighty NCAA.

 

Best of luck to your swimmer. If I find any useful info during my research, I'll keep you all posted.

[mooooom]

I've been all over the NCAA website and I can't find anything that doesn't imply it is easy - and no list of any improved courses.

 

Thx

[NCMom]

https://web1.ncaa.org/eligibilitycenter/student/index_student.html

 

If you click "Lookup Code" it will tell the homeschool code on the top. The courses listed are, like Margaret said, very generic.

 

I ~think~ however that the problem is the course content. If I send the transcript and they don't like the text's etc that we did for certain core courses then is my daughter outta luck?? Sigh...

 

And while Clonlara is approved, it looks to me like Clonlara would cost $1035 each year or at least $1860 if you enroll the senior year... (PLEASE correct me if I am wrong, someone lol) So there goes the money we would spend on the tutorials like Scholars Online, etc. :001_rolleyes:

 

Oh well, I guess we will muddle through somehow, lol. And thanks Begonia, good luck to you and your dd too!

 

Georgia

[Linda in NM]

Well, it's pretty pricey, but I'm not sure it's quite that much...we spend about $700/year for him in elementary school...

[NancyL]

Once you are on the NCAA website- to the left it says Legislation and Governance- then the "Eligibility" is a subset of that topic. Then you go to Eligibility Center. I think its wonderful that people really are planning ahead. I was aided by more experienced parents at swim meets who freely admitted mistakes they had made along the way. I know that it gets real crazy the senior year with recruiting trips etc. Many admitted they learned the hard way. The homeschooling part has good and bad. A typical homeschooler that I might know would do the NARS,(for a minimal diploma) get terrific grades at CC, and stellar SAT's. This can bring in some great scholarships, but won't fly with NCAA. Other kids may actually attend school for 4 years and come out lacking in "Core classes" There can be some really good courses but if they aren't on the list, forget it. (I should add I think you have more leeway if you have a Documented Learning Disability) Then to answer a different question- yes you need to send a sealed transcript to the NCAA from Each School attended, so all classes show up. (we even had enough from only Indiana I think, but to follow the directions was to send four.) FYI Indiana would post any accredited class to your official transcript- so she had classes from U Miss. and also the local High School. Each school communicates to Indiana via a sealed transcript (either you mail it or the school does) We could pick up the local school ones for $5, and send it still sealed. For colleges, then Indiana would send off the one transcript because all classes would show up. And Indiana is wonderful about following through, they would get them off within a few hours! However for the NCAA they didn't believe that and wanted a transcript from EACH school themselves. (is this making sense?) So don't be surprised.

 

Other random recommendations which may or may not be helpful--

The outside accountablity isn't all bad. The Indiana courses were big on essay tests (2 hours) for much of your final grade. Wasn't so fun at the time but a wonderful background for a tough college. Indiana has dual accredidation- meaning that every assignment has to have value. (Their prices have doubled since we started however!! Some other programs have TF or mult. choice and I didn't really like them. (you may find some cheaper, and mult. choice on the computer is always faster to be graded) For price I have been looking into LSU--less than $100 per course, and the books are reasonably priced. But they don't have any labs, and they don't offer a diploma.

Get going right after 8th- we decided the date shows up when you finished the course and you can get some posted during 9th but some of the work could be completed in the summer after 8th. Try to get enough before senior year.

 

We haven't found any accredited Latin that has been Fun. (on our second one) My dd loved Scholars online also. Maybe you might just go for Spanish, they seem to approve all foreign languages, but the Latin courses seem to be double the work. Again, my daughter is thankful now, but she complained greatly at the time. I kept calling and asking--"are you sure I got the HS course and not the college course!")Indiana uses Jenney, and she had to do 1/2 the book for 1 semester. (the funny thing is she said she has excelled in Russian at school) Another kid had had several years of Latin at his HS but wasn't excelling. I think some ps Latin courses must be watered down. (Not Indiana's)

 

Pick the school first, then the program. Kids can get fooled by the recruiting process. The scholarship kids wil be expected to do the grunt work for recruiting, as well as attend every practice. If possible attend a sports camp, talk to the counselors about how they like the program. Ask which majors are NOT allowed, and if study abroad is allowed. (Its not for some sports) I had a list of questions that I wanted my daughter to ask for every program. I pasted them into her little notebook. I don't know if it helped, but she actually picked the school, not the program. She loves the school and only did the first year of swimming. (D1 isn't fun when you have to travel to a 5 day meet during school) It was a good experience for her, but she said those were her lowest grades for her easiest year. I love feedback--is this helpful?

