Me too. So odd!

LOL, yes! If your budget will allow those extra application fees.

It does mention a-g. It doesn't ask if a class is a-g approved. UC has made it clear in the reply that they don't audit all high school curriculum so follow your gut, homeschool for the love of learning, and if your kids (I know yours are going the transfer route CT so this is a general "your") have the good test scores, keep fingers crossed when you apply! 😊

nm.

They just like to see geometry self reported. Needn't be an approved class. Some kids in our homeschool group who took calculus in high school were accepted even without self reporting geometry. Please see calbear's post about UCs reply to Laura's email. This explains a lot of the doubt about a-g approval. 😊

Here's kiddo's path: 2nd-3rd grade-ish: Intro to C&P 3rd grade: Algebra 1 with Dolciani + Intro to NT 4th: AoPS Intro to Alg (half) + Jurgensen geometry 5th: Dolciani Alg 2/Trig + abstract algebra (tutor's own curriculum) 6th onwards: Abstract algebra concentration followed by calculus and other things. But throughout, from kindy onwards, kiddo used a lot of books in my siggy for leisure reading and learned a good amount of number theory without using AoPS. In fact, kiddo preferred the non AoPS number theory resources. So yeah I'm sure you can do what you are saying and create lots of excitement for math without starting Algebra very rigidly or formally.

This article never fails to make me cry. :crying:

I heard that UC will only approve diploma-granting schools (online and B&M high schools for example). So if a high school starts teaching AoPS, it could be approved (again, I am not sure, just relating what I'm hearing through my local grapevine). If someone is with a charter and the charter issues the diploma, AoPS might be approved. It's all really still pretty unclear. I'm trying to find out but no one seems to know for sure. It really hurts the businesses of awesome providers...very unfair really. Homeschoolers still have the exam and exception admission methods, but again, I don't think UCs only consider 3 test scores max (1 SAT/ACT and 2 subject tests) so it's all pretty misleading anyway.

But kids beyond the typical freshman need networks and community and guidance too. I can't believe schools *like those* would deny a kid for being too qualified.

The kid with two patents denied at Caltech and MIT...wow. I hope that kid bounces pretty high and keeps moving forward.

I'm sorry. :crying: My parents don't even mention me (middle child writer/designer/free spirit) in conversations with others. They talk about my older brother (surgeon) and then skip on to my younger sis (engineer with MBA) not caring that their middle kid is the only one who is not carrying huge debt. It is what it is. I consider my life pretty happy though. And I think my kid knows I love them no matter what. It's kinda ironic that the mom who never asked for a bright A+ kid got one. We went out for dinner (I was genuinely happy) when kid scored a B- in a particularly difficult honors math section last fall. If only some of these families knew how healthy it is to not get an A once in a while. And it's really good to fail. I am so glad for the mistakes we make because we bounce back stronger when we do. It's when you don't fail that I think you drive yourself bonkers with anxiety. This whole need to be perfect all the time, it's bound to implode. I see it all around me in the Bay Area. Not only in the Asian communities but in everyone. I think the unschoolers are the happiest lot.

Regarding lower ranked CSUs and targeting a specific college with the hopes of that being the best fit...for my kiddo, we really did not have much choice. We needed: a highly ranked math department that offered math up to graduate level classes with kiddo going in with so many credits and classes already completed a college that would preferably accept kiddo's CC credits because the kid really wanted to start grad level classes quickly without taking gen eds a four-year experience...very glad kiddo agreed to this (after initially planning to transfer in from community college) -- so helpful to have the extra time to look for quality research experiences. If kiddo had transferred in, opportunities would not have been as plentiful and kiddo would not have had time as an off campus student to investigate everything available somewhere close to home that we could afford due to kiddo's age and not living in dorms somewhere close enough also to kiddo's interest-led pursuits in improv (this is a big stress-relief activity for my kid and one kiddo and I were both were not willing for kiddo to give up) and kiddo's other needs I think we'd have made the best of the situation if Berkeley had said no...honestly though this was the best choice. We pay less than $8,000 a semester. Kiddo earns about $300+ a month as a grader this semester which covers train fare and on-campus food. It was our best choice for both budget and quality of education. We could not have: afforded OOS options, even if they were affordable...at this stage in our lives I am not sure how much more affordable it can get when we pay $16,000 a year. afforded OOS options due to kiddo's health concerns. sent kiddo to a CSU. It really would not have been a good choice...the kid grades papers for sophomores and juniors who are not in honors sections...it's very frustrating for A to see their quality of work (a huge lesson in patience for this kid for sure). I don't believe the level of engagement with work/profs/research at CSUs, even the better ones, would have been that much higher. Re suicides and role of parents...I don't fault the parents but I also can't deny that their stress and anxiety plays such a huge role on the kids' stress and anxiety. Within the same phone conversation, friends with kids in private school will decry the whole academic expectations issue and then explain to me that their kids cannot take a break during spring break because grades will suffer. For my own sanity I have to give up processing this or I will lose friends.

