This is a good question. When we did the Common App five years ago, you could only upload one transcript, counselor letter, etc., and it went to all the schools. I'm not sure if that is still the case now. The Common App version is new this year too, so this might have changed. However, my guess is that it will not change because most brick/mortar schools aren't going to make different transcript formats for different colleges, so I don't see that there would be many requests to the Common App to incorporate that feature. I might be wrong, though. I think that if I make a version of son's transcript with weighting for local scholarship apps, I would just keep it separate and use it for that. I'd send the unweighted one to all the colleges anyway. My guess is that the college ad coms are familiar with transcripts and weighting and would know how to interpret a transcript with course descriptions, but that a local scholarship committee might not be familiar with the different formats and just be looking at the GPA number. Brenda

I agree that this sounds crazy, and that most universities would just "unweight" the grades anyway -- but I definitely see Brigid's point about the local scholarship competitions. I did strictly unweighted grades for my oldest, and it was fine for all the colleges, but this next time around, I am toying with the idea of having both weighted and unweighed GPAs to put my son on par with other local kids for scholarships. If I go this route, I think I will use the particular weighting system that my local high school does. Brenda

Personally, I wouldn't put any kind of differentiation on the transcript. Just list the math courses. Then, I would just write about it in your counselor letter. In the letter, you could explain the situation more fully than an "asterisk" would indicate, including how your son challenged himself by completing 2 full math courses in one year. Brenda

Great advice, Angie. When my oldest was registering during summer orientation, he had been admitted into the college for one major but was strong considering switching to a different major. He wanted to try a couple of classes from the other major his first semester to see if he liked it, but these courses were limited to kids in that second major. Getting into these courses was very important from a scheduling perspective because they were only offered in the fall, and if he did decide he wanted that major, he'd be "behind" if he didn't take them right away. If he eventually decided that he didn't want that other major, these courses would count towards general humanities and free electives anyway, so there wasn't any downside to taking these two classes his first semester. We ended up arriving a day early for orientation and making an appointment with someone in the second major department and explained the situation. They were very nice, and they gave my son an "override" which allowed him to sign-up for those two classes even though his official major was listed as something else. So I agree that sometimes going that extra mile to prepare for orientation is a good idea. Best wishes to all, Brenda

I thought there was one option that allowed you to use one of the lines for "Date" and the other for some kind of signature, so that would at least eliminate one of the signatures. I was leaning towards "Administrator" for the other one. Brenda

Nan, Check out homeschooldiploma.com. The standard one has wording that might imply homeschooled, but if you get one of the personalized options, it can be customized. I looked through and found one for about $33 that seemed good. You can choose state wording, and special seals with the year of graduation. On the personalized one, you can also customize the signature lines so they just say Administrator, and not signature of Instructor. You can also add an "Honors" seal. A few years back, I ordered one for my oldest, and it was nicely done. Brenda

In my experience with Saxon, the above is not always true. Getting high marks on the tests means that he can do Saxon problems to a good degree of accuracy. It doesn't necessarily mean that he understands the material, although he might. My oldest used Saxon through the first half of Advanced Math, scoring over 90% on the tests. However, I found around the same time that he could not apply the math to his chemistry & physics courses. I had him do a pretest on Aleks and found that he tested near the beginning of Algebra 2 (this after completing Saxon Algebra 2 & half of Advanced Math). I ended up having him use Aleks that summer to shore up his Algebra 2 skills and then re-do PreCalc from the beginning with Chalkdust. In your situation, I'd check his skills with Aleks and decide where to go from there. I think they have a couple of day free trial. If you find his skills lacking, since you say you can't help him with math, I'd strongly suggest considering the local option for Pre-Calc for $576 as long as they use another book besides Saxon. If, after checking his skills, you find that they are OK, then you could either stick with Saxon with one of the DVD options, or go for the local, live class that uses Saxon. I don't want to be an alarmist, but while I have read that some kids learn and retain well while using Saxon, my own experience shows that this is not true in every case. Since math is such an important subject, I think it's worth finding out where your child falls in this. BTW -- I do agree with the others that his scores on the daily work aren't that important. The daily work is where he learns the material, so it's not surprising that he's missing more problems there. I do correct my sons' math work daily and make them fix mistakes, but I don't count those grades in their averages for the courses. HTH, Brenda

