thank you for that!!! i actually emailed her about her class and even asked about the audit as an option. but i didn't really know what the difference was. that sounds so perfect! thank you mom0012. :-))) cost effective too. i reallllly want my dd to take it also (she'll be 10th) but i'm afraid the material is a bit too adult for her. she's a santa-in-her-heart almost-15 year old. i'm thinking maybe junior year for her.

we've finally more or less decided. still can't believe i'll have a senior, who's now almost 17. (jaw dropping) i remember homeschooling K to him... he's my oldest 🙂 1. ENGLISH - AP ENG LIT (PAH) 2. MATH - AP CALC BC (KHAN ACADEMY/SELF STUDY) 3. SCIENCE - AP PHYSICS C (PHYSICS-PREP) 4. HISTORY - HON WORLD HISTORY (KHAN ACADEMY) 5. LANGUAGE - HON SPANISH 4 (HSA) 6. ELECTIVE - FINE ARTS INTRO TO PHOTOGRAPHY & INTRO TO PHOTOSHOP (FUNDAFUNDA) 7. ELECTIVE - AP PSYCHOLOGY (PAH) - maybe - might stick with 6 credits. he needs the outsourcing, but trying to keep it cost-effective this year. he's had a big year of tests (PSAT 1x, SAT 2x & ACT 1x) so next year will be blessedly test-free. 1500 SAT/35 ACT very happy camper! but may still re-take the SAT in august ahead of school starting to boost his score a bit, we'll see.

how many recs are requested in the common app? and are they specified what type of rec (like employment or coach or academic teacher)? academic teachers has been hard to figure out. my ds has all outsourced classes, but many are asynchronous and hardly any with same teacher with history with him as we'd hoped. so we're going with english as he does meet 'live' once weekly and he's had some outside class email discussion time with her, plus he's shown improvement over the year... but english is his LEAST favorite. he's a math/science guy - our options are limited here. we've got derek owens where he's taking AP calc & Hon physics this year, acing both, but derek owens doesn't know him from adam, kwim? last year he took ap chem with mr. moskaluk and managed a low A and a 4 on the exam - but everyone says they should choose a rec writer from jr year ideally... he also had mrs. stublen over at WHA for alg II but again, that's a whole year ago... anyone have any ideas?

Please help me - a couple questions about letters of recommendations. I know I've read about it umpteen times here, but I'm still no good at searches now that Google search no longer works. 😞 1. When does my DS ask an academic teacher that he wants her to write a recommendation letter? He's currently a junior and in that class right now. He just got back his last essay grade, and did the best he's done all year. 🙂 He has yet to take the AP exam and do AP prep for the class... when should he mention that he would want her to pen a letter for him in the fall? 2. How many letters of recommendation do most colleges ask for? And anything in particular? Like we've got 1 that is a community leader/mentor and this 1 is his teacher... is that good? Should he have 3? 3. When do they usually write these letters of recommendation if he's applying to most schools in the fall?

my ds practice extensively in jr year fall for psat/sat. took all 8 full-length practice tests they offered, went over all missed questions in between, did khan academy for a few months every day, read the practice sat book. after the sat, i got the sat reading book to refine his reading score and then he took the act. he had taken at least 3 practice tests - would have taken more but were pressed for time. and he got a 35 on first attempt. my advice, practice tests. practice tests. full-length 3 hour practice tests, as many as you can get your hands on. he was already super strong in math (currently in ap calc as a jr) so that certainly helped. but practice tests b/c it's not always the 'what' they test but the 'how' they phrase said question... and like others have said, get them used to the time limit.

CONGRATULATIONS on the gold medal!! WOooo-HOOOO!! As my ds is also nearing his completion of the gold, I understand just how much it entails. Not for the faint of heart. He just got presented both silver/bronze medals together by our Congressman which was a super cool experience. He's aiming to finish the gold by end of July to try to receive the gold medal in time for college apps by November... and then plan to attend the big ceremony in Washington DC next June. So exciting for your dd, ldkgate - congrats!

This is my 2nd kid taking WTMA Bio (first took it with the much-beloved Mrs. Up). Despite having Mrs. Upperman pull out after signing up, we have been pleasantly surprised with Mrs. Bennett. My dd (10th grade) really likes the class and is learning a lot. There are no labs (labs are separate classes) and very little writing. Weekly or bi-weekly discussion board posts, but those are minimal words (maybe 200 or so). There are 2 writing papers, and we're in the middle of the 2nd one. First is a Book report style on a Biology book - 2nd is a research paper. Both have been good experiences for my kids, and definitely not graded in an English-style way, more from a Biology perspective. My ds took the SAT Bio after Mrs. Up's class and scored a 730, he felt fairly well prepared. My dd may/may not take it this year - she has straight A's in the class, but we'll see once taking some SAT II practice tests if that translates to the SAT II test. Interaction is fairly minimal - there is group work each class, and they discuss together but it's by chat-box. So limited. I wouldn't say social really at all. With that said, we're debating whether to try FundaFunda's BIO class with Dr. Underwood for my next kid in line... much more cost-effective (WTMA is getting a little pricey with the annual technology/registration fees) plus it doesn't include labs anymore. So all in all a good class and Mrs. Bennett is a good teacher.

