Is there a helpful timeline type all-in-one post/pin here on WTM that helps guide what to do when for high school? Tests, applications, etc...

[Dianne-TX]

DS16 is a junior and I know this next year will entail a lot of things to do.  He's taken the PSAT.  We will schedule the SAT, ACT soon and take again, if needed, for higher scores (some of the colleges he's interested in super score).  I know the FAFSA needs to be done no later than Oct. 1 next year (I know the sooner the better, though.)  Campus visits are good to do.  Spring/summer/fall of next year?  When should he send out applications to the universities he's interested in?  What else?  First child graduating.  Need all the help and advice I can get.  :)   

[Arcadia]

Lori’s useful thread High School Time Table http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/354200-high-school-time-table/

Which is in the pinned thread Transcripts, Credits, NCAA, College Applications, First Time at College, Scholarships/Financial Aid, Career Explore -- past threads linked here! http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/475909-transcripts-credits-ncaa-college-applications-first-time-at-college-scholarshipsfinancial-aid-career-explore-past-threads-linked-here/

[Dianne-TX]

Excellent!  Thank you!

[Miss Tick]

Thanks to you both! Just what I've been needing to read to calm my inner demons.

[aaplank]

Thank you!!! I have been dreading the start of this whole process. Now I feel like I have a starting point and I feel a sense of peace. It's going to be okay, right?

[Lori D.]

Yes, you'll all be fine. :)

 

It's a new mountain you have to climb, but you make it, one step at a time. The earlier you can start doing your research and figuring out what you will and won't need to pursue for your high school student, the easier it is overall -- spreading out that mountain trek over 4 years, rather than having to sprint up it in just the last year. :)

 

Roughly, for the *typical* student, here's when you might want to research which topics:

 

 

8th grade or summer before 9th grade

- make a high school plan

- research record keeping

- research outsourcing

 

9th grade

- research extracurriculars

- plan for life skills to cover in high school

 

10th grade

- research tests (AP, PSAT, SAT/ACT, SAT Subject)

- research dual enrollment

 

11th grade

- start career exploration

- research colleges

- research financial aid

- take tests

 

12th grade

- complete college applications

- complete financial aid applications

- complete high school/graduation

 

For your earlier research (grades 8-10), check out the pinned thread, "Starting High School, Outsourcing, Online Classes, Tutors, Dual Enrollment, AP/PSAT/SAT/ACT/SAT II/ CLEP/GED -- links to past threads here!"

 

For your later research (grades 11-12), check out the pinned thread, "Transcripts, Credits, NCAA, College Applications, 1st Time at College, Scholarships/Financial Aid, Career Exploration -- past threads linked here!"

[2_girls_mommy]

Ok, so by this list, I am not as horribly behind and failing as it feels sometimes!  But I swear everytime I try to look into one item in this list I spend eons looking at websites that aren't clear (like the college board,) about what as a homeschooler I need to do a PSAT or AP test. I know in theory what to do, but have no idea, and can't get any clear answers on where to start. And then the anxiety sets back in that I am failing it all. but we have come this far. I will figure it out somehow. 

Yes, you'll all be fine. :)

 

It's a new mountain you have to climb, but you make it, one step at a time. The earlier you can start doing your research and figuring out what you will and won't need to pursue for your high school student, the easier it is overall -- spreading out that mountain trek over 4 years, rather than having to sprint up it in just the last year. :)

 

Roughly, for the *typical* student, here's when you might want to research which topics:

 

 

8th grade or summer before 9th grade

- make a high school plan

- research record keeping

- research outsourcing

 

9th grade

- research extracurriculars

- plan for life skills to cover in high school

 

10th grade

- research tests (AP, PSAT, SAT/ACT, SAT Subject)

- research dual enrollment

 

11th grade

- start career exploration

- research colleges

- research financial aid

- take tests

 

12th grade

- complete college applications

- complete financial aid applications

- complete high school/graduation

 

For your earlier research (grades 8-10), check out the pinned thread, "Starting High School, Outsourcing, Online Classes, Tutors, Dual Enrollment, AP/PSAT/SAT/ACT/SAT II/ CLEP/GED -- links to past threads here!"