Regentrude, Personally, I think the horse angle is a great one. Most folks have experience with stubborn animals in one sort or another, and her patience & diligence would definitely shine through in that sort of story. I think folks would easily see that those characteristics would most likely transfer to how she deals with her schoolwork and with other people. If there were dealings with other people over the horse training (other kids, leaders, etc.) you might want her to bring in that angle as well. My oldest wrote his college essay about how he rehabed his grandfather's old computer so he could show it at our hs group's show & tell fair. That project definitely highlighted his perserverence and strong work towards an end goal with a deadline. He also talked about the people at the fair and their responses to the project. He ended with a mention of the next project he planned to do. The whole thing came off very much "like him" and it was well received. When we did our college tours with my son and spoke with various admissions folks, many encouraged my son to write an essay about something out of the ordinary. The counselors read hundreds of essays about school and sports teams. Choosing a different topic can make the essay more memorable for them. Brenda

I agree with the above. My kids have taken a variety of on-line and in-person outside classes. The "other" teacher definitely helped both of them complete a good amount of work on schedule. One son, who is motivated by competition, really enjoyed the live on-line classes with participation. He consistently worked hard to be at/near the top. My other son, who is not so motivated by competition, also was able to do a good amount of work on a schedule not made by me. The in-person classes (CC & local hs support center) have been more popular with both of them. They enjoyed the social aspect and the classroom dynamic. By picking and choosing what I wanted to outsource, I was able to provide them with really strong courses in certain areas and some social interaction without it taking over their every waking moment. This mix was better for us than enrolling them full time in a school setting. OP -- I would agree with the person who suggested starting your dd with just a few classes that are outsourced. This will give her the time to adjust to the new format without being overwhelmed. If they don't work out, you're not out as much money either. If you have specific on-line courses in mind, it's a good idea to look for reviews from other folks on this board. We've had some great on-line courses and some that were pretty bad, so you'd want to optimize your chances to get a good course or two. Best wishes, Brenda

The first two summers, my son worked locally at an ice cream place where he had worked while in high school. His third summer was part of a coop term, and he worked in his field. Brenda

Mine have summer birthdays, and I decided not to redshirt them. My oldest was reading pretty well before he started K, and while I thought that a bit more maturity would have been helpful at the time, I realized that he would have been terribly bored in school if he'd waited a year to start.... Turns out that he was terribly bored in school anyway, and that is part of what led us to homeschooling. When he was in ps 1st grade, there were a couple of boys in the class an entire year older than him. He's gone on to graduate college and has done well. When it was time for him to leave home for college, I felt he was ready. My younger one has two friends who've been in our hs group activities in the same grade as him for several years now. Both have summer birthdays and were redshirted when younger. At the beginning of what should have been 11th grade for both of them, they decided (with their families' blessings) that they were ready to move on, and were actually 12th graders this past year. Based on the level of work they were doing, their moms were able to count their "8th grade" years as 9th grade when they made their transcripts. As someone else said, one of the benefits of homeschooling is that the parent can usually change the child's "grade" level fairly easily if needed. I know another family who decided to redshirt their son while in high school because they had a tough 10th grade year where there were several deaths in the family, and care-taking of older relatives, and not much school got done that year. The boy has gone on to college now and is doing fine. I'm just glad that we have the freedom to make the best decisions for our kiddos. Brenda

I agree, I'd choose #1 if the finances weren't too much of an issue. The contacts he could make would probably be helpful later on. I don't know about your scout council, but the scout summer camps around here do not pay very well -- if that's true where you are, #3 might not be as much of an upside as you think. Congrats on having several options! Brenda

This is not always true. My son was able to transfer four CC classes to his engineering school. This enabled him to skip 1 semester and do a coop instead. He transfered 2 humanities classes, one science class, and one computer elective. The only one that "counted" towards his major would be the Chemistry class, but it was more of a general ed for him as he majored in Mech Eng. In my mind, it's definitely worth it to check out the transfer possibilities for CC classes at the various colleges your child is considering (also whether they give credits for AP scores). I have been doing that right now to guide my rising hs senior in which APs and CC courses he should take in order to position him the best at several potential colleges. They all have different policies for accepting transfer credits, so right now, he'll be taking some things that should transfer to most of the potential 4-year schools. He'll also be taking some courses (like Calc I at home) which I see as good prep for Calc I at the college and not potential transfer credits. Personally, I don't like to see a teen transfer a lot of courses that will satisfy major requirements because I think it's best for them to take most or all of the major courses at the 4-yr school. I also like to do my best to position them for that first semester with several courses that will be either repeats of what we've done at home or in an area of strength. That first semester away requires so many adjustments that are not academic-related, that if the academics aren't too taxing, it is a good thing and a confidence-builder. Brenda