[Linda in NM]

Yes, thanks! Our Clonlara advisor already recommended that my son attend hockey camps where he'd like to play hockey, so we're off to Michigan State this summer for one camp (GDI & Tretiak camps as well...why not spend our retirement now???)

[Begonia]

Thank you everyone for your words of wisdom. I've been feeling like Linda Blair in The Exorcist, my head spinning around in fast motion and unmentionables spewing out of my mouth. But now I'm slowly coming to grips with the fact that I won't be able to homeschool high school the way we had originally planned. I detest the idea of handing over any responsibility for my dd's education to a faceless oversight agency, umbrella school, or whatever, just for the sake of pleasing the mysterious NCAA. But if that's what it takes, I suppose we'll make the best of it-- one year at a time. :001_smile:

 

On the bright side, thanks to you lovely and generous ladies, we are now prepared and forewarned. I would have been heartbroken had we found all this out after starting 9th grade this September. You've given us such a blessing by sharing your stories. Thank you.

[Ms. Riding Hood]

I do not want to get stuck using their "approved" courses from the various online high schools....I'm really hoping that some people get through this using their own homemade courses. For one thing it would get hugely expensive and also wouldn't mesh well with the our HS approach.

 

Ds is *considering* football in college, though D1 would only be possible in certain conferences (Go Tigers!?!) However, we want to keep all his options open. Because we won't live or die on the whole thing, I'm not going to give NCAA much thought in planning his remaining coursework. We'll do what we do and hope for the best. The whole thing is so laughable, since I'd say there are more than a few D1 athletes that would have trouble passing a basic literacy test. Plus, since when do the athletics drive the academics? If ds can get into Princeton, then I want to see the NCAA tell him he isn't "approved". :001_smile: And after reading the HSLDA article, I still can't figure out why C. Klicka seemed to think NCAA is being so great to hs'ers...or any other student. It seems like more people, public, private and otherwise would rise up in protest. I chafe under ridiculous controls.:rant:

[Begonia]

Georgia,

 

I looked at the Clonlara, American School, and Keystone websites today. I agree with you that Clonlara looks expensive for high school. I had hoped, in my naive way, that I could submit home documentation for most of our courses and that a place like Clonlara would somehow, magically, give the courses the official seal of approval and gather them into an awe-inspiring transcript, but, alas, that doesn't seem to be the case. :001_smile: My impression is that students from Clonlara graduate having taken mostly Clonlara online classes. Linda-- please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I still think that at our house we'll wind up cobbling things together almost entirely from the "NCAA-approved" list-- for next year perhaps an AP social studies class from PA Homeschoolers, Biology (plus lab) from Keystone, Geometry from American School, etc. Dd does not want to give up Scholars Online Latin, even if it doesn't qualify for NCAA approval-- she's planning to take one of the Latin AP exams in a couple of years. If that doesn't please the NCAA, then in addition I'll have her take a pre-approved Spanish class or two.

 

If we dig deep enough into the NCAA course offerings (and also into our pocketbooks :001_rolleyes:) we might be able to come up with something approaching the education we were hoping for when we first started homeschooling our dc. If you find any juicy courses out there-- please let me know!

[Begonia]

However for the NCAA they didn't believe that and wanted a transcript from EACH school themselves. (is this making sense?) So don't be surprised.

 

Get going right after 8th- we decided the date shows up when you finished the course and you can get some posted during 9th but some of the work could be completed in the summer after 8th. Try to get enough before senior year.