 

For your later research (grades 11-12), check out the pinned thread, "Transcripts, Credits, NCAA, College Applications, 1st Time at College, Scholarships/Financial Aid, Career Exploration -- past threads linked here!"

 

[Lori D.]

...But I swear everytime I try to look into one item in this list I spend eons looking at websites that aren't clear (like the college board,) about what as a homeschooler I need to do a PSAT or AP test. I know in theory what to do, but have no idea, and can't get any clear answers on where to start...

 

Just me, but I found it was much faster, easier, and to the point to just ask a specific question on these boards and get responses from homeschoolers who have already BTDT. Odds are that there's even someone on these boards who has been through the process in your state or area to give you really specific local advice. :)

 

To sign up for the PSAT test as a homeschooler, go directly to a high school near you and request to sign up to take the test with their school's students. So you sign up and pay directly with the high school that is testing. Schools order their tests at the end of September for the mid-October PSAT, so you'll want to start looking for a school that can accommodate your student right after Labor Day, to leave plenty of time to find a school.

 

For AP, again, you will directly talk to the high schools in your area to find out who is offering the specific AP test you want to take, and if they have the room for your student to sign up and test with the school's students. However, because this is often much harder to find a location that can accommodate your student, start looking at least 9 months before the May test dates -- so right after the high schools start up in the fall.

 

For both of these tests, College Board can't really help you much because as a homeschooler signing up, both of these tests are one-time tests, and they are dependent on whether the school's testing location will have room to for additional students, since the testing location has to meet specifications on room size, spacing of desks, number of students, and number of proctors. And, of course, the school wants to make sure all of their own students can "get in" to take the tests.

 

Signing up for the ACT, SAT, or SAT Subject tests is much easier as all students (public, private, homeschool) sign up online through the registration page on the ACT or SAT website, and you can sign up for the date and location of your choice, and there are multiple dates throughout the school year that these tests are offered.

 

Is there a local homeschool group in your area that you could talk to someone locally who has been through this process? That can be very helpful, as they can give you all the tips and little details to make this run smoothly for you.

 

At the worst, once you muddle through one of these confusing processes once with your oldest student, it gets easier the next time. Sometimes it's just a matter of *doing* it once to really "get" how to do it. ;)

 

BEST of luck as you move into all of the "big kid" stuff of homeschooling! ;) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited October 18, 2017 by Lori D.

[Lori D.]

PS -- Also, I know that real-life is much more complicated than that list, because in addition to that new homeschooling high school information to absorb, homeschoolers are also still juggling researching materials for the next year that will be a good fit for the student, as well as juggling all of the deadlines and needs for all of the extracurricular activities, plus trying to work in other things that crunch the schedule, like the student working part time, learning to drive, and possibly doing a special out of town or even out of country summer trip...

 

Adding all of those extra deadlines and research and prep to the high school and college prep things you have to learn about and do can feel like you're buried under an avalanche!

[2_girls_mommy]

Most here just take the ACT since that is what all of our state schools use, so no one in any of my homeschool groups that I know in person has done PSAT or SAT or SAT subject tests  except for ones who did it a long time ago, since they generally aren't necessary for the schools they are looking at. So I am kind of the first to muddle through it. I don't know any hsers that have done AP exams. Most just do DE.  But I have a friend trying with me to figure it all out currently. I hate the idea that we just have to cold call schools I guess. It seems so random. But that is the impression I get.   But your post makes it seem not so daunting, and shows again that I am not behind in needing to find my locations yet. 

 

I am planning on PSAT next Oct and maybe an AP class next year which would need the AP test site figured out around the same time it sounds like so that I have it secured by the end of the year. Then I would like to do an SAT subject test along with the SAT the next year, so then I will start in on that. Thanks for calming my fears. :)