Thanks guys! Yes he went straight through, Span 3 just took him super duper long... so he'll have another full year next year, it'll just be 1/2 Span 3b, the other half Span 4a. So we'll call it 4 full years of Spanish, since it will be. Thank you!

Does that look bad? We were going for the full 4 years of Foreign Language, just to be competitive, and dot our i's and cross our t's. But my ds is just finishing up his 1st semester of Spanish 3... sure he could push through and finish over the summer to start Spanish 4 in the fall - but he's not that kind of kid. He needs the break over the summer. So I was thinking, finish 1st semester Span 3 now - do 2nd semester Span 3 in fall. Then 1st semester of Span 4 in spring senior year, to give him a 0.5 credit in senior year. Will that look weird? (This is all through Homeschoolspanishacademy - with 1-on-1 skype classes)

Anyone know of schools that offer automatic out of state merit scholarships for high SAT/ACT scores? I know U of Alabama, in addition to offering full-ride for National Merit - offers full-ride for 32-36 ACT / 1420+ SAT. (My ds scored 35 ACT / 1500 SAT - so besides the colleges on his list, love to see who offers full-rides for high scores) Anyone know of some more schools? Just curious, if any of these should come across my radar... 😉 (We are in CA - so just looking to see what there is to see)

good for you!!! this reminds me... i need to start for next year. when my ds was in 9th grade, it felt like forevvvvvvver until i had to think of these things. now he's a junior and fast approaching application time. yikes! double yikes!! triple yikes!!! so super awesome for you! now maybe once june comes, i can quickly get my butt into gear... 😜

Thanks for sharing your candid responses! Congrats on all the acceptances and I hope the no's are being helped with trips to the ice cream shop!!

Hi there! I tried to send you a PM, lewelma but seems you can't receive messages. Inbox full? Thanks!

Do you guys want to humor yourselves (ok really me) while waiting with bated breath.... ? We're a year out from the application madness, but enjoying this thread immensely. Who wants to list what they think are selective schools? I'd love to see your list of these schools! Anyone game?

We're doing option 3 right now. H Physics with DO / AP Calc AB with DO - 11th grade. It's going great! He's thriving in both and loving them. LOVES physics - so will be taking AP Physics next year. We're thinking through PhysicsPrep (Kernion who also teaches at PAH). Will take it concurrently with AP Calc BC in 12th grade.

AP Macro (PAH) was a HUGE hit! (So much so, he wants to major in Economics now) My DS took the 1/2 year AP Micro (PAH) with Burns and like Julie of KY, it was more ho-hum. And he watched the ACDC videos ahead of both AP exams and scored 5's on both. He LOVED those.

Thank you so much for this. I had never realized Khan Academy offered so many free offerings (besides SAT prep) - AP classes too. I think we might go this route - saves me a bundle load of money, and from what I understand the PAH BC class is very text-learning oriented? (Correct me if I"m wrong) In answer to another question, no he's never done AOPs. (Well he did early on in Pre-A and didn't like it)

I just learned that Khan had classes! I don't ever see them mentioned on these boards... thanks for the link. Very helpful. I've got lots to go explore. I love a self-study, free option out there... 🙂

Did anyone else know about this? There has been long talk of Meredith Noah (with Noah Nation) who teaches AP Euro/World who some members have raved about... then there was some negative reviews as well I recall reading about. But anyway, I'm fascinated she's teaching at PAH. We would be very interested if anyone knows anything more!

I'm on a roll... I can't believe it's March already! Need to make some plans. We need a fine arts credit for my son (Sr next year). Will look into offerings at PS and also DE - but are there any online options? Any thoughts welcome!! (I also have a rising 10th grader who adores art, so lots of ideas would be most appreciated)

Thinking about next year... my ds (16) will likely take AP Physics C next year (12th). He's taken AP Chem (PAH) and currently taking Hon Physics (Derek Owens). Already took regular Bio in 9th... so took the big 3 - and now his choice for 12th grade, and Physics is his favorite. I was thinking just AP Physics Mechanics (only) to keep it not-so-intense... PAH has 2 options. I'm leaning toward Kernion as he is more hands-on with video lectures and the like, it seems. Anyone with AP Physics experience - PAH or otherwise?

OK so it seems time is flying by and it's time to start signing up for next year's classes. I can't believe it! So... DS (16) is taking AP Calc AB currently with Derek Owens. What should he do for 12th grade? He likes math a lot - so AP Calc BC? I think there's not much to choose from... who have you used, did you like it and did anyone also take AP Calc BC (separately from AB)? TIA!

We were WHA from Geom-Pre-Calc. Then a teacher shift last year when Mrs. Stublen no longer was teaching AP Calc AB. My son did not gel well with Leslie Smith, personally, so he refused to take AP Calc with her. So we looked for options... Chose Derek Owens and now he says he wishes he had taken all his math classes with him from the start, that he understands everything so much better than before (the way DO explains things). This from my uber-mathy kid. YMMV

OH dear is right! That title hit me hard.. it's really almost here. AGHGHGHGH!!! I am so not ready. Happy to see those I'll be following our Sr year adventures together... back later to update.

My ds's taking H Physics with Derek Owens this year and will take the SAT Physics test this year. I think he'll be well-prepared from all I've read.