Schools offering a major in Computer Science without ABET accreditation: Stanford CMU Cornell Princeton Columbia Harvard Rice Yale Brown Duke Northwestern Makes me wonder how students from the top computer science schools in the US are faring against this "kiss of death."

Beautiful!

I think to a certain extent you can. I organized my transcript by subject, and included a few items on the high school transcript that were taken in middle school: algebra, geometry and AP CS A. I made it clear that those grades were not used to calculate GPA or for units for graduation. I included them in case any box-checkers wanted to make sure she'd taken algebra and geometry (important for UCs), and just because it was an AP class. But I don't think what constitutes English 9 versus English 10 is well-defined. Everything else I'd just rename the year.

Thank you for the tip! I'm deciding recently that if it's important have a particular brand and avoid counterfeit products, I'm ordering from stores that don't use 3rd parties to fulfill. When you say "escalate" is that simply a matter of saying, "Can I speak to a manager?" Or is there something else that translates into escalation?

What?? They have live people answering phones?

I ordered a skein, and I need more yarn than I thought I would. (I made a big goof and I just want to start the project over.) I'd like to order from the same dye lot. Do you think that will be possible? it's a Bernat brand yard ordered online from Yarnspirations. Thanks!

I just read this post and generally agree with her assessment. But remember, these are general guidelines, and you need to look at your own student and think about what kind of picture you are painting of her. Your student is the kind of kid who spends her hard-earned money on interesting educational opportunities. That's pretty neat. This blogger would suggest that because she paid for this experience, it isn't worth reporting. But because she herself earned the money, and not the parents, I think this is impressive and worth reporting. Unless there are many other things about your student (not being sarcastic here...I imagine she's probably quite accomplished), it pales in comparison.

You aren't overthinking this. It's tough to figure out which data field (if any) a given activity should be documented. Should it be an EC, a transcript item, a main essay topic, or a response to a supplemental question? Or should it go into your counselor letter? Cal Newport advocates leaving things off your college application, especially if you think those items will dilute the strength of her more impressive accomplishments. This is hard to do. You can read his book, How to be a High School Superstar, and decide for yourself.

So, I'm pretty sure you should include that course on her transcript, even if she doesn't need the credit. And you should keep a copy of her college transcript--an unofficial pdf is fine for now--to upload to the Common App. Once she's been admitted to a university, they will likely ask you for all official transcripts, so you should order this transcript for the admissions department. I had the same thing happen, where we accidentally on purpose signed up for a class at the CC. It turned out to be pass/fail, and I wish it had never happened because it didn't amount to much. But because it was a college class I needed to include the info on her transcript, and I ended up ordering an official transcript from the CC sent directly to the university. Whatever. I really like the story of your student saving her money to pay for this class. It really shows initiative and love of learning and a strong work ethic.

Many books for adults have versions for children: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/business/media/laura-hillenbrand-jon-meacham-adapt-titles-for-children.html

What classes did your student take? Are they core academic classes for which she received high school or college credit? Did she receive a grade or P/F? If it's a regular college class, then she will need to supply that college's transcript with her application. You will want to include it on your own main transcript as well. If it was more of an enrichment class, no grades and no credit, and not something that was offered to college students or advanced high school students, like where your student did some marine biology research, then I wouldn't call it a class, and classify it as an EC or something. It depends partly on what kind of activity it was.

Thanks, I added it to the list.

I'm sorry you are experiencing this issue, which is hands down the worst thing about homeschooling. I have not heard anyone taking the initiative you describe re: proctoring exams. You might call the homeschool resource center you mention and ask how they received approval. I am also building a list of homeschool friendly testing sites here.

I'm not familiar with "WHA", but by the time my student was junior, she had been taking AP classes since 8th grade: AP CS A, AP chemistry, AP stats, and AP bio.

Grade 11 AP Seminar --> ??? skip this one AP Biology --> solid AP Statistics --> easy Calculus 12 What is the difference between this calculus class and AP Calc BC in 12th grade? For a mathy kid, I recommend going straight to AP Calc BC. Literary Studies 11 Strings 11 PE 11 Computer Programming 12 (Outside of timetable - he is 1/2-way with Derek Owens CS' course. The school will give him this credit.) The school really wants him to do the AP Capstone Diploma. Since I don't think it would be terrible for Marcus, and they are giving us $45,000 in Scholarship money....I think it's ok. From what I understand, he can make this all about something that he is interested in anyway. Grade 12 AP Research--> ??? skip this one too. AP Physics C AP Chem AP Calculus BC --> Yikes! These are 3 solid courses. I'd move AP Calc BC to 11th grade just to give him a chance to breathe his senior year. AP Micro/Macroeconomics English 12 Strings 12 AP Stats is easy and should be doable with AP bio in 11th grade. I'm a little concerned about AP calculus BC AND AP Physics C AND AP Chemistry all in one year. Those are 3 very solid AP courses and may overwhelm a student who isn't mathy or lacks solid EF skills. The word "overwhelming" comes to mind. Why is he doubling up on science his senior year? You say your student doesn't know how to study. Either he's going to learn very fast his senior year...or he's going to crash and burn. I know very little about AP "seminar" and AP "research", but there's a risk that they were suck more time away from your student's schedule than advertised. And there's little to gain. Drop those. Having said that, my dd, who has excellent EF skills took these AP classes her junior year: APUSH, AP lang and comp, AP calc BC, and AP Physics C. So it is doable, but like I said, she's very organized, had lots of experience taking AP classes so she knew the drill, and didn't attend bm let alone boarding school. She also took NO AP CLASSES her senior year, leaving time for applying to colleges, her internship, and life in general.

