I sent off my only this year, but I have been following this thread with excitement for all of you. Congratulations to your students, and well done, moms!! It makes me happy to see the fruit at the end of this homeschooling journey!

Glad to read positive stories of college freshmen🙂! Mine, too, is flourishing. He’s working his tail off, and is sitting on all A’s so far in some very advanced classes. The work load has been intense, but he has surrounded himself with a group of equally driven friends, so he doesn’t feel like he’s working all alone. He has, however, been miserably sick for most of the semester. His campus mandates Covid testing every Tuesday, and indoor masking in all public spaces. He has not had Covid, but has picked up everything and anything else, including pink eye, which his doctor attributed to his constant masking. So it goes…Dorms are Petri dishes… …and the school has now declared that starting next year, all sophomores will live on campus. Poor kid can’t wait to move into a clean, sanitary apartment!

Thank you!!! I am, however, thinking of sending her to boarding school😂! She has plenty of energy! We had to put our fifteen year old beagle to sleep on my only son’s first day of college…She’s gotten us through some big changes. Now I’m too busy to notice my quiet house!

This is a great thread. Dogs rock! I have a four and a half month old beagle puppy who LOVES to watch the news in the evenings. She jumps up on the couch, sits up as tall as she can, and hangs on every word of the newscasters. Something about the close-ups and moving squares really entertains her! Additionally, every once in a while she lets out a deep whine/moan. Cracks me up! I often feel the same way when I watch the news… This is Harper, the news hound…

I get this, and do appreciate your sentiment. Honestly, though, the engineering admissions contact info is public. We did a LOT of footwork during our college admission season. I encourage everyone to do their own. It’s amazing what can be learned while making contacts and asking your own questions. As I’ve said, my son, my husband, and I have been very happy with Cornell. I just wanted to voice our experience, and didn’t want anyone discouraged from applying. There’s many paths to finding the right fit! At the end, all that matters is finding what’s best for our students.

Good point. I should clarify. My son was originally thinking of going engineering, and we actually met with someone in that college when we initially visited. The big take-away that we got from the meeting is that they just want to see something from homeschoolers that is orderly and easy to understand. Their goal is not to be onerous at all… Hope this clarifies things. All I can speak from is my own experience, and they were nothing but responsive and kind…FYI, we did not get that feel from all the Ivies… I would encourage anyone interested to call admissions and ask questions. We will be too busy wrangling our new puppy and visiting with our son to hit the admissions office! Good luck to all in the college application season!

Sorry for the late reply to this thread. I’m just seeing this topic, and I wanted to correct the misinformation about Cornell! This will be a bit of a drive-by post, as I’m heading out the door to drive up for parents’ weekend. My son is a freshman at Cornell studying math in the College of Arts and Science. He did have a 1500+ SAT score, paid internship experience, LOTS of college credits, etc. I did have very detailed course descriptions and book lists, but I did NOT list all exams, papers, etc. We did visit the campus and sit in on a few classes, and meet with someone in the admissions office to discuss what they wanted to see from homeschool applicants. Cornell was WONDERFUL to work with, at least in our experience. Please don’t let misinformation on the internet keep your student from applying if it’s their desire to do so. However, keep in mind that if accepted, your student will work VERY HARD once he or she begins classes!! Hope this helps… Good luck!!

I’m not going to continue to argue, but I will not apologize for defending the US military against an implicit insult.

I’m sorry you feel the need to shame us. My husband has spent multiple years away from his family, fighting for our country. I think I’ve earned the right to defend my own opinions, just as the original poster has hers.

I’m generally confused here. One does not simply join a military academy. One is nominated by a congressman and accepted by an academy. If your friend’s child has earned this honor, then you should all celebrate a job well done. He or she must be a terrific student, athlete, and community leader. My husband is a graduate of West Point. He received a phenomenal education from the academy. I’m really at a loss here about how to help you feel better about this without saying anything positive about our years in the army, so I’ll sign off now…

Thank you for being brave enough to state this so eloquently. I know there are those of us here who agree. You are not alone.

