Help me out with a little history

[knit3tog]

First, let me give you a little background. I've homeschooled my three children since the beginning. Initially I was what I would call a "Charlotte Mason" gal, but swiftly moved more in the direction of classical education with a C.M. twist. Now that I'm the parent of a high school student, and one middle school ADHD student, plus one grammar dyslexic student, I'm a "whatever it takes to get it done" type of homeschooler.

 

In the past, our family has followed the trivium with regards to history study. I began way back when with Story of the World. Once I discovered Biblioplan, which melded Story of the World into it, I happily switched over to its fold. Now, however, I'm running into some challenges primarily related to SAT subject testing.

 

You see, most of the colleges that my son (9th grade) is interested in, require additional testing beyond SAT/ACT testing. These are primarily accomplished via SAT subject tests or AP tests. My son is at the tail end of his 9th grade year and we have been looking at SAT subject tests. His most recent one was done in Biology. We still haven't received the score on that one, but I hope it went reasonably well. The social studies tests are all based on American History, or World History. Well, our history in that regards is spread out over several different years (two years for American, and four years for World). I'm wondering if there would be a better fit for him now that he's in high school that is perhaps set up more like the school systems encounter. Now, this is mostly for better recall of information when he encounters the test. After all, we last covered exploration two years ago, so that information is definitely more foggy than say, World War II, which we covered this year.

 

Because we've been happy with Biblioplan (and I anticipate still using it with my other two children) I haven't been looking further. Now that the convention (FPEA) is barreling down on me, though, I'm wondering if there is a good fit for "testing" that I could look at. The only other one that I've even briefly looked at is Notgrass History.

 

If anyone who has some information/experience with my situation can help me out, I'd sure appreciate it!

 

Thanks!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

How many tests are the schools you're considering looking for?

It might be that 3-4 tests would satisfy them and speak to the overall level and content of your homeschool. If so you could pick one history test and a couple other tests rather than trying to do every SAT exam or trying to cover every class on the transcript with an exam.

 

If the schools really do want to see more exams than this do please share the info on the school so others can be prepared.

[knit3tog]

Specifically, I'm referring to Georgia Tech, although my son also visited the University of Florida and spoke directly with the homeschool guidance counselor who advised him he would need to show "proof" of academic success such as an SAT subject test. The SAT/ACT just wouldn't be enough. I pulled this off of GT's website with reference to homeschoolers...

 

Application Checklist for Students Attending an Unaccredited Home School Program

• Application for freshman admission
  
• Home School Documentation Form
  
• Official SAT I and/or ACT scores directly from testing agency
  
• Demonstration of academic ability in:
  Foreign Language
  Social Studies/Social Science
  Lab Science (ACT Science may satisfy)
  College coursework, SAT Subject Tests, AP/IB test scores, or a combination of these may be used to demonstrate academic ability in foreign language, social studies/social science and lab science. English and Math ability will be assessed through performance on the SAT or ACT.
  

It doesn't specifically say that SAT Subject tests would be the only required proof, but rather that college coursework, along with AP/IB would be considered. Since he's just finishing his freshman year, I haven't looked yet into AP (although those can be more difficult to gain access to testing in our area... I've been working hard just to find a school willing to administer PSAT, and so far have come up empty), although that seems to be a good place to obtain "proof."

My son wants to become an aerospace engineer, which is why we worked on doing the SAT Biology test (figured the more science he can "prove," the better). The other tests besides science I imagine we will need to cover is German and social studies (American and World History)

[In The Great White North]

This is actually an improvement! Georgia Tech used to be rather dogmatic about requiring SAT subject tests from homeschoolers - now they are willing to accept a college course or the AP test.

 

The most I have ever seen is 5 - a math, an English, a science, a social science and a foreign language.

 

We have routinely rejected any and all schools that required extra testing.

[knit3tog]

Hmm. Softening their stance, huh? It still seems like a lot of extra work for me. I admit, though, that I really have no meaningful knowledge about college entrance at this point. I just figured that if the first two colleges were requiring things like SAT subject tests, that this would be the norm for homeschool kids. Are the AP tests easier by comparison? If so, I'll certainly pursue that direction as well.

 

I'm still not clear if a successful completion of an AP test (not a class, but a test) would waive a college credit. I'm assuming it varies by university. AP can be difficult to test in, as I understand it, as the schools aren't required to allow homeschoolers to participate. Of course, I freely admit that we haven't (yet) pursued that path. I'm planning on facing that one and learning more about it this summer.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

One thing I noticed on the GT site is that they seem to be looking for just one outside confirmation of difficulty level in each subject area. From the website:

 

However, in order to holistically evaluate students graduating from unaccredited home school programs, our Admission Committee requires supplementary information to demonstrate academic ability in core academic areas. English and Math ability will be assessed through performance on the SAT or ACT. Additionally, we require a college course or standardized test in one Foreign Language, one Social Studies/Social Science and one Lab Science. (bold underlining added.)

 

So it doesn't look like you have to come up with an SAT Subject Test or AP exam for every course, just something in each of those three areas.

 

German: They mention SAT Subject Test and AP exam. Could also use a community college course. They might accept Goethe Institute Zertifikat Deutsch exam or National German Exam results as outside verification. I'm not familiar with NGE, but the Zertifikat Deutsch exam has several levels and B1 is at least as challenging as the AP exam.

 

Social Studies/Social Science - SAT Subject Tests - US History or World History. AP exams - Comparative Government and Politics, European History, Human Geography, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Psychology, US Government and Politics, US History, World History. Community College course in the subject.

 

Lab Science - SAT Subject Tests - Biology, Chemistry, Physics AP exams - Biology, Chemistry, Physics (currently 3 exams, soon to be 4), Environmental Science. Community College course.

 

Keep in mind that the SAT Subject tests are designed to test content typical of high school courses, while AP tests content typical of an introductory college class. But I think you might be able to largely stick with the content you are trying to hit and still be able to do well enough on one of the exams. I looked at trying to do AP World History and decided the course content was just too different from how I wanted to focus a course on world history. Instead we're doing a year of government and I'm planning to have them tackle both the AP American Government and Comparative Government courses.

 

And with any competitive college, meeting the minimums might not be enough to be accepted. It might be worth looking for info on how many AP courses the average GT freshman has or how many AP courses college bound grads of your local high schools have. That might give a rough idea of what the competition looks like.