If anyone has found a homeschool-friendly testing locations for PSAT or AP, could you PM me or add them to this thread so I can update the master list?

I like having a mechanical stage, LED light , cordless/rechargeable, and swiveling eye piece.

nm.

Welcome to homeschooling! I'm not certain but I think I saw your post on a FB group. First of all, you can do this, but you kind of need to hit the ground running. Here is a list of HSC county contacts. Is Oakland in Alameda county? If so, you are in luck, because Jamie is fabulous and very knowledgeable. She'll get you going in no time. The advice you received about potentially needing to repeat a grade if you decide to return to public school is accurate. You do need to be cognizant of that, and the best way to ascertain this is to call your local public school and ask them what you need to show junior status if your student decides to return to school after a year. Enrolling in a charter doesn't guarantee that your student will be enrolled in the classes he wants, but it might help. Also, filing a PSA may not prohibit him from taking the classes he wants if he decides to re-enroll. Some schools determine placement with their own placement test, or will accept a standardized test score, such as an SAT subject test score. Your student can successfully apply to competitive colleges with either a PSA or charter. My dd was PSA, and was admitted to UCB, UCLA, and Stanford, along with some safeties. We did charter for elementary and part of middle school when you have a lot of academic freedom. You will encounter a lot more restrictions enrolled in a charter, but that depends on the charter's policies. (We were enrolled in Ocean Grove, but I don't think they cover your area.) For now, I would go ahead an complete your application for any charters in your area, just because there may be wait lists. If they have a spot for your student, you can ask them directly what curricula you are using or plan to use and see what they say. You can drop out of a charter school at any time, there's no risk to trying it out. Start thinking about what your student's goals are for after high school graduation. Once you leave the public school system, it's on you to be on top of college applications and things like SATs and letters of recommendations, etc. My point here isn't to scare you, because college admissions ain't rocket science, but you do need to be organized. One other thing is you can always call the HSC help line: 1-888-HSC-4440. I just finished manning covering it, but I believe the woman scheduled for this week is very experienced. Also feel free to search the High School and College Board archives on this forum and ask questions, and we'll get you launched. HTH!

I'm glad you like this idea. It reminds me of how a doctor might diagnose abdominal pain: poking around here and there, trying to figure out which organ is the source of the pain. Similarly, because those AMCs test on a variety of different areas, it's liking poking around to see where his weaknesses are. The most important thing is to keep him mentally healthy and enjoying math.

He took calculus in 8th grade, correct? You are not obligated to report grades taken prior to 9th grade. You may want to report (ironically) his algebra, geometry, algebra 2, and precalc classes, but don't use the grades or units to calculate GPA, because colleges may want to see specifically that's he's had this material. My kids took algebra and geometry in middle school, so I did that, because I was afraid there would be box-checkers looking for those classes, even though they had taken more advanced classes in high school. But you can pretend that calculus never happened, as far as I'm concerned. You can just label them "pre-high school" or something similar.

I agree I don't think it matters except insofar as your policy is consistent with your core values about education. I personally object to how the scope of school has expanded to include all manner of non-educational pursuits. (I'm looking at you, football.) So I personally find it difficult to require volunteering hours to graduate. I also agree it undermines the agency of my dd's accomplishments when I say her time spent volunteering was required by me. It also contradicted the values we were communicating in our own School Profile. We emphasized our student's ability to hand select all aspects of her education and really, her life. Why would I insist on some quantity of hours directed at some specific pursuit? You could argue this is hypocritical in light of the fact that my younger dd is enrolled in a regular BM school that does require volunteer hours to graduate. Whatever. And if you disagree, I wholeheartedly endorse your right to require volunteer hours. I can see the benefits of this policy as well. I only ask that you write your School Profile with sincerity. 🙂

I'm scratching my head wondering what he's not understanding about calculus. I'm guessing he must have had some challenging material prior to calculus, that is arguably more difficult to grok. I'm worried that he isn't solid on some prerequisite, and perhaps he rushed through some material on his way to calculus, without being 100% solid. I think being respectful of his mental health, we don't want to butt our heads against calculus right away. If you aren't in a position to detect any possibly math deficiencies, I might prescribe something entirely different. I recommend he study old AMCs. Start with AMC 8's. If those are too easy (he scores at least 20 out of 25), then bump him up to AMC 10 and AMC 12. Review all problems he doesn't know how to solve. Really review them. If he's forgotten any theorems, go back to the old AoPS textbooks and do some sample exercises and problem sets. That should jog his memory. And hopefully diagnose anything that he didn't really understand the first time and help him when he decides to tackle calculus again. Since you can't really spend an entire year doing nothing but old exams, I also recommend he study out of one of the non-core AoPS books: intro NT, intro C&P, or intermediate C&P. (There's also a intermediate NT class, but no textbook.) After a one year break, return to calculus. It really should not be such difficult material to learn, once you get the epsilon-delta proofs. I thought a lot of the material in precalculus was much more difficult.

This idea that some regionalisms can be expected in some areas and offensive to others reminds me of another example. MIL is from Texas, and she happily accepts the title of "Granny." My own parents are from the upper midwest. They sole person they know with the title Granny is the character from the Beverly Hillbillies TV show. She is portrayed not favorably, and I know my mother would never want that title because of the association. Happily it all worked out! (She's "Grandma.")

Saint SWB? Saint John Holt? While we're at it, we should also have some sort of mascot or spirit animal.