Wonderful news! Persistence pays off! Congrats to you both!

I agree. My biological dad had a heart transplant when I was ten. He developed problems after a virus settled in his heart. Unfortunately, these things can happen. I hope people realize that life comes with risk. Everything has risks. It’s all about hedging the best bet some days. I still maintain that Covid is much more dangerous than the vaccine.

I answered yes, but it only applies for the next two weeks. I have homeschooled my senior since first grade. He’s headed to Cornell in the fall😊. I will no longer have a homeschooled student of my own, but I will continue to be active as a teacher in the homeschool community. My students bring me so much joy! Nothing has ever led to greater blessings.

I’ve posted this in the college acceptance thread, but I’ll post it again here as well so that Root Ann has a comprehensive list. Thanks for compiling this! I’ve been reading these threads for years, and they inspired me to stay the path with homeschooling. My son is heading to Cornell University to study mathematics and computer science. He’s dreamed about studying in their math department for years, and has been convinced the school is a good fit for him since he sat in on a couple of classes his junior year. Congratulations to everyone!!

I have a feeling that people haven’t read the whole thread before they respond to this comment... Anyway, I’m bowing out of the discussion now to make dinner. I realize I often hold unpopular opinions on this board. That’s okay. I just pop up every once in a while to let y’all know there are other opinions out here. We just usually stay quiet, or speak in our own echo chambers. Happy discussing!

I think authors are perfectly free to make any and all decisions about their own works. I believe that parents should decide what their five year old children read.

You do you. I don’t want to continue to argue. Neither of us will have a change of mind here. I’m okay with that!

You quoted me before I edited my post. I do understand that this isn’t technically censorship. I should have been more careful with my words. I still don’t like it, and it causes me concern.

I agree with you that is not technically censorship. I just have objections to celebrating anything that even comes close. As I said, I realize I’m in the minority. I can agree to disagree about the bigger issues here. It’s a free country. I taught English in a small town in Texas years ago. It was close to impossible to find a book to teach that didn’t offend someone. My students missed a lot of great works. I’m a fan of teaching how to think, not what to think. Your views may vary, and that is perfectly okay. That’s part of what makes us all human.

The older I get, the less I seem to understand. I am truly shocked to see the majority consensus on a classical education board cheering censorship. If I didn’t read banned books, I’d have missed some great works. This is truly sad to me. I trust people to be able to make their own decisions about what to read or not read. Obviously, I’m in the minority...

My son was just accepted to Cornell early decision, so he just pulled his application to Georgia Tech. We visited the math department last February. It was our last real life experience before the lockdowns :(. We met with a math professor to discuss computer science and math opportunities at GT. She was absolutely wonderful, and very encouraging about our son’s homeschool experience. I have no idea whether my son would have been admitted or not, but I did feel that everyone we talked to on campus was extremely friendly and open to homeschooled students’ applications. Best of luck to your student!!

This is what I did with my only. In elementary, for the content subjects, we read. And we read. And we read. I learned a ton! He seamlessly transitioned into more traditional textbook programs for history and science as he approached middle school. It served us well. My one student is heading to Cornell in the fall😊. I’d encourage you to go for it, and enjoy learning with your littles. The added benefit to this approach is all of the wonderful memories you will make along the way.

My elderly parents in Texas have been without electricity and water since midnight Saturday. I am stuck across the country from them and feel so very helpless... It has been hard to read and listen to all of the blame games and finger pointing, when I really just want for people to get help and be safe. Prayers for everyone in Texas dealing with such awful conditions right now, and a huge thank you to all who have shown such compassion for your fellow man.

I agree with the other posters in that it depends on the school. My son’s university accepts applications by college, and the requirements do vary quite a bit. You are very wise to be thinking about these questions now, while your students are young! Knowledge is power in the college application season!