Found them, thank you!

I recently purchased Holt Biology with the online premium teacher resources from Homeschool Buyers' Co-op. For the tests in the online resources, The multiple-choice questions are automatically scored but I can't find any answer keys for the short-answer part of the tests. Are they someplace in the resources I haven't managed to find, or am I expected to have studied the material sufficiently myself to know the answers (which is not what I was hoping for in a "homeschool package")?

My kids have done dual enrollment at Stephen F. Austin State University and at the University of Texas at Arlington. Both would be about $85/credit hour for online, I believe (it costs less for in-person classes). I don't think you have to be Texas residents to dual enroll. For private colleges, Letourneau University and Taylor University offer dual enrollment, but I don't have the costs at hand. Really there are a quite a few four-year universities that offer dual enrollment, so as suggested above, I would check in your state. There may even be one in your area where they could take classroom classes.

I thought I remembered seeing something on the forum about other sites that are helpful for prep for the USACO contests but I can't find the post now no matter how I search! I think it mentioned something like "Codeforces"? In any case, my ds is using the USACO training site but we were wondering if there were other sites that would be useful.

On my phone I can't see this box, but I found that if I tap on "FILTER" at the top right of my screen, I can filter by "My Clubs" and then it only shows the one I'm part of.

He will be applying to some schools that require course descriptions, and only the second semester of the class he took was trig, so I don't think that will work. Good thought, though!

He will want to apply to a few highly selective colleges, in addition to ones where he should be able to get merit aid, so I'm mulling how to avoid looking like he went "backwards" from Precalculus. The book is Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development, 2nd ed. , by Jeremy Gibson Bond.

Thanks for your input! I do have access to the topics in MyMathLab and a list of which are on the placement exam, but I was also wanting to use MyMathLab to prep for the SAT and SAT Math 2 test, so we will probably some additional topics besides what will be on the placement exam.

My ds15, starting 10th grade this fall, took Precalculus/Trigonometry in a terrific local homeschool class last year and did great. I am definitely putting that class on his transcript with the grade from the teacher. We are in the position of needing to chase merit aid and I believe he has a chance at National Merit. But I feel that if he moves on to Calculus this fall, he will not remember his Precalculus well enough by fall of 11th grade. Also, our current plan is for him to take Calculus as a DE course in 11th grade. (The reason he isn't taking it as DE this year is because he is taking two other DE courses and it will be his first year taking DE in a classroom setting--last year he did DE online. So we thought it best to start with a couple of easier in-person classes for 10th grade). He will need to take our local university's math placement test next spring to be eligible to take Calculus, and he will have access to Pearson's MyMathLab to prep for it. It looks like it would cover everything he would need for the SAT/PSAT except Statistics. I'm also planning for him to take the SAT Math 2 Subject Test at the end of 10th grade, so this would be good prep for that as well as it covers some of the topics that are on the Subject Test but not on the regular SAT. I am planning to have him go through MyMathLab this school year and also do Statistics using The Practice of Statistics AP book (using a syllabus I found online but not covering all the chapters). I feel I should call the class "Statistics and (something," on his transcript since it is not just Statistics. I had though of "Statistics and Finite Mathematics" until I read that Finite Math is usually considered to be prep for business, and I wondered if it would look strange to have that after Precalculus. But I don't want to use the term "Precalculus" again, either. I organize my transcript by subject so technically I could just put "Statistics" for this year since he will already have "Precalculus" on the transcript. It just doesn't seem to truly represent the work he will be doing. With his current interests, his likely college major will be Computer Science, possibly with a concentration in game development. (He will be doing a home-based class on game development this year also, based on a book recommended by a WTM-er, but that would not be a math credit). Any advice?

I didn't ask to join when the group was originally created, out of impostor syndrome, haha, but would like to join now.

Is there a reason he couldn't do some core classes at the high school as well, since he likes it there?

What about doing the core classes as dual enrollment, if that would count toward his eventual college degree?

The school district we live in weights DE, so if you did that, the C would become a B on your transcript.

My kids would recommend the book "PWN the SAT".

I haven't read this myself but it was recommended on another forum: Road Map for Graduate Study: A Guide for Prospective Graduate Students 2nd Edition by Don Martin

Thank you--I actually hadn't thought of using a book!

DS is finishing 9th grade. He's wrapping up the Edhesive AP CS A course and will take the test next month. He previously did the Edhesive Intro to CS course, so he is familiar with Python and Java. He is interested in video game development and we were thinking of having him go through a MOOC-type course to see if he enjoyed it. I'm planning to have him look through these Udemy courses to see what he wants to do, but I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations (or non-recommendations!) for any of them in particular. I would only buy them when they are doing one of their frequent $10-12 sales, of course. https://www.udemy.com/courses/development/game-development/ If there are other courses that anyone would recommend other than the Udemy ones I'd be happy to hear about those, also. The EdX HarvardX CS50's Intro to Game Development looks interesting. I've looked at the Edx RITx Video Game Design XSeries and I'm not sure that's what he would want, although I will show it to him in case. I also looked at the Coursera MSU Game Design and Development Specialization and that looked intriguing but I don't think Coursera's monthly fee setup will work for us. I would rather just pay once and always have access to the course. He is not interested in the art side so much as level design, programming, etc, if that makes a difference. I realize he may well not end up going into game development, and he and I both think he should get a Computer Science degree, perhaps with a game development concentration, rather than a Game Design degree. But since this is a current interest of his I would like him to explore it. This is not a subject I know anything about--I don't particularly enjoy playing video games--so any input would be helpful!

I agree with others that your dd will likely be a strong candidate for competitive scholarships. If she will qualify for National Merit, Texas A&M has a good scholarship for that, and some National Merit students are invited to interview for the Brown scholarship, which combines with the National Merit Scholarship to make a full ride. https://scholarships.tamu.edu/FRESHMEN/University-Scholarships#0-CraigandGalenBrownFoundationScholarship A&M also has a new scholarship (this is the second year it has been offered) called the Brockman Scholarship and it is not just a full ride but full cost of attendance, including an MS in Business. But the MS is required, and I don't know if your dd is interested in business. https://brockmanfoundation.org/brockman-scholars-faqs/

@RootAnnLooks like you added her to Texas A&M Corpus Christi. If you look at the entry right above that one for the main campus Texas A&M, she's on that. So you can delete her from Corpus Christi. Thanks for keeping the list! I may as well add the info for the decisions list: Where: Texas A&M Why: full-ride scholarship and a great fit Major: Biomedical Sciences

Dd has accepted her admission to Texas A&M! (She is on the waitlist at Rice but we're proceeding on the assumption that she will not be accepted from the waitlist.)

No acceptances tonight, but we are all satisfied with Texas A&M!

Thanks, Lanny! I'm thinking Rice is likely to have a higher yield this year because of their new financial aid initiative, so I'm not sure the odds of getting in off the waitlist are going to be favorable! On College Confidential some people are wondering why Rice didn't reduce the number of acceptances even further in anticipation of a higher yield. We, too, are awaiting "Ivy Day" tomorrow and those will be the last decisions to come in for DD.

DD has accepted a spot on the waitlist for Rice.

Scholarship update for DD--she has been offered the Brown Scholarship at Texas A&M, which combines with their National Merit Scholarship to make a full ride! Very thankful! She also has been offered the President's Scholarship at University of Texas at Arlington.

You know what I love about this board? Not once has anyone said, "Oh, he's too young to be thinking about a PhD."