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JD1

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Everything posted by JD1

  1. I just wanted to add a couple of thoughts... Son chose SMU for multiple factors, including getting 1 of 20 full ride scholarships, however, the instant sense of community and connection with both students and admin along with the leadership and networking opps at the Cox school of business made the decision. He did not want to be a small isolated fish at an elite college. Finally, we did ultimately benefit greatly from a homeschool education consultant. It is important to find someone who you really connect with, and is supportive. We spoke with several, and our son still recalls his shock upon hearing one consultant state 'you don't even have a ticket to the elite school lottery' when discussing building a balanced list and applying to the lottery schools. Well, what a relief it is all over! Onward!
  2. DS accepted Carnegie Mellon Tepper Business Santa Clara Univ. Leavey Business Trinity University William & Mary SMU Cox BBA scholar and President's Scholarship
  3. We're waiting for ED & EA results soon. Dd applied to ed&ea to Rice University University of Chicago Santa Clara University Southern Methodist University Trinity University Arizona State University.(he got accepted to his safety ASU! rolling admits)
  4. In a similar vein, I was watching a livestream on collegevine. It was a live essay review, and the essay was so bad I couldn't believe it. After a few sentences, and the reviewer admirably offering corrections, I thought this couldn't possilby be real. It had to be some sort of prank. It was funny in a sad kind of way.
  5. Thanks for the suggestions everybody!
  6. Yes, we registered last fall, and he's scheduled for the first week of may.
  7. I’m struggling with trying to figure out if taking 3 AP exams (self-study) next month will be worthwhile. Here is the scenario: Homeschooled all courses with WTMA 3.93 gpa 4 DE classes(all A’s) at embry-riddle univ; engineering, calculus, physics & comp sci. Sat score was 1440(730 eng 710 math) Son is a junior and reaching for elite schools. Extracurriculars and essays are Lake Wobegon above average. WTMA doesn’t really offer AP classes, and AP’s are not taught at our local rural high school, so the thought was to self study for the AP comp sci, statistics and economic exams with the aim of providing more verification of academic success. At this point with only a month more to prep, I’m wondering whether it was a mistake. He was disappointed with the math score on the SAT after a year of serious study! If the AP exams don’t matter then he could put the time into other activities.
  8. I agree with Dmmetler, it would be great to introduce it now. My son started piano with me at 6, and we would just enjoy the sounds, a melody or two, and a few easy books. At 6 he also started cello and that was more formal with a teacher...Fast forward 10 years and he is quite proficient in both. We never pushed him, he just loved it.
  9. Thanks, Lori...I'll check it out. I did finally find how to search old topics on the forums...I searched for 'harvard magazine article' (i had to choose ALL search terms not just any), and was able to find it.
  10. I tried to search and find an old thread but came up empty. Where would I look to see what was discussed.?
  11. This is from an article 1 year ago, but since I missed it, perhaps others might benefit from reading it. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/05/law-school-professor-says-there-may-be-a-dark-side-of-homeschooling/ The interview link is from the Harvard Gazette, and I am including a quote that outlines this professor's radical views of homeschool parents and children. GAZETTE: Your article says that homeschooling in its current unregulated form represents a danger to both children and society. What evidence do you have to support that? BARTHOLET: One is the danger of child maltreatment, and we have evidence that there is a strong connection between homeschooling and maltreatment, which I describe in my article. Other dangers are that children are simply not learning basic academic skills or learning about the most basic democratic values of our society or getting the kind of exposure to alternative views that enables them to exercise meaningful choice about their future lives. Many homeschooling parents are extreme ideologues, committed to raising their children within their belief systems isolated from any societal influence. Some believe that black people are inferior to white people and others that women should be subject to men and not educated for careers but instead raised to serve their fathers first and then their husbands. The danger is both to these children and to society. The children may not have the chance to choose for themselves whether to exit these ideological communities; society may not have the chance to teach them values important to the larger community, such as tolerance of other people’s views and values.