 

Pick the school first, then the program. Kids can get fooled by the recruiting process. The scholarship kids wil be expected to do the grunt work for recruiting, as well as attend every practice. If possible attend a sports camp, talk to the counselors about how they like the program. Ask which majors are NOT allowed, and if study abroad is allowed. (Its not for some sports) I had a list of questions that I wanted my daughter to ask for every program. I pasted them into her little notebook. I don't know if it helped, but she actually picked the school, not the program. She loves the school and only did the first year of swimming. (D1 isn't fun when you have to travel to a 5 day meet during school) It was a good experience for her, but she said those were her lowest grades for her easiest year. I love feedback--is this helpful?

 

Nancy, all of your recommendations are fabulous; thank you for posting. I especially appreciate your counsel regarding picking the school first, then the program. My dd's sport is target-shooting-- it's not exactly easy to turn that sport into a lucrative career after college!

[NancyL]

You're very welcome and thanks for responding back. I really don't think I have generally that much experience, but trust me, going through the recruiting process is memorable. Just about the only thing to add is that if you have the opportunity to go watch a big college meet is to watch the team and the coaches to see if they look happy and if they are enjoying themselves. (this one set of parents said they would have learned so much if they would have done that) I guess the coach turned out to have pyschological problems, and the team kids learned to cope by being mean. When the girl decided she really didn't like the team, she realized then, that she not only didn't like the town, she really didn't like the college. (and came home) She had to wait a year to apply to the local state U. (as a new swimmer parent- ie, I thought the "camps" were just pushing the kids, and only the rich spoiled kids go. Well some of that is true, as in the Stanford camp you might say, but there are dozens of homegrown camps run all over the country and if the school really might be a potential fit, then its worth it. After listening to the other parents, I then sent my daughter to two, (I paid airfare, but I had a relative that could drive her to the camp) You need to make sure transportation isn't too hard. The coach called the head of one of the departments the day we left (he was eating his lunch) and he dropped everything to spend about 45 minutes with her. (my daughter didn't really appreciate it, but I sure did!) The other thing is that you get much better advising, registration, and weekly tutoring (in any subject you'd like) if you are an athlete. Generally free tutoring is not available to everyone unless you are flunking, he said. However, you will be tired and probably need more tutoring! Years later we ran into the coach at conferences (she went to a different team, same conference) and he said one of our (local) team had a great swimmer who he loved, but the AD wouldn't approve a scholarship because of his grades and test scores. So he would have been eligible, but other factors come into play. Oh and one of my daughters friends went off (way far away) and the team made the freshman get drunk and swallow gold fish. (He then called her to describe it) That was a real turn off, and you know someday that will get out after some unfortunate incident. Always a question that I asked (when kids weren't around). That infuriates me that the coaches condone that behavior! OK ---this is totally everything I know!!!

[Begonia]

Here, I'll share the only other thing I know about NCAA rules: the NCAA places a tight muzzle on coaches. Perhaps you knew this, but I was surprised when I found out. My dd has had lovely, informative, and light-hearted conversations over the years with several college riflery coaches. A couple of them have asked her to choose their schools when the time comes. But I've been told that the only reason they can initiate conversations with her is because they know that she's under 14yo and that the NCAA bans coaches from approaching high school athletes and places restrictions on what the coaches can say. I had often wondered why college coaches tended to keep to themselves and seemed so stand-offish at college/high school matches. Now I know. Weird, huh?

[NancyL]

The stakes are high-the whole department gets a slap and they probably would lose their job if they broke these rules. I know it seems sort of silly for the Olympic sports, but there are Huge recruiting gray areas that are constantly getting pushed on for the big money sports. (such as text messaging--I guess some kids get 100's per day, since they weren't counted on as a phone call!) The rule may already be changing. The bigger programs' coaches assign an assistant coach to keep tabs on the recruits, and they do a lot of the calling. The other thing is you have to be "registered" (preliminary filing) before you can be recruited. July of Junior year (it was) They are serious about these rules. That's why they cancelled all the tennis instruction at UW for everyone after 8th grade--they didn't even want them on the court and watching the teams playing. (you are not allowed to play with college players either) A lot of the parents were sad because there aren't many indoor programs here.