Thanks! This looks really interesting! Brenda

8 -- Was this a self-designed course or something you outsourced or purchased? I think my son would probably enjoy something like this. TIA, Brenda

I hear you about the fight. I gave up on PE with my oldest around that age, and I really regret it now. He has not cultivated an active lifestyle since then, and it really shows. Maybe you could think about just getting her out to take a mile or two walk in your neighborhood every day or two. My current high schooler usually has a "low/sleepy" period right after lunch where he's not very productive. If he goes out and spends 30 minutes on a 2 mile walk, he comes back a bit more energized. He enjoys taking an Ipod with him so he can listen to music or an audiobook, too. HTH, Brenda

Personally, I would not skip PE, especially for a child who hates exercise. This is the type of kid who probably needs the exercise the most. I'd think about building a PE credit around things that she could do for fitness later in life -- biking, running, swimming, yoga, aerobics -- whatever you might think about her doing as an adult. Does your local YMCA or similar have teen exercise classes? My son does a multi-purpose workout class at the YMCA twice a week. At first, it was a bit of a chore to get him there, but now he really enjoys it and can see the importance of staying active as he gets older. JM2Cents, Brenda

Is this 5.9% a "new" rate on parental savings above the exclusionary limit? I thought it was something like 5.6% of parental savings above the exclusion was added into the EFC. Brenda

:iagree: You can always keep him as a homeschooler and have him dual enroll at your local CC in his junior and/or senior years. If you did that, you'd only have one more year (10th) fully at home. Also, if he has organizational issues, wouldn't it be better to slowly ease him into more control of his own schedule by keeping him homeschooled and then slowly putting him into more outside classes as he gets older. You'd also be able to pick and choose his courses to match his abilities better. Brenda

The determination of who got a merit scholarship at my son's college was based on his high school grades, not his college grades. At the college he went to, he only needed "satisfactory progress" (e.g. 2.0 gpa) to maintain the scholarship. Some of this other offers had higher GPA requrements -- 3.0 was common, and one was 3.5. Part of the reason he picked the school he did was because of the low GPA requirement to keep the scholarship. He is a dilligent student and worked hard, but we didn't want him to be in the position of loosing his scholarship if he had a tough semester because we couldn't afford the school without it. Brenda

I've never heard of an issue with 0.5 credit courses on a high school transcript. My ds had several, and it was never mentioned as an issue. Brenda

I agree. You need to know sooner rather than later whether they will let your dc sign up for the PSAT, even if sign-ups are in the fall. If the answer is no, then that gives you some time to find another place where he/she can test. I also agree with visiting the school's guidance office in person if you can't get any help over the phone. If you do go in, just be really friendly and ask them about the PSAT sign-up procedure and who's responsible. Hopefully, you can get some answers this way. It's a lot easier to not return your calls then to not be helpful if you're standing there. Also, do you know any other homeschoolers in your school district with older kids? If so, I'd ask them about their experience and if they know what the procedure is. Best wishes, Brenda

Beautiful! I really enjoyed her piece. You must be so proud. :) Brenda

Sue, I'm going to be the dissenter here and ask how critical it is that she get through a complete geometry course with proofs. Unless she has her sights on higher maths in college, maybe she would be better served with focusing on understanding the theorems and proofs and being able to solve problems with them. My older one used Saxon with the integrated Geometry in high school. It did have a few 2-column proofs, but they were not the emphasis. Most of the focus was on understanding the triangle & parallel line concepts, doing areas of different shapes, etc. I'm wondering if it would be worth looking into Aleks to try to get her through the course quickly so she can start Algebra 2 in the fall. Also, could you use your current text but just do the proofs together with her and focus her homework & tests on problem-solving? JM2Cents -- hope you find an approach that works for her! Brenda

This might be the kind of question to ask over on college confidential. I think I've read that the upper tier schools do not look kindly upon kids who get rejected and then re-apply the next year -- but you should confirm that. Since she's young, you might look at giving her that extra year to strengthen her applications so she'll have the best chance when she applies the first time. If she's exhausted the courses you can teach, she could look at local uni/CC courses, or perhaps do some kind of research and/or internship in her area of interest in the "extra" year. Best wishes, Brenda