  12. Thanks to all for these really helpful comments. This is my first time trying to navigate all of this and it is a big challenge. I don't think I planned this well, but at this point need to make decisions for better or worse. While not ideal, I am leaning more towards taking some extra DE classes, and then just have DS take some of the AP exams he can do self-study. It only makes sense to do the exams in2022 as senior year 2023 will be too late. Unless anyone thinks otherwise, I am assuming that there will be at least some benefit in taking an AP exam and scoring well (without taking the AP class). I did find a small private school in central Arizona who will be happy to assist us in the exam setup! I had no idea we needed to do it now!! Thank you!!!
  13. E-R has a their DE program all online through their WorldWide branch. I think it probably looks better than a local CC. Thanks for the suggestions on the AP sites. That is very helpful!
  14. Regentrude, is your job at a college, private or public? I would echo your thoughts above. Personal experience of my son is his university courses(with the exception of the Calculus) were book reading, little teacher involvement, asynchronous, and maybe very little learning unless you were passionate. Multiple choice tests were the norm. He also still speaks to his friends at Oregon Episcopal School(he did 7th & 8th grades) and the norm at that 'best school in the state' is the students learned nothing over the past year online. The admin was scrambling to figure out online zooms, etc. However, DS' experience at WTMA is the opposite. They have mastered the technology pieces, the classes are all live, using blackboard and they have chat and audio participation. He says that the difference between WTMA and and the college online is remarkable. So fortunately for him he has done well.
  15. Thanks for your perspectives, Lori & kokotg. Another nuance is that in these lockdown times many in person classes are not happening. I anticipate that admission readers are going to see some new trends in applications, especially in extra curriculars. The Embry Riddle courses are all asynchronous and online,(although they do have group projects where students interact) but I don't think that will be apparent or noticed by the readers.
  16. How do elite college admissions view AP vs. DE? Our son has 3 Embry Riddle Aero U courses on his transcript(high school dual enroll.); Engineering intro, Calculus and Physics for engr.) He is considering taking a few more; Economics, Statistics, Computer Science. Currently he does not have any AP coursework, but he could prep and test for several AP exams next spring. I spoke with an ed. consultant who thought that the DE might be seen more favorably than AP, but I'm concerned about a complete lack of AP coursework on his common application. His primary concern is admissions, and not the ability to get college credit for any of these courses.
  17. Thanks for the great discussion. I was going to post a new thread on this topic but fortunately found this one. We live in rural central Arizona, too far from a local CC. Our son is 11th grade and hoping for admission to an elite university. Last year he started taking online dual enrollment courses offered by Embry Riddle Aero U. So far he has Engineering 101, Calculus Anyl Geo 241(hard math for engr) and now Physics 150(for engr.) The classes are not cheap($250 per credit hour). They are all asynchronous although there are group projects and discussions. I can discuss more in detail our experience if anyone is interested, but my general question is do college admissions departments view these various DE programs any differently? We were looking at the ASU UL courses for some computer science credits but the 'pay only if you like the grade' seems to be a potential red flag in the eyes of college admissions....It seems the Embry Riddle name might be an advantage over a local CC, but I am guessing. We won't need transfer credit for any of these(assuming son gets into elites they wont give credit anyway), so we are doing this to show rigor in his high school transcript.
  18. Did West actually write this, or did Victor Davis Hanson?! I'm usually on the opposite side of West's views, but this statement from the op-ed sums it up for me: "The removal of the classics is a sign that we, as a culture, have embraced from the youngest age utilitarian schooling at the expense of soul-forming education." Howard as a private institution certainly has the freedom to make its own decisions, but West is articulate in his observations of a general malaise that is poisoning souls of our education institutions. Decades ago I had a similar experience at Lousiana Tech U in Ruston, La. After reading the course catalog I was excited to take some courses in Philosophy, but after signing up each quarter, I was crestfallen to learn that the classes were mysteriously and repeatedly cancelled. Disappointed, after inquiring into the situation it was revealed that the only philosophy professor had been terminated 4-5 years prior!
  19. Thanks Sebastian...It takes me months to get things done so I probably need 3 years to feel comfortable with this college stuff! I was panicking last week but I'm trying to remember to breathe!