No you didn't! You are right! I was checking as I thought I might have but I try to be careful about what I say. I speak to a lot of families with younger children and keep trying to encourage them to follow any number that's right for their kids (keeping in mind that it all fluctuates depending on kid, age, and need), not just any specific number. Also a subsequent poster indicated that it sounded like someone said 5 was too few and why I checked. :tongue_smilie: Honestly, it really is a bubble where we live. And I should not feel like I should qualify everything we did or didn't do but I still feel that way. :tongue_smilie:

WMA, I don't think I said 5 was too few did I? I'm trying to find where I said that and don't see it. I am trying to say that kiddo did not do a ton (and by ton I mean multiples of ECs just for the sake of doing them). :001_smile:

Kiddo had: 1. 1 community service 2. 1 music 3. 1 active pursuit (for exercise): zumba 4. 1 to help kid socialize with same age peers (plus it really helps when you have a kid who is susceptible to anxiety and depression): improv 5. 1 math research pursuit I was trying to say "not a ton". To me a ton is when kids do so many sports and so much music and so many other things during the summer just because parents worry it's not enough (not because the kid is asking to do it). Did I say 5 was too few? If so, my bad!

I can definitely be guilty of that. :tongue_smilie: Some of it is my own doubt about why BIg Name U turned my kiddo down. Did kid not do enough? Did they want a competition kid after all despite not making that clear on their website? Ha, quite similar to the article writer's questions no? But I look at this kid and how well suited Berkeley is and am grateful Big Name U said no because then I would have agonized about not being able to afford sending kid there. Thank you! :001_smile: I am so grateful Berkeley saw this despite being bombarded with applications in the tens of thousands. Improv comedy is very quickly sold out when offered within campus so kid spends weekends hanging out with a fantastic teen improv group. It's one pretty cool way to stay connected with same age friends. Sadly, jazz piano has fallen by the wayside due to lack of time but improv is something this kid lives and breathes. So happy to see it continue to be a passion.

I agree with this too. We avoided it by being realistic about what to spend and when. We are also introverts and doing fewer things outside made us much happier than rushing from one social event to another. So much of these ECs are social events in my book and we couldn't stomach them. I can feel exhausted from a single 2-hour homeschool gathering although I enjoy myself immensely during the gathering. My kiddo hates sports and competitions so that was easy to avoid. We also lived on the outskirts of the Bay Area which made driving a chore so I managed to cut more things from the list by not driving to everything. Last, my kiddo's first love is a very academic subject which made following passion easier than say skiing or history competitions would have. As immigrants, we did not have the social stigma that some of our American friends had about using community college. We might have been privileged (pre-divorce) but never really felt it because we supported dependents in our home country and had to be very careful about saving money.

I agree that it feels subjective but WMA, when you look at the applications, many portals only allow you to list five ECs. Many of our friends struggle with what to cut down from their list to fit those five spaces. My kiddo had exactly five and didn't feel like entering ECs was a struggle. Look ma, I have five things to say and there are five spots to say them! think it's subjective depending on where you live too. Our friends' kids don't just do piano or badminton but also cello, violin, trumpet, sax, on top of piano and tennis, soccer, swimming, basketball on top of badminton. Compared to all of that my kiddo did very few! And thank you! Sometimes it still feels like a dream!

