You do fill out the guidance counselor section. The vast majority of semifinalists become finalists -- you don't need a perfect GPA or anything like that. I think most of the kids who don't make it are ineligible in some way (e.g., they aren't 11th graders). When you get the packet in the fall, it's all very self-explanatory and it's a good warm-up for the college apps. It's really not too bad!

APs are never a waste of time in my opinion! My kids took many APs and didn't get credit for a single one, but they got into great schools.

APs and SAT subject tests give homeschoolers an objective measure to show the quality of their education. Having lots of APs makes your child stand out and shows admissions people they've had an education as rigorous as that offered anywhere. My three oldest each had eight to twelve 5s on APs and 750 and above on eight SAT subject tests, and they were accepted at excellent schools (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Duke, MIT, etc.) It worked for us! Maybe APs aren't required, but they sure don't hurt and the public school kids your children are competing against for admissions and scholarships are taking them.

It depends on the school. For highly selective schools, where most of the applicants have excellent SAT scores, you need the scores and grades to be considered, but then you need much more to make you stand out from the crowd. You need things like lots of APs, exciting community service, national awards, etc. At other schools that aren't as selective, a great SAT score is all you need to get in.

Preparing a syllabus for the AP is a lot of work, but it makes you really understand what's on the test and makes you really think through your plan for the year. We have had no problem getting courses approved, and I think it's definitely worth the effort.

My children have been accepted at Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, and they all have this policy. With two children at Harvard, we pay ten percent of our income, total, for both of them. These schools started this policy of reaching out to middle class families before the economy tanked, and they've stuck with it even though their endowments have taken a hit.

You know, if you ace the multiple choice, you can write a mediocre essay and get a great score. I had a child get a 770 with an 8/12 essay and 800 with a 9/12. You need to get them all right, but the multiple choice is pretty easy to teach, I think.

Sorry, I don't know why I thought you said Spanish. In any case, you definitely need to cover advanced grammar for the German SAT II. A good book is Kaleidoskop. There's not a Polish test that I know of.

I think you are going to have to supplement the Rosetta Stone with a grammar book if you want to give your child high school credit for Spanish and especially if you want him to do well on the SAT II. The Spanish test is hard to do well on because many of the kids who take it are either native speakers or are prepared for the AP.

My daughter, who is at Harvard, met the admissions counselor who read her application. He told her that being homeschooled helped her get in -- they actually have a quota for homeschoolers and take something like 13 a year. We heard that eighty percent of the applicants to Harvard look the same on paper. With so many qualified kids, the admissions people are trying to put together an interesting group of students. Homeschooling makes us diverse!

I agree 100 % Gwen! My kids have had great experiences with AP classes and you need in-depth understanding to do well on the tests. At least the language tests are definitely being dumbed down. APs gave our kids a chance to stand out and show they excelled and that is going to be harder with the new tests.

The latest remake of Emil und die Detektive is outstanding and completely appropriate for the whole family. It's our favorite!

here's a link to the Fox News interview: http://mathcounts4all.blogspot.com/

We now have a facebook group -- Homeschool Mathcounts and a google group: http://groups.google.com/group/homeschool-mathcounts. Please join and share information on the fight to get Mathcounts to change this policy! The team component of Mathcounts is very important to kids (especially girls!) and is what makes this competition appealing and fun even for those who aren't big fans of math. The AMCs are important in High School, but it is the team aspect of Mathcounts that lays the foundation. It teaches kids to solve problems and makes them love math. We can't give it up without a fight!