Lastly- is that Alumni definitely are not allowed to get involved. For example- the west point alums help the kids fill out their forms (even come to their house!) But for the recruited athletes they really couldn't even talk with them. (they were both attorneys and knew the rules) They said its OK for the student to walk up and ask a direct question and they could answer, but they are not allowed to call them. If we had any questions about forms, we were supposed to call the coach. (who knew the rules) They took no changes that an inadvertent alum would accidently buy the kid a hamburger or something!!! So yes- that's also in the rules (in the handbook) I'm really curious about the shooting. (my brother did biathlon (skiing) but had to have his gun converted to left handedness in Germany and it made it unreliable. He had to take a penalty lap for a misfire and lost out on the biathlon team trials. And my dad (baseball player) thought being left handed was good!! Which schools are the best?

[Begonia]

I'm really curious about the shooting. (my brother did biathlon (skiing) but had to have his gun converted to left handedness in Germany and it made it unreliable. He had to take a penalty lap for a misfire and lost out on the biathlon team trials. And my dad (baseball player) thought being left handed was good!! Which schools are the best?

 

We met a biathlete once. She was a former marathoner, in her late thirties, looking for a sport that wouldn't be quite as hard on her body. As a shooter, she was pretty poor, but she had an incredibly low heart-rate and the national coaches were hoping that if they could raise her rifle scores a little, she would qualify for the Olympic team. In the end, she didn't. But meeting her gave us a deep respect for the physical and mental training that goes into biathlons. Not a sport for weaklings!

 

Dd has friends, former teammates, and acquaintances on the following teams:

U. Alaska, Fairbanks (Div I)

U. Mississippi (Div I, women)

MIT (Div III)

U. Nebraska (Div I, women)

Princeton (club)

 

At the moment, Alaska is the top dog. The service academies are also highly competitive. Dd's high school-aged team has beaten the JV team at the U.S. Naval Academy during scrimmages the past couple of years, much to the chagrin of the USNA coach. :D Nebraska had a superb women's team but recently their coach took a position elsewhere and it's not clear yet how the team will cope with the change. The other teams listed above each have one or more Olympic hopeful among their ranks.

[Linda in NM]

See if I can post this time (I broke the boards the last time :->...) Clonlara allows you to prepare proposals for how you want to study the subjects you take. You can use Compu-High, but you don't have to. We're already talking with my son's advisor for next year--he plans to take honors biology (using a syllabus from MODG Academy that combines biology and natural history), and we also need to figure out how to get algebra on his highschool transcripts. He's using Videotext Algebra, and he'll probably be finished with the equivalent of Algebra I this year (in 8th grade).

[Begonia]

and we also need to figure out how to get algebra on his highschool transcripts. He's using Videotext Algebra, and he'll probably be finished with the equivalent of Algebra I this year (in 8th grade).

 

Dd's finishing up Jacobs Algrebra this year (8th grade), but I had resigned myself (because of NCAA rules) to not listing it on the high school transcript. Do you think that if we allow our dc to stretch the last couple of chapters into next fall, we could call that 9th Grade Algebra? ;)

[Linda in NM]

That's something similar to what we're cooking up...it helps that Videotext is module-based...

[Jan P.]

An umbrella school is the best option for those in some states. I live in SC, and we have limited options for homeschooling. You can either go to the school district and test with them (no thanks!), join the state homeschool group which is extremely strict about everything (too much paperwork IMHO), or a small umbrella group. I went with our umbrella group because the lady is local, she knows all the Univ. of SC folks, she does transcripts and diplomas (which are accredited for SC at least), and she offers a graduation ceremony. These are pluses with our family. Even if I went through Clonara or Northstar or anyone else outside my state, I would still have to be a member of one of the three groups that I mentioned.

 

Jan (no NCAA hopefuls in my group -- they are the more artsy types):001_smile:

 

I agree. I've read through the NCAA homeschool page and can't find any mention of umbrella schools myself. But then why do most homeschoolers seem to go this route?