The kid was accepted to 5/5 UCs applied to. What kid didn't do: - involve self in sports (wouldn't and couldn't for the life of him be coordinated enough) - do a ton of ECs - extremely well rounded in every single area - take a class for the sake of looking good on applications - math competitions What kid did: - very spiky theoretical math involvement...lots of math classes and a very interest-led math research opportunity via AoPS - obviously fun-oriented ECs like improv comedy and zumba and doing those ECs over a period of time - only one community service project but doing it over a period of time - self-deprecating essays about only fitting in with old people and being color blind and producing artwork after artwork that was green-heavy - very single minded focus on jazz piano and singing, emceeing, and playing keyboard at community college concerts including creating a Twitter account simply to connect with a Bollywood composer to ask for his score, not hearing back, and improvising score on his own, and singing the song to the CC audience with voice cracking due to puberty despite not knowing a word of Hindi - very high GPA and test scores I think it was a combo of those four five things that helped. Kiddo's application was probably odd and quirky enough for both UCB and UCLA to think the kid would do well on their campus. :laugh: We spent a fraction of the cost of what many Bay Area parents do to get their kids into these campuses. And we didn't do it to get kiddo into a specific campus but because my kiddo, sweet and compliant as kiddo is, would refuse to do things just because.

Congratulations! And I agree, you MUST stay and impart your wisdom to those coming after. It's not explicitly stated in the board rules but is a requirement we all just made up and vetoed into effect as of March 16 (date you posted this!). :laugh: So exciting!

University of CA related... https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/UC-needs-to-be-transparent-about-who-gets-in-12757352.php

A was doing lots of solve for x (or apples or snakes or dogs or whatever else I could think of to show that x is a variable) pretty early. Maybe 4 or 5? What kept A from learning Algebra 1 from a respected textbook in 2nd grade was my ignorance about acceleration I suspect fine motor issues would have made it too frustrating to write problems down From 3rd grade on, the full textbook from Dolciani provided a great gentle transition followed by one half of AoPS Intro to Alg concurrently with Jurgensen geometry. I worked closely with A for showing steps but A was able to solve so much mentally. We've NEVER looked back. We are discussing grad level classes for undergrad sophomore year in fall. It's acceleration all the way, baby. Once you start, it's easy to do the next thing. It's the starting that gets parents worried. Keep the early college idea on the backburner. 8 is still a ways off for many, many kids, even the very PG ones, due to various reasons that only become clearer when they are older. ETA after reading dmmetler's post I remembered the Key To series too. Love those workbooks!

I'm not sure how realistic this is for you. For some it requires an entire mindset change. For others, it's easy-peasy. And still others struggle for a while but soon realize that their kids are so out of the box for whatever reason and just do it... ...so, what if, you didn't think of grades at all? No grades. Pfft. When people say when you homeschool, grades don't matter, they are talking about being flexible with grade levels. For us, I ended up taking it literally. From the time kiddo was about 9 (or maybe a bit older, my memory is terrible), I just counted it as the number of years we'd been homeschooling and stopped referring to grades at all. For outside classes and such, I went by age-range that was most appropriate for maturity/height/social skills/academic need. We went looking for opportunities with other *very similar kids* in the 8-12yo range when kiddo was 8-9 or kids in the 10-14yo range if we didn't know if the kids were similar in intellectual ability. Oh yes, for things like checking our homeschool charter's boxes, we still submitted attendance and samples with a grade level marked on the piece of paper. But that was just to please our education specialist (nice lady, no need to confuse her right?). It was only when kiddo was very serious about applying to college that I started considering which year should be junior year (for SAT/applications planning purposes) and used that as a gauge to decide which would have been 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th for transcript purposes.

The decision took at least one a-g provider on that list, a friend of mine who offers very popular classes, by surprise.

Yes their choices are shocking but you have to remember that the people making the decision are not homeschoolers. They have no (insert expletive) idea what these decisions are doing to us. Guys honestly, this just emphasizes how important it is to follow our children's needs. Approval will come and go. Providers will come and go. What sticks is that we be true to our goals for our kids to learn meaningful material. Good grades and good test scores won't hurt. Good personal statements won't hurt. These are the things that have always stayed true. At the end of the day the application doesn't force you to indicate if you chose approved classes. It doesn't force you to indicate if you are applying by test scores or exception. The person reading your application will make decisions based on rigor, quality, and scores and statement. All of that stays the same.