  20. Hi Lori, Thanks so much! After thinking about it your approach makes alot of sense. Our only son is now an 11th grader, so all of this is new and overwhelming to me. I have been reading and exploring this forum for a few months now, and the information and perspectives the participants offer is really priceless to me. Fortunately we have a year to try and understand all of these nuances and details. Your help is much appreciated! John
  21. Here is an example of one course...too much? Course Descriptions Well-Trained Mind Academy Algebra II Honors - Thinking Algebraically Instructor: Heather Quintero (credits 1.0) Full Year 2019-2020 Grade: A- Required Texts: • Rusczyk, Richard; Introduction to Algebra. Alpine, CA: Art of Problem Solving Incorporated, 2010 (ISBN: 978-1-934124-14-7) Text covers both Algebra I and Algebra II topics. This course will cover chapters 13-22. • Rusczyk, Richard and Crawford, Matthew; Intermediate Algebra. Alpine, CA: Art of Problem Solving Incorporated, 2013 (ISBN: 978-1-934124-04-8) Prerequisite: Completion of WTMA AoPS Algebra 1, AoPS Algebra A, or a similar rigorous or honors level Algebra 1 course. If you have previously completed a different Algebra I course, please take the readiness test: https://data.artofproblemsolving.com/course-docs/diagnostics/algebra-b-pretest.pdf Course Description: Prepares the student for challenging upper level courses such as Number Theory, Geometry, Intermediate Algebra, Pre-Calculus, and other exciting classes. Algebra 2 focuses on problem-solving, logic, and engagement with upper-level math to foster in-depth understanding and enjoyment. The class will strengthen the student’s ability to wrestle with tough problems and explain answers in words. Topics include but are not limited to: complex numbers, graphing quadratics, quadratic optimization, graphing functions, inverse functions, operations with polynomials, logarithms, exponential functions, special manipulations. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss problems and to work individually and in groups to solve assigned problems. To that end, the lesson addressed during a class should have been reviewed by the student prior to class. Students should expect to spend 6-8 hours each week completing assignments for this class in addition to scheduled class times. Course Assignments: Assignments consist of problems from the text to be completed at home and submitted via Blackboard as well as online problems. Several problems each week involve a proof-type response where a written solution, showing and explaining steps taken to arrive at a final answer, must be given. In addition, students will participate in regular discussion challenges. Extra practice will be given as needed to aid learning using Alcumus, a free review game provided through the Art of Problem Solving site. Regular tests consist of no more than 20 problems, similar to those found in the texts. Active participation during the weekly class times is expected and will be counted for a percentage of a student’s overall grade. Sample problems are found here: Introduction to Algebra - Sample questions Intermediate Algebra - Sample questions Grading, Correcting and Accommodations: Solutions to online problems will be provided. Students will be expected to rework problems they have missed may re-submit work to improve a grade prior to the due date. Assignments will be available for a minimum of 10 days. Late work will receive a letter grade reduction (10 points) for every day that the work is late, up to seven days. (For example, work due on a Friday which is submitted on a Monday will receive a grade of no more than 70%, if the grade would have been 80%, the late grade is 50%.) After seven days, late work will not be accepted. Students are responsible to seek help when needed and the instructor is available to meet with students for extra help by appointment. If a student has a disability that may have some impact on work in this class and for which he or she may require accommodations, please contact the instructor prior to the first week of class. Grades will be based on: Homework - 50% (30% - regular homework questions, 20% - proof problems) Discussion response questions - 15% Class Engagement and Participation - 10% Regular Tests/Exams - 25%
  22. Thanks for the quick reply! My understanding is that WTMA will not issue transcripts. They do send you a completion certificate for each course a student finishes. Regarding the syllabi, I am leaning towards taking the WTMA example syllabus, and then paring it down a bit, probably deleting the weekly schedule. I find their syllabi to be very complete and well written.
  23. My son currently takes most of his courses from the WTMA. Recently the academy received accreditation, although apparently we will still complete and submit his H.S. transcript and course descriptions on the College App as a homeschooler. Here are 2 questions: 1. For the course descriptions on the College App, I am considering using the complete WTMA course syllabi. They are quite lengthy so perhaps that is too much? 2. WTMA provides course certificates for each course which includes grades. I'm wondering in any of you WTMA parents are submitting those on the College App? Thanks for any responses. John
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