 

quote]

[Elizabeth in WA]

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread! But I was researching NCAA eligibility for my currently 8th grade ds and kept reading that courses in 8th grade couldn't be counted. Is that an old rule that has since been changed? Because it doesn't match what I am reading on the current NCAA eligibility website homeschool FAQ:

 

What courses may be used to meet the core-course requirements?

In Division I, generally only courses completed in grades nine through 12 (eight semesters) may be considered core courses. However, if the student has graduated on time after the eighth semester of high school, one core-course unit taken in summer school prior to initial full-time collegiate enrollment may be used to meet the core-course requirements. In Division II, a student may use all core courses completed prior to initial, full-time collegiate enrollment (regardless of when he or she graduates) to meet the core-curriculum requirements. A college course taken during high school by a home schooled student may be used to meet the core-course requirement, provided: (1) the course is placed on the home high school transcript; (2) an official college transcript is received directly from the issuing institution; (3) the course would be accepted for any other student; and (4) the course meets all requirements to be considered a core course. For both Divisions, courses completed during the eighth grade may also be used, provided they meet core-course requirements and are placed on the home school transcript with a grade and credit. [Note: Courses with credits awarded through credit-by-exam will not be used to meet core-course requirements.]

 

Also, doesn't anyone have any updates or experience with getting courses that don't use a textbook approved?

[K-FL]

Dd#1 had American History in 8th using ACE/Paces hs level so we were able (and needed) to count that. She did NCAA clearance 1.5 yrs ago. We also had cc classes that counted too. As to non-text--I've no info.

[Sunshine State Sue]

kept reading that courses in 8th grade couldn't be counted. Is that an old rule that has since been changed?

 

I believe it has been. I intend to use Algebra 1 from 8th grade, but ds will have plenty of math w/o it anyway.

Also, doesn't anyone have any updates or experience with getting courses that don't use a textbook approved?

Ds is in 9th grade, so I'm only a year ahead of you. We use History at our House, which does not use a textbook. Last year, I sent a sample of the syllabus, class notes, tests, etc. to the homeschool office and got a verbal thumbs up. I hope that means we won't have any problems when the time comes.

 

I am also hoping that seeing CC classes on the transcript will be an indication of "academic rigor".

[johnandtinagilbert]

Not there and probably won't be, but wanted you all to know I have a local friend whose dd received a full scholarship to UF. They were not pleased with her transcripts, so they made her complete a ton of testing...SAT IIs, placement tests, etc.

 

All that to say, it was a real pain, but they made it through. As a precaution, the mom has her second son enrolled as a public schooler that is totally dual enrolled in CC classes. She said she knows she won't have any issues this way. Perhaps CC classes will fit the bill for some of you, too?

[K-FL]

Not there and probably won't be, but wanted you all to know I have a local friend whose dd received a full scholarship to UF. They were not pleased with her transcripts, so they made her complete a ton of testing...SAT IIs, placement tests, etc.

 

 

UF requires SAT II's of homeschoolers anyway.

 

from UF Admissions:

Non-Accredited and Home Schools

 

Any student who does not graduate from a regionally accredited secondary school must provide, in addition to a transcript and the SAT or ACT With Writing results required of other applicants, results from the SAT II examinations in mathematics (Level II-C), foreign language, science and social science. For admission decision purposes, the university will use the result of the SAT writing subscore if the applicant has no dual-enrollment or virtual school English composition coursework, since the SAT II in writing is no longer offered.

 

 

Applicants who present G.E.D. scores must also present secondary school records and standardized test scores.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Not there and probably won't be, but wanted you all to know I have a local friend whose dd received a full scholarship to UF. They were not pleased with her transcripts, so they made her complete a ton of testing...SAT IIs, placement tests, etc.

 

All that to say, it was a real pain, but they made it through. As a precaution, the mom has her second son enrolled as a public schooler that is totally dual enrolled in CC classes. She said she knows she won't have any issues this way. Perhaps CC classes will fit the bill for some of you, too?

Are you saying that the NCAA required all that or UF?

[johnandtinagilbert]

Are you saying that the NCAA required all that or UF?

That, I cannot say for certain. She had a full scholarship in golf, though. Perhaps, with the post just before yours, they were UF req't. Sorry I'm unclear.